Driving Employee Growth and Engagement at Nielsen: Leadership, Values, and Transformation
In recent years, the world has experienced considerable change, and Nielsen has adapted in response. We are not only transforming our business model but also evolving our culture and employee experience to ensure we continue delivering exceptional work. Our focus is on fostering employee growth and engagement.
We have been dedicating resources to develop our employees' skills, acknowledge top performers, clarify job roles, and support career growth for all. Additionally, we have prioritized offering flexibility to our employees and made significant progress in enhancing our well-being program, particularly in the area of emotional health, to ensure it is accessible globally.
Our values serve as the cornerstone of our organization, with our cultural behaviors—accountability, performance, operational excellence, and grit—bringing these values to life through everyday actions. These behaviors fuel our transformation and help us create a better future for all. We aim to empower our employees to live these values every day, as they are the driving force behind our culture.
In 2023 and into 2024, we focused on integrating our values and cultural behaviors into the daily employee experience, including introducing them early in our onboarding process, so new hires at Nielsen are aligned with our company’s core identity.
Our Values:
We have been dedicating resources to develop our employees' skills, acknowledge top performers, clarify job roles, and support career growth for all. Additionally, we have prioritized offering flexibility to our employees and made significant progress in enhancing our well-being program, particularly in the area of emotional health, to ensure it is accessible globally.
Our values serve as the cornerstone of our organization, with our cultural behaviors—accountability, performance, operational excellence, and grit—bringing these values to life through everyday actions. These behaviors fuel our transformation and help us create a better future for all. We aim to empower our employees to live these values every day, as they are the driving force behind our culture.
In 2023 and into 2024, we focused on integrating our values and cultural behaviors into the daily employee experience, including introducing them early in our onboarding process, so new hires at Nielsen are aligned with our company’s core identity.
Our Values:
- Inclusion
- Courage
- Growth
Our Culture Behaviors:
- Accountability: Taking ownership, clarifying roles, managing expectations, respecting decisions, and following through.
- Performance: Delivering key outcomes quickly by focusing on high-priority tasks, maintaining high standards, and fostering mutual improvement.
- Operational Excellence: Continuously improving and measuring success by applying learnings and celebrating achievements.
- Grit: Overcoming challenges together by trusting one another, embracing change, and finding solutions.
Leadership Development Supporting and engaging people managers is a crucial element in driving employee growth and engagement. These leaders significantly influence our business success, team development, and the promotion of our values and cultural behaviors.
We continue to invest in leadership development through a variety of programs tailored to meet the needs of our managers. By the end of 2023, nearly 550 people managers participated in cohort-based leadership programs like Lead, Boost, and Ascend. In 2024, we shifted to recruiting candidates for the 12-week Lead and Boost programs through applications, rather than nominations, and introduced six global cohorts of 150 participants. Lead focuses on managers with less than two years of experience to establish leadership fundamentals, while Boost helps experienced managers enhance team engagement skills. The Ascend program provides top talent with customized coaching and assessment over six months.
In 2023, nearly 400 people managers engaged in Leader Lab, which offers quarterly virtual learning sessions and on-demand People Leader Essentials training through Degreed. Employees across the company also have access to career development programs that align with our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. More details are available in the Business Inclusion, Impact, and Belonging section of our 2024 ESG report.
Expanding Capabilities and Enabling Growth We offer resources and opportunities for employees to grow their skills, an integral part of our Growth Culture commitment. With the rapid transformation of our company and the evolving media landscape, we emphasized learning programs in 2023 to help employees better understand these changes and expand their skills. In 2023, 82% of our employees used our Learning Management System and Degreed platforms, completing over 32,500 learning activities.
We continue to invest in leadership development through a variety of programs tailored to meet the needs of our managers. By the end of 2023, nearly 550 people managers participated in cohort-based leadership programs like Lead, Boost, and Ascend. In 2024, we shifted to recruiting candidates for the 12-week Lead and Boost programs through applications, rather than nominations, and introduced six global cohorts of 150 participants. Lead focuses on managers with less than two years of experience to establish leadership fundamentals, while Boost helps experienced managers enhance team engagement skills. The Ascend program provides top talent with customized coaching and assessment over six months.
In 2023, nearly 400 people managers engaged in Leader Lab, which offers quarterly virtual learning sessions and on-demand People Leader Essentials training through Degreed. Employees across the company also have access to career development programs that align with our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. More details are available in the Business Inclusion, Impact, and Belonging section of our 2024 ESG report.
Expanding Capabilities and Enabling Growth We offer resources and opportunities for employees to grow their skills, an integral part of our Growth Culture commitment. With the rapid transformation of our company and the evolving media landscape, we emphasized learning programs in 2023 to help employees better understand these changes and expand their skills. In 2023, 82% of our employees used our Learning Management System and Degreed platforms, completing over 32,500 learning activities.
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