I am Sonal Arora, a left-brained professional. I have been fortunate to have spent the majority of the last decade leading finance teams at two of the most creative companies that Indian advertising has seen recently. First at the legendary Webchutney founded by my dear friend Sidharth Rao, and now at Talented with Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditiya who helped take that very company to its greatest heights.
First things first. I’m aware that my perspective is perhaps the most unheard in our business.
We’re usually the quiet ones. But make no mistake, this is where all the decisions that are truly ‘life and death’ in the context of agency life are made. From determining what your organisation’s health cover includes to understanding why it takes 15 emails and 7 months for your FnF to be processed. Exploring why vendor registrations as freelancers can take up to a year after the project is concluded, and, most significantly, why a prospective candidate has to disclose their current CTC before an interview.
Creative agencies believe that they’re scripting the creativity, but often find themselves clinging to outdated practices. And that leads me to my ambition at Talented - to rewrite these norms, fostering a culture where our financial model ensures equity for each individual across the board. My mentor, Benny Augustine used to say, “There’s a first time for everything. Even in finance departments.” I believe an equitable culture, where creative people are celebrated not through made-up designations, but the real stuff - money and power, can be game changing and make the atmosphere more creative.
At my workplace, I’ve initiated some early experiments, and it feels like there’s no looking back. I’ll start with the simple ones.
There should be no need for any disclosure of previous CTC: Trapped in a cycle where your career advancement hinges on your previous salary? Missed appraisals due to joining after cut-off dates or faced earnings impact from company setbacks? Agencies should be fairly compensating talent, irrespective of your past salary, and rectifying unfair pay by asking about your expectations rather than solely relying on your last 3 months’ salary slips. This ensures that the first offer that you accept in your career doesn’t trap you in a vicious cycle that you can’t break out of - because every percentage increase is usually only atop an already low base. I feel that this can especially help smaller-town and female professionals in the industry.
FnF Process: When you join a new organisation, the initial month often means living on a budget because your previous employer usually requires 45-60 days to process your FnF. Is this fair? It almost feels like a punishment for leaving. Considering that this entire process technically involves only a few checks and signatures, why does it have to take this long? And so, we have rejected the idea of putting departing colleagues under such pressure and are committed to release FnF within 3 working days.
Freelancer Payments: We thrive on the gig economy and our growing partner network that supports our creative endeavours. However, it’s puzzling that while we expect immediate support for a project, the industry seems to have normalised delaying payments as the last priority once the project concludes. Shouldn’t we rectify delayed payments for their work? We’ve established a system ensuring all freelancer payments are cleared within 10 to 15 days. Now this has been the toughest one to implement and we still get it wrong plenty of times. After all, the agency business is a cash flow business. But, we’ve got to keep trying to do what it takes.
Sharing the load and profits: As a significant portion of our company is employee-owned, our policies mirror this structure, ensuring an equitable distribution of responsibilities and rewards among our workforce. This is evident in our ESOP model, aligning employee and organisational interests, and our commitment to transparent communication regarding company performance, financials, and decision-making processes.
Having said that, an agency, like any business, needs to be profitable, even when it’s centred around the people. In my decade-long career, I have picked up on some signs to help teams be operationally efficient. Here is, by no means, an exhaustive guide:
- Charge fairly for all services—no freebies or undercuts. Don’t hesitate to bill for out-of-scope work.
- Prioritise financial sense over closing deals; decline if needed. At Talented we have a high new biz decline rate for this reason.
- Forge close collaboration between finance and business teams for a healthier company bottom line and better morale.
- Question traditional time-based pricing models in advertising.
- Engage with clients who view payment as standard, not a favour—spot early signs.
- Prioritise employees while enforcing responsible asset use for discipline.
- Continuously review finance processes to prevent bureaucracy; they should facilitate, not obstruct.
- While tracking EBITA and Operating Margin is crucial, startups in particular should prioritise initial investments without compromising employee well-being. Strive for a balanced focus on profitability and employee welfare.
As a company that just crossed our two-year agency anniversary, my goal remains to debunk the myth that a profitable and financially successful creative agency cannot prioritise employee welfare.
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