MUMBAI: So, who wouldn’t like to take off mid-week and head for a trip? That’s exactly what Havas Media Group India did 20-24 August, 2015. Mid 2013, Anita Nayyar announced the India Initiatives which included internal awards and training. Last year it was destination Udaipur, this year following the cancellation of Mount Abu due to the landslides, Team India headed for Jodhpur.
The idea behind the offsite is for the team to rediscover themselves, their capabilities, to know each other better and simply, to have a great time. The agenda included – induction of new people, demonstration of global tools and processes, sharing of powerful case studies and insights, sessions on the rising media trends, digital and mobile training, team building activities, awards announcements and fun.
Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group India, said, “There is no better time to bond with the team across levels. Fun and enjoyment sprinkled with learning, training and discussions filled our days. We all come back enriched with bonding, relationships, learning and a lot of positive emotions.”
Mohit Joshi, M.D., Havas Media Group India, said, “Havas is a ‘Happy Agency’ and initiatives like this allow all of us to do Meaningful Connections with our team.”
Ranjoy Dey, Head of Digital, Havas Media India, said, “It was a great opportunity to conduct a Digital and Mobile 1-0-1, for the entire HMG India team. When we promote “Digital at Core” as our philosophy of business, we also ensure that our entire team across the board is updated and exposed on the latest trends and knowledge. This builds meaningful interactions and ideations among all stakeholders.”
Speaking on behalf of the team, Rohan Chincholi, Associate Director Digital Media, said, “What more can you ask from a company – when you have a DJ night the day you arrive? We loved Jodhpur – it made us do some crazy things! The team building activities made sure we were both physically and mentally exhausted. Activities like a hopping relay race, a jumping team race, creating pyramids of excellence and inventing balloon superheroes, all to mathematical specifications, were conducted. One team won, no one lost.”
The awards included the India Internal Awards for long term service, department champions and employee of the year award which carried cash prizes. The other hit award which everyone thoroughly enjoyed were the ingenious H.U.K.A. Awards (Havas Unanimous Kritic Awards) devised by a creative lot of employees. The H.U.K.A. Awards are a funny take on employee idiosyncrasies, with names to match, identifying the one – who fixes things, who can sell anything, who consumes the most tea bags, who rushes home earliest from office and much more.
Towards the end of the trip everyone had tested the limits of their physical and mental endurance. It was marked by song, dance, camaraderie; and new friends were made, including – a 120plus years tortoise, a troop of gray langurs and some elusive peacocks. #HIT2J (Havas India Trip to Jodhpur) was the official hashtag of the trip but most settled for live action.
“I think we all wanted to stay back a day longer, to create some more memories and to consume some more masala chai, nonetheless we are glad to get back to our clients”, continued Chincholi.
The team left with a promise to all gather back again, next year, with a new theme, at a new place, a bigger team and a new hashtag!
