JOIN THEMEDIAVILLAGE COMMUNITY:GROWTH THROUGH EDUCATION & DIVERSITY

LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDIAVILLAGE ANDADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORG MEMBERSHIP HERE

• Meet your corporate responsibility to invest in diversity and team education.

• Improve your B2B marketing results.• Gain proprietary competitive advantages.• Reduce your B2B overhead.

YOU CAN INVEST IN GROWTH & REDUCE B2B OVERHEAD

• EXPLORE OUR COST-SAVING RESOURCES FOR GROWTH AND LEADERSHIP• REQUEST OUR INTRODUCTORY MEMBERSHIP RESOURCES HERE

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

EMPOWERING GROWTH THROUGH EDUCATION AND DIVERSITYARE THESE YOUR B2B MARKETING & AD SALES REALITIES?ON A 1-10 SCALE (1=NOT AT ALL AGREE; 10=VERY STRONGLY AGREE) RATE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS BASED ON HOW SIGNIFICANTLY THEY IMPACT ON YOUR DAY-TO-DAY BUSINESS REALITIES.

• The mounting pressure of ever-expanding day-to-day responsibilities and ZOOM calls are increasing demands on my time.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• The pressure of competition feeds inertia and makes it more challenging to innovate and change day-to-day business responsibilities.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Executives with budget and financial control are often disengaged from my day-to-day business realities, and budget cut-backs are impacting on my effectiveness.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Organizational hierarchies and silos — at my company and others — are outdated and remain locked into organizational systems that make my work more difficult.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Subject matter expertise and market intelligence are difficult to access, and I sometimes find myself and others unprepared for meetings.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Trust is eroding and it’s more challenging to build strong relationships with mutual trust. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Experience is no longer a proxy for knowledge and I find that younger colleagues often have important knowledge in the digital marketplace that more senior professionals often lack.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

• Knowledge is no longer a pre-qualification for responsibility, and those in roles of responsibility often lack the knowledge to be most effective.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

MEDIAVILLAGE IS THE MEDIA INDUSTRY’SEDUCATION & DIVERSITY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE.

WE DRIVE GROWTH FOR THE WORLD’S LEADING MEDIA COMPANIES.MediaVillage was launched in 2010 under the direction of veteran industry strategist and trend forecaster Jack Myers. Fifteen founding media companies embraced Myers’ recommendation that they transcend territorial competition to develop and implement industry-wide solutions for competing in the digital marketplace. For the past decade, MediaVillage, in collaboration with partners across the marketing ecosystem, has been pilot testing innovative strategies for generating growth. Today, more than 150 companies, organizations and industry leaders are members of the MediaVillage Center of Excellence.

• MARKET RESEARCH: Under The Myers Report brand, MediaVillage collects, analyzes and shares B2B and consumer data and insights to guide and support our members’ growth priorities and marketing communications.

• MARKET INTELLIGENCE: MediaVillage hosts and manages the B2B marketing platforms for more than 100 member companies, industry trade associations, non-profit advocacy groups, and education providers, each published independently under the MediaVillage Knowledge Exchange. Together they represent the media industry’s only unified force for growth.

• CONTENT MARKETING: MediaVillage.com hosts the commentaries, thought-leadership and insights of the media industry’s most respected columnists, journalists and industry experts, reaching professionals across the marketing, media, entertainment and education ecosystem.

• DIVERSE TALENT DEVELOPMENT: MediaVillage has been a leading advocate for diversity, equality and inclusion, founding WomenAdvancing. org in 2011, 1stFive.org in 2014 and, in 2017, the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors. Under Myers’ leadership, the Advancing Diversity Council represents the media, marketing, advertising and entertainment community’s commitment to advancing diversity from advocacy to activism.

• EDUCATION & MEETING PREPARATION: To support the on-demand knowledge needs of brand marketers, agency professionals, media industry suppliers, educators, content studios, content creators, students and diverse communities, MediaVillage has launched MeetingPrep.com, an open AI-fueled search and market intelligence platform. In addition to the most accurate and relevant vertical industry search engine, MeetingPrep incorporates Watch Listen & Learn, an audio and visual learning resource; KnowledgeExchange, a curriculum-focused online education resource; AdvancingDiversity.org, housing the industry’s diversity resources; and Advancing Diversity Meet-Ups, virtually connecting talent to jobs and career advancement.

THE POWER OF MEDIAVILLAGE COMES FROM THE ENGAGEMENT AND COMMITMENT OF COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS. THROUGH OUR COLLECTIVE

IMPACT APPROACH TO EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY, WE LEAD THE INDUSTRY IN ADVANCING EFFECTIVE AND COST EFFICIENT B2B GROWTH SOLUTIONS.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

THE MYERS REPORTPOWERING The

• B2B Marketing – Diagnostics & R-O-I Evaluation

• Guaranteed B2B Cost Savings 15%-35%* With Increased Effectiveness

• B2B Innovation & Invention Lab

B2B MARKETING DELIVERABLES• Syndicated and Custom B2B Stakeholder &

Consumer Research

• Weekly Market Intelligence Reports Delivered to Your Team

• Custom Revenue Optimization Strategies

• 2000-2025 Economic Data/Insights/Forecasts

B2B CONTENT CREATION/ DISTRIBUTION/PROMOTION• Earned Media Content Creation &

Distribution

• Educational Content Creation & Distribution

• Audio/Video Content Creation & Distribution

• Social Media Content Creation and Optimization

• Dedicated Content Platform at MediaVillage B2B KnowledgeExchange

• Optimized Search for Meeting Preparation

TALENT DEVELOPMENT• Advancing Diversity Council Seat with

Industry Leaders

• Advancing Diversity, Inclusion and Equality from Advocacy to Activism

ADVANCING EDUCATION & DIVERSITY MEMBER RESOURCES & TOOL KIT

AT MEDIAVILLAGE, WE’VE INTEGRATED B2B MARKETING CAPABILITIES BASED ON BEST PRACTICES AND PRINCIPLES FOR DRIVING GROWTH.• We are the leader in market intelligence,

effective content marketing, talent support and industry education.

• We enable and empower collaborative teams to generate measurable growth

in a highly competitive and economically challenging market.

• We focus on breaking down bureaucratic inertia and resistance to change that prevent revenue growth and a representative workforce.

• We align your talent around common beliefs and B2B marketing goals.

• We connect experienced columnists, journalists, editors, and analysts with your marketing and research teams, strategic leaders, financial and revenue management, and talent development professionals to tell your story accurately, professionally, transparently and effectively.

*We collaboratively identify deliverables and performance measures in a mutually agreed scope-of-work.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY (E&D) TOOL KITMEMBER RESOURCES, BENEFITS & FEESMEMBER BENEFITS E&D ACTIVIST E&D LEADER E&D PARTNER E&D MEMBER ALL-INCLUSIVE TURN-KEY ANNUAL FEE $320,000 $240,000 $120,000 $60,000 Includes Diversity & Inclusion, Education & Research, B2B Marketing & Education

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ADVANCEMENT $90,000 $60,000 $30,000 $20,000 Building a Learning Organization Tool Kit √ √ √ √Advancing Diversity Education Fund √ √ √ √Advancing Diversity Council Seat √ √ √ —B2B Communications & Messaging Audit √ √ — —AdvancingDiversity.org Content Platform √ √ — — Black Leaders Matter Profiles 1stFive.org Profiles WomenAdvancing.org Profiles Age of Aging Profiles AdvancingDiversity Talent Recruitment √ — — — 1stFive.org Talent Retention Program √ — — —

TEAM EDUCATION & MARKET RESEARCH $120,000 $120,000 $90,000 $90,000The Myers Report (Members-Only) √ √ √ √ TMR 2000-2025 Economic Data/Forecasts √ √ √ √ Advertiser/Agency Perceptions Research** √ √ √ √Media Brand Equity Valuation Research** √ √ √ √Advanced Technology Updates √ √ √ √ Proprietary Strategic Recommendations √ √ — —Custom Research Studies Available* √ √ — —

B2B MARKETING & EDUCATION SOLUTIONS $140,000 $120,000 $60,000 $30,000.COM KnowledgeExchange Platform & Archive √ √ — —6-36 Custom Journalistic Articles √ √ √ √ Executive Thought Leadership Research Reports, Case Studies Team Profiles Earned Media Credibility Market Experts, Journalists & ColumnistsMeetingPrep.com Search Optimization √ √ √ —Dedicated E-Mail Content Distribution √ √ √ —Watch Listen & Learn A/V Content Creation √ √ √ —Press Release Distribution √ √ √ —Banner Ad Campaign/Social Marketing √ √ — —Jack Myers Leadership Conversation (Video) √ — — —

*Incremental Costs **Available when applicable

THE MYERS REPORTPOWERING The

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

MEDIAVILLAGE IS THE INDUSTRY LEADER IN B2B MARKET INTELLIGENCE, EFFECTIVE CONTENT MARKETING, DIVERSETALENT DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION.

As business models evolve, so do the opportunities to advance growth through a Collective Impact Model focused on activating and amplifying marketing, talent development, education and business solutions.

Our Collective Impact Model enables MediaVillage members to generate 25%-35% cost efficiencies from B2B marketing budgets.

We enable and empower collaborative teams to generate measurable success and growth in a highly competitive market.

We focus on breaking down the bureaucratic inertia and resistance to change that prevent continued learning, diverse representation and growth.

EDUCATION & DIVERSITY 50% REVENUE GROWTH / 50% DIVERSE REPRESENTATION BY 2030• The future of our industry relies

on our ability to listen to the marketplace, collaborate and scale successful solutions.

• Industry and corporate growth require an urgent focus on filling knowledge gaps and activating individual company and industry solutions among all stakeholders.

• MediaVillage members are empowered to boldly lead by advancing issues and opportunities in ways that activate change rather than deepen systemic commoditization and bias.

• Now is the moment to recognize and advance wisdom, leadership, education, diversity and opportunity.

• Now is the moment to invest, implement, scale and build on success.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

• 3% Conference• 4As • A4/Altice• AB InBev• Active International • ADCOLOR • Ad Council • Advertising Education

Foundation• A+E Networks• AMC Networks• Ampersand• American Advertising

Federation • ANA • ANA AIMM• Ascential/MediaLink• Cadent• Captivate Network• CBS-TV • Comcast• Crown Media Family

Networks

• The CW• Davila Multicultural

Insights• Dentsu Aegis Network• Discovery• DISH Media/Sling• Empower Advertising• Eric Mower + Associates• E.W. Scripps/Newsy• Facebook• The Female Quotient • Fox-TV• Good I Upworthy • Google/YouTube• Hearst Corporation • Hershey Company• Icon Media• Institute for Veterans• IPG • Lifetime• MediaMath• Muslim Public Affairs

Council

• NBCUniversal• New York Interconnect• Nexstar/Tribune• Nielsen • NPR/NPM• Outfront • Pandora• P&G • Publicis Media

Americas• Sam’s Club• Sinclair Broadcasting• Spectrum Reach• Twitter• Unilever• UPtv/Aspire• Verizon • ViacomCBS• Walt Disney Television• WarnerMedia• The Weather Channel• Xandr

MEDIA COMMUNITY LEADERS FOR GROWTH

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

EDUCATION & DIVERSITYACHIEVING GROWTH THROUGH COMMITMENTMediaVillage members advance an agenda focused on identifying and scaling best practices and principles for growth. The power of MediaVillage comes from the engagement and real-world experience of a broad range of companies and organizations within our industry implementing a Collective Impact Approach for growth solutions right now.

ADVANCED MARKET INTELLIGENCE/B2B RESEARCHTRANSPARENT. ACCOUNTABLE. RESPONSIVE. AGILE. For more than three decades, The Myers Report has been singularly dedicated to identifying, developing and introducing solutions to the challenges confronting media and advertising companies.

B2B EDUCATIONWe’re advancing and highlighting online-learn-ing platforms focused on growth by enhancing the knowledge of your teams and stakeholders.

B2B COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLISHING & PROMOTIONMediaVillage is the leading positive voice of, by and for our industry. Through the MediaVillage KnowledgeExchange members advance their marketing and communications programs and enhance positive perceptions among stakeholder constituencies, including team members.

TALENT DEVELOPMENTAdvancingDiversity.org activates connections among prospective employees, new and early-stage team members, and relevant and supportive mentors who share experiences and values. MediaVillage members support college loan relief to attract and retain diverse talent.

ECONOMIC SOLUTIONSThrough capabilities integration and single-source multi-platform marketing, you can drive more effective and cost efficient B2B marketing campaigns and implement industry-leading educational programs.

THE MYERS REPORTPOWERING The

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

1. REPLACE ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS WITH ICOS — INTEGRATED COLLABORATIVE ORGANIZATIONS — FOR GREATER EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVE EFFECTIVENESS

Although transforming from siloed hierarchies to horizontal collaboration is difficult, silos are an obsolete model originally designed to foster independent thinking and budget control. As industry walls crumble and integrated partnerships become the norm, siloed organizations operating with legacy models cannot compete effectively with agile, collaborative ones. When silos are replaced by integrated models, organizations gain greater agility and cost efficiencies. Focusing attention on optimizing the MediaVillage relationship automatically integrates your B2B sales, communications, research, market intelligence and talent development teams, enabling you to reduce both talent and resource overhead.

2. ZERO-BASE B2B MARKETING, RESEARCH, COMMUNICATIONS, SALES INVESTMENTS Legacy B2B solutions have declined in effectiveness and scale. Your B2B communications/PR/

publicity priorities and success-metrics require updating. Update B2B solutions and zero-base legacy trade advertising and ESPECIALLY conference sponsorships. Corporate procurement has taken-over advertising budgets and shifted media decision-making to programmatic and automated technology advances focused on first and third-party data alignment. COVID-19 realities are driving accelerated change in corporate and agency behavior. It’s essential to assess B2B marketing investments and reallocate budgets to improve proprietary business intelligence, target integrated business partnerships, fill knowledge gaps among stakeholders, and proactively address obstacles to growth.

3. INVEST IN SOLUTIONS-BASED B2B TARGETING AND EDUCATION Integration of capabilities across B2B marketing disciplines improves organizational efficiency

and agility. Resources can be allocated and integrated quickly across the organization to respond most effectively to business growth opportunities without the complications of politics, budgetary self-interest, organizational inertia and relationship restrictions. Strategies need to be rebuilt around digital, experience, data, content and purpose marketing with defined KPIs for communications, research and talent development teams. Step One: Review your B2B marketing database. Without a constantly updated and high-quality database, targeting is inefficient and ineffective.

FIVE BEST PRACTICES FOR REDUCING COSTS AND OPTIMIZING REVENUES

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

4. ATTRACT, RETAIN AND EMPOWER “NEW MAJORITY” TALENT BY ACTIVATING PROVEN INITIATIVES

As difficult as it may seem, the problem of hiring and retaining “new majority” talent is solvable. Talent development during and after COVID-19 is key to reductions in personnel overhead. MediaVillage has collaborated with 40 leading companies and organizations to identify best practices for empowering junior and mid-management to perform successfully in senior management roles. Our integration model extends human resources to optimize experiences, facilitate collaboration, and apply proven practices for diversity, equality and inclusion across teams.

5. EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATE MARKET INTELLIGENCE AND MEETING PREPARATION TOOLS

Growth requires investments in and resources dedicated to an understanding of how your talent and B2B stakeholders are responding to the new and endemic problems that are confronting them individually, their businesses and their companies. You can improve ongoing intelligence gathering and rapid response to marketplace shifts with low-cost turn-key tools and educational resources for your teams, clients and stakeholders.

MediaVillage GUARANTEES that following our model and optimizing our tools and resources

will reduce your B2B marketing, sales, research, communications and talent development overhead by 15% to 35%, while measurably improving your effectiveness and growth. Request our free MediaVillage audit of your capabilities, integration preparedness, and organizational effectiveness.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

1. BE YOUR ORGANIZATION’S SOURCE OF MARKET INTELLIGENCE New research, market insights and data published daily are relevant for teams across your

organization who are grappling with new realities. Gather and communicate relevant insights. Follow The Myers Report daily for resources and updated, proprietary and exclusive economic and strategic insights. Aggregate and share relevant knowledge with your colleagues.

2. BE THE INDUSTRY’S SOURCE OF INSIGHTS ON YOUR BUSINESS CATEGORY Coordinate with your corporate communications team to create and publish as least one-weekly

market insights report, using available market intelligence and new proprietary research. Share your research with MediaVillage in ready-to-publish reports or provide direction and insights with our assigned journalist, who will write reports for your approval. Reports will be published and searchable at your KnowledgeExchange site and are emailed to our 20,000 subscribers. Share relevant insights with the community.

3. EVALUATE GO-TO-MARKET RECOVERY STRATEGIES THROUGH THE PRISM OF PRE-COVID-19 CLIENT PERCEPTIONS

The Myers Report has completed a new Marketplace Assessment survey of 700+ advertiser and agency executives identifying underlying strengths, weaknesses, growth obstacles and growth opportunities for 80 media companies prior to Covid-19 (field work completed March 10th). A post meltdown study will provide the only clear pre/post data on Covid-19’s long-term impact on individual company growth potential and organizational capabilities.

4. BE THE EXPERT ON EMERGING ECONOMIC REALITIES AND IMPACT Investment analysts, SMI, eMarketer and The Myers Report regularly publish new data and economic

opinions daily. The Myers Report Marketing and Media Economic Data & Forecasts 2000-2025 guides financial management through the day-to-day economic shifts they’re now navigating, empowering them to assess costs, revenues and growth priorities in advance of the 2021/22 economic recovery.

5. IDENTIFY MEDIA BUYING AND SELLING TRENDS THAT WILL INFORM POST-RECOVERY MEDIA ALLOCATION

It’s naïve to believe media sales and media research will be the same in 2021 and beyond. Trends toward automated transactions, data aggregation, non-ad supported TV viewing, OpenAP and Xandr, will accelerate. Research budgets will be cut; marketers will move proactively to programmatic; dependence on high salaried legacy media buyers and sellers will diminish. Research executives who identify, influence and effectively communicate – internally and externally – their corporate and brand differentiation and relevance for the future marketplace will be elevated to senior corporate roles.

FIVE BEST PRACTICES FOR CORPORATE RESEARCH TEAMS:

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

1. PUBLISH YOUR EXTERNAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS AT YOUR MEDIAVILLAGE KNOWLEDGEEXCHANGE MEMBER SITE

Add Maryann@MediaVillage.com to all client directed press releases/corporate communications relevant to your B2B stakeholders and we’ll publish it within 24-hours. Embargoes are honored.

2. ACTIVATE YOUR OWNED BANNER ADVERTISING INVENTORY AT MEDIAVILLAGE MediaVillage is now enabling all member companies to drive action, generate response and

build databases. 300x600 and 300x250 dynamic banner ads are available as part of your member fees. Each MediaVillage member is entitled to a banner ad campaign valued between $3,000 and $36,000. If you’re not already activating your available advertising inventory asset, do it now.

3. REQUIRE THAT YOU RESEARCH TEAM DEVELOP AND SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHTS Require your research team to develop at least one weekly research insight report that’s

relevant to advertiser and agency decision-makers. Your clients are focused on learning right now. Be a teacher. Reinforce your-go-to-market strategies and priorities so your sales team will enter the recovery period with positive momentum. Share your research with MediaVillage in ready-to-publish reports or provide direction and insights for our assigned journalist who will write reports for your approval. Reports will be published and searchable at your MediaVillage KnowledgeExchange site and will be emailed to our 20,000 subscribers.

4. PUBLISH EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS While many companies are adopting a wait-and-see approach to B2B marketing, smart leaders

are allocating budgets for brand equity building through executive communications. The best example right now is in government. Executive thought leadership is a powerful game changer in crisis times; MediaVillage is the media, advertising and marketing community’s #1 home for thought leadership and content marketing.

5. BE VISIBLE TO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS AND YOUR EMPLOYEES While your competitors are silent, speak up. Directly quoting President Franklin Roosevelt,

“let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” MediaVillage supports our member communications with dedicated journalists, subject matter experts, social media and search optimization.

FIVE BEST PRACTICES FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS TEAMS:

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORG 2021 RESOURCE CENTER ALL ENCOMPASSING, TURN-KEY ADVANCING DIVERSITY ACTIVATION RESOURCESFOR MEDIA, ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES

• THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY & INCLUSION WHITE PAPERS

• ADVANCING DIVERSITY COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

• DIVERSITY & INCLUSION PERFORMANCE METRICS AND RECOGNITION

• DIVERSITY INVESTMENTS AND ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS

• DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

• MENTORING AND FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS

AdvancingDiversity.org provides member organizations, leaders and team members with tools,resources and support focused on advancing diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives

from advocacy to activism.

MediaVillage members receive benefits consistent with their Education & Diversity Membership Level: Activist, Leader, Partner and Member

DIVERSITY MEMBER ..............................................................................$20,000(Included with MediaVillage E&D Member Level)

DIVERSITY PARTNER ............................................................................$30,000(Included with MediaVillage E&D Partner Membership)

DIVERSITY LEADER ............................................................................... $60,000(Included with MediaVillage E&D Leader Membership)

DIVERSITY ACTIVIST ........................................................................... $90,000(Included with MediaVillage E&D Activist Membership)

ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORG RESOURCES PROGRAMBENEFITS AND RESOURCES ARE OUTLINED IN THE FOLLOWING OVERVIEW

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORG MEMBER RESOURCESMEMBER BENEFITS DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY ACTIVIST LEADER PARTNER MEMBER $90,000 $60,000 $30,000 $20,000 DIVERSITY & INCLUSION WHITE PAPERS Education & Diversity as Tools for Growth √ √ √ √Business Case for Commitment to Diversity √ √ √ √ Building a Learning Organization √ √ √ √

D&I PERFORMANCE METRICS AND RECOGNITION Harvard Business School Leadership Program √ √ √ √Readocracy Education Badging Program √ √ √ —Gender Fair Equality Assessment √ √ — —Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors Induction √ — — —

DIVERSITY INVESTMENTS AND ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS Advancing Diversity Investment Fund Support √ √ √ √MeetingPrep.com D&I SEO Optimization √ √ √ √

ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS Advancing Diversity Immersion Fellowships √ √ — — Online Education Certification Program √ √ — — Adjunct Professor Eligibility √ √ — —

LEADERSHIP MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS CONTENT PUBLISHING # OF ARTICLES 8 6 4 2 1stFive.org Profiles √ √ √ √ WomenAdvancing.org Profiles √ √ √ √ FutureofMen.org √ √ √ √ TheAgeofAging.com √ √ √ √ Black Leaders Matter Profiles √ √ √ √EVENTS AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS 1stFive Experience √ √ √ √ Advancing Diversity Career Meet-Up √ √ √ √ WomenAdvancing Dual Mentoring √ √ √ √ The Future of Men Events √ √ √ √

WATCH LISTEN & LEARN AUDIO/VIDEO Ask Gen-Z Video Interview √ √ √ √ Insider Insites Podcast Interview √ √ √ —Legends & Leaders Video Interview √ √ — —Interactive Audio Content Series √ √ — —Jack Myers Leadership Conversation (Video) √ — — —

MENTORING AND FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS Mentorloop Circles √ — — —501C3 Educational Loan Relief Contribution $9,000 $6,000 $3,000 $2,000

THE MYERS REPORTPOWERING The

*Incremental Costs **Available when applicable

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONInstituting a robust educational program, especially access to online learning tools, is key for attracting a diverse workforce and retaining quality employees. Long-term support for employees of alleducational levels and backgrounds ensures higher productivity, and it also demonstrates trust in yourtalent while fostering business growth. Properly investing in your human resources increases employeeretention and productivity. A failure to invest in education causes entire industries to fail at achievinglong-term growth. The media and advertising industry underinvests in both educational resources andtalent retention programs by more than 500% compared to most growth industries.

WHITE PAPER:THE CASE FOR EDUCATION & DIVERSITY AS TOOLS FOR GROWTH IN MARKETING & MEDIAThe social and technological forces that shape businesses and entire industries are constantly shifting. Some of the most prevalent forces in organizational development that have undergone drastic changes in the past decade are the methods, frequency, and breadth of educational resources and employee training. Download the AdvancingDiversity.org e-Book Report: The Role of Online Learning Tools for Advancing Diversity & Generating Business Growth.

WHITE PAPER:THE BUSINESS CASE FOR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY: WHITE PAPER FROM THE KELLEY SCHOOL OF BUSINESSFrom the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, this white paper focuses on The Business Case for Commitment to Diversity. The report answers the question “Does an organization’s commitment to diversity – as reflected by CEO commitment, human capital, corporate communications (internal and external), and supplier diversity – result in competitive advantage and superior financial performance?

WHITE PAPER:BUILDING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION: WHITE PAPER FROM HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOLThis Harvard Business Review white paper Building a Learning Organization provides a detailedroadmap for staying ahead of competitors and generating growth. Many performance-improvement and team education programs fail because many managers don’t realize that sustainable improvement requires both organizational and individual commitment to learning. Without learning, companies repeat old practices, make cosmetic changes, and produce short-lived improvements. To transform your teams and company into a learning organization, AdvancingDiversity.org has acquired rights to the tools perfected by a Harvard Business School team led by David A. Garvin. Garvin recommends mastering five techniques, which are organized in the AdvancingDiversity.org team survey: Is Yours a Learning Organization?

ADVANCING DIVERSITY RESOURCES

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

o Diversity Measurement & Metrics

o Investment Fund

o Marketing and Communications

o Career Development and Financial Solutions

• Quarterly Meetings (Virtual)

• Selection Committee for Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors

• Proprietary Industry-wide Data Insights

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PREPAREDNESS PROGRAMEXCLUSIVE TO ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORGAs reported by Harvard Business Review, “leaders may think that getting their organizationsto learn is only a matter of articulating a clear vision, giving employees the right incentives,and providing lots of training. This assumption is not merely flawed—it’s risky in the faceof intensifying competition, advances in technology, and shifts in customer preferences.Organizations need to learn more than ever as they confront these mounting forces. Eachcompany must become a learning organization made up of employees skilled at creating,acquiring, and transferring knowledge. A learning organization cultivates tolerance, fosters opendiscussion, and thinks holistically and systemically. Such learning organizations are able to adapt to the unpredictable more quickly than their competitors can.”

AdvancingDiversity.org has partnered to offer Advancing Diversity Council memberorganizations with exclusive access to the Harvard Business School industry assessment tool“Is Yours a Learning Organization?” The 55-question self-administeredteam assessment tool enables individuals to confidentially assess their own commitment tolearning, with data aggregated for team, organization, company and industry-wide badging andaccreditation. Through this Advancing Diversity Council self-analysis program, organizationsand team members can gain a deeper understanding of obstacles and opportunities for growth,identify a path toward enhanced leadership development, and implement solutions foradvancing talent retention.

ADVANCING DIVERSITY COUNCIL MEMBERSHIPACTIVE ENGAGEMENT AS ADVANCING DIVERSITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEMBER

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION PERFORMANCE METRICS & RECOGNITION

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

READOCRACY SELF-EDUCATION BADGING FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONSEXCLUSIVE TO ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORGReadocracy is a mission-driven platform that gives people credit for all the reading and learning they do online. Articles and newsletters, podcast and video support about to roll out. It catalogs it all, verifies it, and turns it into a data-driven knowledge profile so people can safely showcase, and be recognized for, their commitment and credibility on any subject. AdvancingDiversity.org has entered into an exclusive strategic agreement with Readocracy for rights to implement the tool with our member companies. Through Readocracy, companies, teams and prospective employees can be identified and rewarded based on their self-learning achievements, assuring that diverse communities are engaged, recruited and retained through professional advancement and recognition.

GENDER FAIR EQUALITY ASSESSMENT EXCLUSIVE TO ADVANCINGDIVERSITY.ORGThe Gender Fair methodology was developed to assess a Company’s commitment to gender equality, inspired by the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles. The Scorecard allows Gender Fair to collect information methodically about the companies in its database, based on a set of pre-identified criteria. We believe the Gender Fair scoring methodology is the most comprehensive ranking system available to measure a company’s progress towards gender equality. The points system means that Gender Fair can score and rank each company’s commitment to gender equality on a comparative basis. The Scorecard currently includes 16 criteria that measure leadership, employee policies, advertising and philanthropy based on a 100 point scale. Gender Fair can be used to incorporate recommendations on improving multiple metrics of diversity and equality performance compared to the Gender Fair database that includes information on 5,500 public companies. The Gender Fair database is updated annually.

ADVANCING DIVERSITY HALL OF HONORS INDUCTIONTHE ADVANCING DIVERSITY HALL OF HONORS RECOGNIZES THOSE WHO:

Each Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors inductee has made an important contribution to building a more diverse business community and society and continues to make a difference in advancing our industry’s leadership. Each January, The Advancing Diversity Council inducts 8 to 12 new companies, organizations and individuals based on their activation of programs that have been proven successful in advancing diversity, equality and inclusion within their organization and their extended community. Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors members include ADCOLOR®, The Hershey Company, Institute for Veteran and Military Families at Syracuse University, Muslim Public Affairs Council: The Hollywood Bureau, The Female Quotient, Publicis Media, Walt Disney Television, Walmart/Sam’s Club, P&G, Unilever, ANA, Budweiser, Verizon, Kay Koplovitz/ Springboard Enterprises, Madonna Badger, NBA, IPG, 3% Conference (Kat Gordon), IAB Education Foundation, Nielsen and the Ad Council.

• Have made a commitment to and established successful initiatives that advance diversity and inclusion within their organizations;

• Have made a meaningful contribution through their diversity initiatives to the media, advertis-ing, marketing and entertainment community;

• Visibly and inclusively communicate and advance their experiences, learnings, best practices and best principles with the goal of advancing diversity in our community and society;

• Demonstrate that advancing diversity and inclusion is good for business.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

DIVERSITY INVESTMENTS AND ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPSMEDIA INDUSTRY ADVANCING DIVERSITY EDUCATION FUND A percentage of all MediaVillage membership fees and AdvancingDiversity.org contributions are contributed to the Media Industry Advancing Diversity Education Fund, supporting established industry organizations and initiatives identified and approved by the Advancing Diversity Council. All selected organizations have demonstrated proven success in advancing organizational and industry diversity and generating positive business impact. (See accompanying document.) Currently approved organizations and initiatives are:

• 4A’s Foundation

• ADCOLOR

• Advancing Diversity/Mentor’s Playlist

• American Education Foundation (AEF)

• AAF AdCamp for High School Students

• Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University

• International Radio & TV Society Foundation (IRTS)

• Jacaronda Foundation College Loan Relief

• John A. Reisenbach Foundation

• TD Foundation for Children of Wounded Warriors and Fallen Heroes.

AAF HIGH SCHOOL ADCAMP The American Advertising Federation program introduces high school students to the many facets of advertising through hands-on learning activities. It provides them the opportunity to work on a real client campaign, interact with industry professionals, as well as explore career options through company immersions and classroom activities. The AAF High School AdCamp requires funding to continue and expand its program beyond Atlanta. In collaboration with AAF, AdvancingDiversity.org will identify additional communities for expansion with a goal of 40 programs in place by 2030.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

ANA/AEF TALENT ACQUISITION, RETENTION AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES • BEST JOBS EVER CAMPAIGN Dubbed “Best Jobs Ever,” the campaign includes a 3-minute video and a new partnership with

WayUp, a digital platform that will connect marketers with millions of college students seeking summer internships and entry-level jobs. MediaVillage has actively publicized the video and will continue to collaborate with AEF to expand distribution.

• AEF ONE-DAY CAMPUS CONFERENCES Into the foreseeable future, all on-campus plans will be organized virtually. In collaboration with the

AEF, AdvancingDiversity.org will support and participate in expanding the successful AEF one-day marketing conferences, integrating agency and media company presence into the content designed to engage diverse student groups with an explicit and measurable goal to increase interest in marketing, media and advertising careers.

• CAMPUS SPEAKERS PROGRAM AEF has coordinated about 300 visits a year to college campuses. AdvancingDiversity.org is elevating

this program virtually and will focus on a speakers program featuring diverse industry professionals.

• MADE PROGRAM We support the AEF virtual internship program.

• VISITING PROFESSOR PROGRAM AEF hosts more than 100 professors for a week to immerse them in industry practice.

AdvancingDiversity.org will financially support the expansion on this initiative with a focus on advancing diverse professor participation.

MENTORS PLAYLIST The Mentors Playlist is a new media platform solution created by Hearst Publishing executive David Carey as part of his work as a fellow at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2019. When it comes to career readiness, there is often a wide skills gap between the children of upper and lower-income households that increases disparity and inequality. Mentors Playlist changes that. Using smartphones and social media that are central to the lives of young people, the Mentors Playlist bolsters the early career possibilities for under-served youth, helping to level the economic playing field and improving social mobility in the United States. It could be described as “TED Talks for opportunity youth,” “Khan Academy for career preparation,” or “a career-centered Masterclass.com for low income students.”

MEETINGPREP.COMWe recognize the value and importance of micro-learning to serve the needs of all stakeholders in the marketing and media ecosystem. 70% of industry professionals report they are unprepared for meetings. Industry learning tools are limited to outdated and under-developed LinkedIn Learning resources, expensive and limited General Assembly resources, and time intensive online learning programs, MediaVillage has built the most advanced AI-activated search engine dedicated to providing micro-learning access for industry professionals, educators and students. Visit www.MeetingPrep.com and enter your search inquiry.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS• ADVANCING DIVERSITY IMMERSION FELLOWSHIPS Following the proven successful models of IRTS Foundation and the Verizon/Publicis

Fellowship model, AdvancingDiversity.org plans to develop and implement (2021) a 12-week virtual program engaging 240 students, veterans and aspiring candidates and early-stage employees twice annually. Once we return to in-office business, the program will revert to a combination virtual/in-person model. Following the IRTS Foundation Fellowship and Verizon/ Publicis Immersion Fellowship models, we’re offering Advancing Diversity Council members the opportunity to underwrite diversity-focused fellowships designed to attract diverse talent and prepare their future leaders for accelerated career development.

• ONLINE EDUCATION CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

In partnership with leading colleges and universities, AdvancingDiversity.org is developing a core curriculum of available distance learning continuing education courses, both graduate and undergraduate. We will accept a limited number of approved industry professionals from qualified member companies as certificate-based students. Under the AdvancingDiversity.org and Jacaronda Foundation Educational Relief Fund, qualified industry professionals from MediaVillage member companies will receive reimbursement for successful course completion.

• ADJUNCT PROFESSOR (PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE) UNDERWRITING AT HISTORICAL BLACK COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES In partnership with HBCUs, colleges with a large percentage of diverse students, and

with blacklist100, AdvancingDiversity.org will establish funded adjunct professorships (Professors of Practice) to be filled by appropriate, relevant and prepared professionals from MediaVillage qualified member companies. Support tools and materials will be developed and provided to selected adjunct professors by MediaVillage and AdvancingDiversity.org. Advancing Diversity Council members will identify and select adjunct professors through an application process, subject to college/university approval.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP MARKETINGAND COMMUNICATIONS CONTENT PUBLISHING – TEAM MEMBER PROFILES & INTERVIEWSSharing the stories of successful diverse individuals at all levels of seniority has a direct positiveimpact on talent retention. AdvancingDiversity.org highlights industry diversity and connectsdiverse professionals through published profiles, and one-on-one interviews. Content is publishedat relevant MediaVillage sites, including AdvancingDiversity.org and its family of diversity-focusedsites, which include:

• 1STFIVE.ORG 1stFive focuses on advancing talent acquisition, retention and leadership development initiatives

in the marketing community. Prioritizing multi-cultural diversity, the 1stFive Council supports our members’ talent acquisition and retention needs and provides counsel to entry-level talent.

• WOMENADVANCING.ORG WomenAdvancing reaches and engages executives through their passion for advancing diversity,

achieving women’s income equality, and enhancing women’s careers and lives. WomenAdvancing develops and guides programs and initiatives focused on dual gender-neutral mentoring at all stages of lives and careers.

• FUTUREOFMEN.ORG Future of Men pioneers a necessary conversation on the state of gender relationships and fathering,

focusing on molding better men and better male role models, providing marketers with insights for marketing to the next generations in a rising world of female influencers and power shifters.

• THEAGEOFAGING.COM The 55+ demo represents the most dynamic opportunity for revenue growth for many major media

companies. Agencies proactively mismanage the use of demographic targeting to artificially reduce demand for and the media value of 55+ audiences. The Age of Aging highlights the accomplishments and continuing contributions of senior team members. The column is anchored by Peter Hubbell, founder and chief executive officer of BoomAgers, the world’s leading ad agency dedicated to understanding aging consumers, and features commentaries by noted experts on the Boomer and Gen X demographic, including Ken Dychtwald, author of The Age Wave and What Retirees Want.

o BLACK LEADERS MATTER – FROM ADVOCACY TO ACTIVISM MediaVillage and the Advancing Diversity Council reflect on the values we all cherish and invite

industry leaders and companies to share a message to our community with a personal and/or corporate commentary focused on Black Leaders and Leadership Matter, racial harmony, diversity, inclusion, equality, from a perspective that communicates their beliefs, passions, commitment and, most importantly, actions being taken.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

VIRTUAL EVENTS AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMSo 1stFive EXPERIENCE Held annually in June, the 1stFive Experience welcomes interns and 1st-year

employees to the media and advertising community, creating a positive environment, peer-to-peer relationships, and professional contacts to help guide them through the early stages of their careers.

o ADVANCING DIVERSITY CAREER MEET-UP Held in association with colleges and universities and at leading events such as CES, these events connect aspiring job candidates with media/advertising/marketing/entertainment professionals. These events, held for the past three years at CES, are being re-imagined for virtual activation.

o WOMENADVANCING DUAL MENTORING EVENTS Virtual dual mentoring meet-ups are being organized in association with colleges and universities, empowering young women through initiatives focused on successfully advancing women into C-Suite and Board positions and by highlighting the role, importance and power of women in society, business, and culture

o THE FUTURE OF MEN The mission of The Future of Men site and custom corporate events is to empower collaboration across sexual identities and advance the best ideas for re-defining and expanding the scope and perception of fathering and masculinity in a balanced, positive and productive context. Educational programs and events are available to those who seek to encourage and support positive male behavior that is required for health and happiness at work, at home, and in relationships.

WATCH LISTEN & LEARN • ASK GEN-Z VIDEO INTERVIEWS Gen-Z host Amanda Keaton interviews industry professionals

who’ve been in the business for fewer than five years. These profiles highlight those young team members who are already making a meaningful contribution to their companies, the industry and society.

• INSIDERINSITES PODCAST INTERVIEWS MediaVillage journalists conduct a 15 to 20-minute podcast interview with your diversity & inclusion/people management lead, focused on communicating your organization’s commitment to and programs for advancing diversity from advocacy to activism.

• LEGENDS & LEADERS VIDEO INTERVIEWS MediaVillage founder Jack Myers, AdvancingDiversity.org director Phil McKenzie or Gen-Z host Amanda Keaton conducts a 15 to 20-minute video interview with senior industry leaders focused on sharing stories that personify the positive traditions of the business and who are role models for sharing historic context and positive inspiration for new generations as they enter the business.

• INTERACTIVE AUDIO “CONTENT SERIES” This new MediaVillage Interactive Audio platform integrates the best features of a podcast with the visual impact of PowerPoint slides, direct interactive links and enhanced visual support integrated directly into one immersive audio/visual experience. You can host your own Interactive Audio to share your research, case studies, interviews and presentations in this new MediaVillage story-telling experience.

• JACK MYERS LEADERSHIP CONVERSATIONS Jack Myers hosts one-on-one and multi-participant 60-minute conversations highlighting specific industry issues, educational topics and industry growth opportunities. During this unprecedented period of disruptive, uncertainty and change, leadership makes a difference. Our shared experiences offer an opportunity to bring leaders together as a collective voice to accelerate and advance necessary change in our community. Jack Myers LeadershipConversations focus on leaders who have not only been advocates but activists for change.

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

MENTORING AND FINANCIAL SOLUTIONSMENTORLOOP CIRCLES Using smart matching tools, AdvancingDiversity.org quickly and accurately matches mentors and mentees based on chosen criteria – including experience, skills, interests, location, and desired outcomes. You can create traditional mentoring pairs or build out peer and team-mentoring groups. Mentoring Circles support scaling the mentorship process. In this model, mentors are matched either randomly or based on function or business unit.

EDUCATIONAL LOAN RELIEF FOR TALENT ATTRACTION AND RETENTIONThe Media Industry Advancing Diversity Education Fund underwrites the Jacaronda Foundation(a 501(C)3 non-profit organization), which supports media and advertising community teammembers in need of college loan repayment and/or continuing educational support. Theorganization enables MediaVillage and Advancing Diversity Council members to offer teammembers and potential employees an opportunity for college loan relief through a simpleconfidential application process.

THE CASE FOR EDUCATION& DIVERSITYAS TOOLS FOR BUSINESS GROWTH IN MARKETING & MEDIA

The social and technological forces that shape businesses and entire industries are constantly shifting. Some of the most prevalent forces in organizational development that have undergone drastic changes in the past decade are the methods, frequency, and breadth of educational resources and employee training that go beyond standard collegiate education.

Instituting a robust educational program, particularly access to online learning tools, is key in attracting and retaining quality employees. Not only does long-term support for employees of all educational levels and backgrounds ensure higher productivity, but it also demonstrates trust in your talent while fostering business growth. Failing to properly invest in your human resources not only causes employee retention and productivity to fall: It also causes entire industries to fail at achieving long-term growth.

Collegiate job skills training alone is not sufficient for a highly qualified workforce that is also loyal. How can fortuitous learning and development programs take organizations and entire industries to new heights?

THE ROLE OF ONLINE LEARNING TOOLS FOR ADVANCING DIVERSITY & GENERATING BUSINESS GROWTH

DOWNLOAD THE FULL WHITE PAPER REPORT IN PDF FORMAT HERE

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

Contents copyright © 2020 MyersBizNet. All rights reserved.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS FUEL EMPLOYEE RETENTIONO rganizations that fail to properly invest in their

talent can expect to see high attrition rates.Poor employee retention is an incredibly

expensive problem. Fully 47 percent of human resources professionals cite employee retention as their biggest challenge, surpassing that of recruiting. It is estimated that roughly 3 million Americans leave their jobs every month. While industries with notoriously high turnover, such as retail and services, account for more than half of monthly quit levels and quit levels drastically decreased after March 2020 due to COVID-19, professional services such as marketing comprised 19 percent of all American private sector jobs that were quit in May 2019.

Several factors drive these high quit levels and turnover rates that are not necessarily related to salary alone. Low morale, hostile corporate culture, lack of flexibility, and lack of recognition for strong performance will lead to low employee retention. The 2018 Job Seeker Nation Study even found that 30 percent of job seekers leave a job within 90 days, which has made attracting the right talent for the role and employee retention key challenges for human resources professionals in the 2020s.

Unexpected and unwanted employee turnover not only has a deleterious impact on productivity, but replacement costs are also prohibitively high. If an employee quits, it can cost at least 1/3 of their salary to find a replacement in terms of lost productivity. For highly skilled employees, it can even be as

high as 200 percent of their salary since teamwork will suffer and the return on marketing spend will be significantly lower.

While all of these factors contribute to low employee engagement, one of the most prevalent causes of high quit rates is that organizations are not providing enough training and educational opportunities. Education helps increase employee retention by providing more opportunities for upskilling in-house instead of engaging in costly talent searches. Some 74 percent of employees feel that they are not reaching their true potential, and 76 percent are seeking some type of career advancement opportunity. Learning and skills training organically allow for career advancement with the same organization or a new employer. By providing a variety of learning and professional development opportunities, employee engagement increases, and motivated employees are more likely to remain with the organization than those who feel that their needs are going unmet and accomplishments unrecognized. Given that the average annual learning and development spend per employee is $1,299, while replacing an employee can carry a significantly higher price tag, training and learning tools help save money and productivity in the long term.

Increased investment in learning and development helps close skills gaps and increase employee retention, which reduces replacement costs and increases employee engagement, which in turn increases productivity. The cornerstone of a successful employee learning and professional development program is to account for all skill levels. This is especially crucial if the chief goal is to reduce employee turnover and bolster specific skills. If talent developers focus solely on entry-level employees in need of new skills or on additional training or established managers that the company has prioritized to retain, much is lost with both mid-career employees and employees with very little non-collegiate training and education. Training is not strictly relegated to role-specific learning tools and coursework, such as learning how to use new software or industry-specific change management seminars. Strengthening communication, leadership, collaboration, diversity and sensitivity, and soft skills are integral for the entire workforce’s talent development.

Properly investing in learning and development programs demonstrates that managers have faith in their employees and are more likely to offer superior job security. Secure and engaged employees are not only more productive, they also help ensure that the organization will achieve long-term growth.

PROFESSIONAL SECTOR JOBS QUIT4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0Jan.2020

Feb. 2020

March2020

April2020

May2020

All Private Sector Jobs

Professional Sector

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

ATTAINING A MORE DIVERSE WORKFORCE THROUGH READILY AVAILABLE QUALITY TRAINING

M aintaining a diverse workforce is imperative for modern organizations to succeed. Diversity is not limited to just gender, ethnicity, and race: It also encompasses

age, sexual orientation, immigration status, familial background, and people with disabilities, among other factors. Companies with a diverse staff are better positioned to meet the needs of diverse customer bases, and the cash flows of diverse companies are 2.3 times higher than those of companies with more monolithic staff. Diverse companies are 70 percent more likely to capture new markets than organizations that do not actively recruit and support talent from underrepresented groups.

The consistent availability of skills training and learning tools is inexorably linked to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. People from marginalized groups are less likely to have had access to professional development resources while in college, and they may have been systemically excluded from them at their prior jobs. First-generation Americans and employees who were the first to go to college in their families can also face significant skills gaps based on their educational backgrounds and responsibilities that may have prevented them from accessing supplementary training in addition to a degree.

A lack of role models and mentors is a frequent roadblock for women and minority employees and leaders, and access to education and training that is tailored to their needs can alleviate this mentorship disparity. Industries that are facing notorious difficulties in recruitment and retention of diverse talent such as STEM fields must take extra steps to create training, mentorship, and professional opportunities that are specifically tailored to underrepresented groups.

Having readily available training and education is crucial to attract diverse employees and retain them,

particularly if training is part of inclusion strategies. Attracting diverse talent is not enough in and of itself: Diverse employees will feel unappreciated and disengaged if they feel tokenized or excluded

GENDER AND RECIAL DIVERSITY CORRELATION BETWEEN HIGHER PERFORMANCE

GENDER DIVERSITY

RACIAL DIVERSITY

EBIT

EBIT

LONG TERM VALUE

LONG TERM VALUE

Source: McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group

21%

35%

27%

33%

from their coworkers and hold back from making contributions and performing as well as they could. Executing actual inclusion strategies fosters more innovation than companies that only strive for diversity from an optic or statistical level.

By embedding inclusive values into corporate culture and prioritizing closing skills gaps stemming from marginalization, a positive top-down change results that can have ripple effects throughout the industry and business world in general. Moreover, diverse companies are more profitable and more likely to achieve long-term growth on both entity and industry levels. According to the McKinsey study Why Diversity Matters, the firm tracked companies in the top quartile for gender-diverse executive suites and found that they were 15 percent more likely to generate above-average profitability compared to the bottom quartile of companies whose executive teams were predominantly white and male. When it comes to staffing, companies that have higher degrees of racially and ethnically diverse employees have a 35 percent performance advantage over companies relying on a “culture fit” that tends to trend white and monocultural.

Per the McKinsey study, companies with gender-diverse executive teams in the highest quartile outperformed male-dominated companies by 21 percent in terms of EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) and 27 percent in terms of creating long-term value. Racially diverse executive teams provided an advantage of 35 percent higher EBIT and 33 percent more long-term value creation over the least racially diverse companies. Subsequently, companies with diverse talent and executives are more likely to retain the best talent and engage in decision-making that accounts for orienting to larger varieties of customers than companies with a more monolithic customer base.

Diverse companies attain 19 percent higher revenue than monolithic companies on account of greater innovation. Providing education and training that underrepresented groups may not have had access to in the past can foster innovation by exposing employees to new skills and ideas. With millennials becoming the dominant generation in the workforce, attracting millennial talent must take diversity into account given that they are the most diverse generation in American history. Per the 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey, 74 percent of respondents stated that they believe their workplaces will have greater innovation if management actively makes diversity and inclusion a key component of organizational culture.

Having diverse employees bodes well for creating value and innovation, but so does having access to quality educational resources on a regular basis. Given that there is a strong correlation between on-the-job training and education and employee retention and ongoing business growth, diversity, and inclusion measures also factor into this as far as innovation and value creation go. Organizations that do not actively make diversity and inclusion part of their values and culture are likely to begin to decline.

DIVERSE TEAMS DRIVE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND REVENUES

S trong employee retention, diverse workforces, and formidably executed inclusion initiatives can increase cash flows and have a long-term positive impact on corporate culture and

individual employee happiness and productivity. In going beyond this level of operational stability, how will the organization grow? What can foster growth in the long run?

Education and training provide fuel for long-term growth since they are an active investment and demonstration of trust in employees. However, it is also important to note how entire industries tend to treat learning and development. Companies that provide learning opportunities for their employees will have competent and motivated workers who feel more secure at their jobs. When industry-wide practices lead to high attrition and lack of security, the industry itself fails to grow and innovate.

Cultural and technological forces can account for the decline of industries, and the drawn-out COVID-19 global crisis has resulted in the contraction of industries like travel and entertainment, while retail and digital media are experiencing booms. Large-scale failure to invest in employees’ professional development can equate to the downfall of an entire industry, even if it does not happen overnight. By failing to take part in conferences and seminars in addition to individualized employee training and classes, it becomes harder for an organization to maintain its competitive advantage. Ignoring the latest technologies, research techniques, and other cutting-edge developments in the field results in a sequestered organization that can end up isolated and irrelevant from the rest of the industry. When a significant amount of companies value short-term cost savings and isolating from the industry to maintain operations the way they are, the industry will eventually collapse by virtue of being unable to meet modern users’ needs.

It all stems from the failure to innovate by refusing to create strong diversity and inclusion initiatives and overall employee engagement, which encourages innovation. When only 13 percent of employees feel engaged,

it signifies that major fixes are needed in corporate culture and employees’ relationships to their work. Disengaged employees who don’t feel recognized for their contributions are not only more likely to quit, they will do the bare minimum while they still have their jobs. Lack of innovation and high burnout resulting from disengagement will not bode well for the industry as a whole. Investing in employees’ skills motivates them to learn and do more for both their employer and the industry as a whole.

There is often hesitance regarding increasing learning and development spend due to concerns about ROI and taking time away from employees’ tasks and projects. By harnessing employees’ drive for learning and hope for advancement, employee education can offer a stronger ROI than marketing campaigns. If there are concerns that employees will leave after being

WHAT HAPPENS TO INDUSTRIES THAT DON’T PROPERLY UPSKILL THEIR TALENT?

PROJECTED JOB GROWTH RELATIVE TO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING (IN THOUSANDS)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Technical Writers

Media/Communications

Sales Representatives

Personal Financial Advisors

Loan Officers

0 250 500

2018 JOBS NUMBERS 2028 PROJECTED JOBS

significantly upskilled, this concern is often unfounded. However, there is a correlation between offering on-the-job training and long-term job growth that has been noted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: professional sector jobs with moderate to long-term training routinely offered are more likely to demonstrate long-term growth.

The Bureau denotes the consistent availability of on-the-job training in five categories:

• None• Internship or residency• Short-term on-the-job training• Moderate-term on-the-job training• Long-term on-the-job training

Of the professional jobs highlighted, technical writing and media and communications have short-term on-the-job training; sales representatives receive moderate amounts of employer-sponsored education; and personal financial advisors and loan officers, among other professionals in the legal and financial industries, receive long-term education and training from their employers for most of their careers.

Contrary to the job growth of the professions with consistent moderate and long-term education sponsored by employers, technical writing and media jobs with only short-term training are not expected to see as much job growth in the ensuing decade. The financial and legal industries are more likely to offer long-term on-the-job training than communications in light of these professionals being mandated to earn continuing education credits in order to maintain licensure. In comparison, continuing education in the marketing and advertising field is not mandated for these professionals to continue working. Since continuing education credits are not required to work and on-the-job training availability varies by employer but is overall not expected like the other jobs highlighted, the BLS put marketing managers and marketing specialists in the “None” category.

Despite the industry’s current place in this BLS category, marketing is the top-ranked professional service for the highest job growth in the United States. There were 259,200 marketing management jobs in 2018, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects there

to be 280,100 by 2028, while marketing specialists will see the largest decade-over-decade boom, going from 681,900 jobs in 2018 to 821,100 jobs by 2028; this growth is only being superseded by service fields, such as home healthcare aides who need to take care of the largest elderly population in American history.

It may seem counterintuitive to invest in training for long-term growth purposes when considering these fruitful job growth numbers alone. But if there is such significant industrial growth in the marketing field without the expectation of additional on-the-job training, this growth could become exponential and revolutionary if agencies routinely invest in their employees’ hard and soft skills. With job growth for other media and communications workers being projected to only increase by 2,100 jobs in the span of a decade, the crossover between marketing and communications could be utilized to the advantage of both industries. As the marketing field continues to grow and evolve, it is only a natural next step to expand on-the-job training and educational opportunities to the point that it is expected enough that the BLS shifts marketing jobs from “None” to “short-term” or “moderate-term” on statistical tables.

Salesforce is a prominent example of using employer-sponsored education as a change agent. The company transformed the marketing industry in numerous ways, one of the most prevalent being that they made ongoing learning a cornerstone of their corporate culture. Salesforce sought talent from the gaming sphere to help spearhead their Trailhead initiative, which deployed gamified skills training in business and technology topics, how to use and modify Salesforce software, and soft skills training like communications and change management. With hundreds of modules available, digital education can be found in any length, from 10 minutes to several hours, with a variety of badges, ranks, and achievements as well as leaderboards to provide employees and management with a top-down view, of which teams have completed the most additional training on their own. Trailhead was so wildly successful on an internal level that Salesforce began offering it to outside companies for $25 per user per month and as a complimentary add-on to any Salesforce subscription. myTrailhead grew to 1.2 million users shortly after

BEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING A DIGITAL LEARNING AND SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM

Source: Statista, Linkedin Workplace Learning Report

70%OF TALENT DEVELOP-ERS USE VIRTUAL LEARNING

BUT ONLY

18%DEPLOY SELF-PACED VIRTUAL TRAINING

58%OF EMPLOYEES PREFER TO LEARN AT THEIR OWN PACE

I n order to address skills gaps, talent developers must assess them internally; then determine how to close them from the ground up. Some 75 percent of talent developers perform this assessment, but how do they

address the problem head on?IBM decided to address both their lack of diversity

and skills gaps with STEM graduates with their P-Tech program that begins at the collegiate level and expands into apprenticeships for 24 different roles. P-Tech serves more than 125,000 students per year, and it works in conjunction with a program dedicated to closing the tech skills gap with an apprenticeship coalition spearheaded by the Consumer Technology Association. For candidates and employees who have already completed college, IBM has an AI-driven virtual education platform called “Your Learning” that is designed for continuous usage in hot button technology areas such as blockchain, cybersecurity, AI, and other fields that are expecting to see tremendous growth in the near future. Additionally, IBM has various in-house academies that offer role-specific and skills-specific training for employees that zero in on solving very specific problems, such as solving supply chain inefficiencies.

In following IBM’s lead, countless other organizations are seeking to build similar multimedia digital experiences that can supplement live instruction with a trainer or replace it in the current age of social distancing. How can organizations build their own digital learning and skills training programs that provide effective instruction for their employees?

First, an internal job skills and skills gap assessment should determine which job families need the most improvement and what talent developers think will be the most relevant in the near future. Allianz Insurance has remained relevant after more than 120 years and is paving the way by upskilling their workforce of 140,000 with their AllianzU program that maps must-have job skills for the insurance industry.

Next, employees need access to as much educational material as possible. Live instruction can be orchestrated digitally in the age of COVID-19, but motivated employees

who want to train on their own should be able to access digital materials with ease. Online learning has evolved and can cater to a variety of learning styles and take on a variety of media:

• E-books and whitepapers• Interactive and static worksheets• Written e-courses• Game-based learning• Simulations• Webinars• Podcasts• Video• Digital portals• Apps

Human resources thought leaders predict that continuous professional development will surpass traditional one-time training sessions, whether they are in person or digital. Despite the necessity for digital learning materials due to shelter-in-place orders from COVID-19, human resources professionals have been slow to adopt virtual learning tools.

Seventy percent of talent developers are engaging in digital learning tools in some capacity, but only 18 percent are doing so in self-paced, continuous methods. Given that 58 percent of employees prefer to learn at their own pace, it seems only natural that ameliorating digital training and expanding access to it are the next steps.

Talent developers also must actively make employees aware of the opportunities available to them. Only 15 percent of talent developers reported spending significant time on marketing the internal learning

and development programs to employees. If the workforce is not aware that the program exists, they will not benefit from it, and the ROI will not be very robust. Managers must take the initiative to engage employees with the learning materials available to them and then stress that it is available to use at their own pace on a continuous basis.

Once employees begin making efforts to educate themselves and improve their skills, recognition is key. To maintain momentum and inspire engagement, demonstrate recognition of their efforts. Even if they complete only one webinar or book, show that attempts to master a skill are being noticed. The entire team needs to be involved in this effort, as lack of recognition for hard work is frequently a driving force behind high attrition rates. Recognition of closing crucial skills gaps is necessary for both motivation and innovation.

Upon recognizing the effort put into mastering a new skill or improving existing skills, rewarding this effort demonstrates that the organization values both the skill and the employee. Monetary rewards, such as cash bonuses, or quasi-cash-like gift cards and additional employee benefits can motivate employees to improve their skills and make them feel that their contributions are truly valued. Incentives to finish coursework, listen to podcasts, or watch videos can motivate even the most disengaged employee.

Training and education are crucial for growing a workforce’s skills and putting the organization’s contributions to the industry at the forefront. Online learning has drastically evolved in recent years and has been successfully deployed in several industries and organizations. Instituting a digital learning program that employees can participate in at their own pace is a cost-effective way to make them feel valued and secure in their careers.

MediaVillage is the media and marketing home for advancing industry, corporate and individual growth through education and diversity. For membership details and opportunities visit https://www.mediavillage.com/about-us/. Contact: Jack Myers, Chairman, jack@mediavillage.com

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

GROWTH THROUGHEDUCATION AND DIVERSITY

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