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Lintas India employees were pleasantly surprised on July 21, when all of them who had been associated with the agency for more than six months received a payout. Some cheques were reportedly in the range of Rs 1 crore.
Now being touted as one of the biggest disbursements ever by an advertising agency in India, this development came soon after the Interpublic Group acquired Lintas India. The payout puts to rest the rumours that erupted after the acquisition. Prem Mehta, chairman and managing director of Lintas, did the honours himself. While he handed out the cheques to the employees, an announcement was also made about the development to the agency’s branches and divisions in the rest of the country.
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Prem Mehta |
The source said the benefits have trickled down to most employees, but those who have served the company the longest, or are at the top, are the biggest gainers. Who gets how much was evaluated on the basis of number of years spent at the agency, contribution made, present salary, etc. For instance, employees who have been with the agency for close to 25 years have received Rs 20 lakh.
Word has spread like wildfire and various divisions within Lintas (besides Lowe) – Lintas Personal, Linterland, LinOpinion, Advent, Lintertainment and Lintas Healthcare – are expecting to see some action beginning Monday. A senior employee of LinOpinion says, “We have not been informed of any payouts yet though we will soon be informed about it.”
Though the development has come as a surprise for Lintas members, other agencies do not find it unusual. Satbir Singh, chief creative officer, Euro RSCG, India, says, “This may be a big deal for those who have got that amount, but it’s not completely unheard of. For instance, this has been happening at agencies such as Ogilvy and JWT. Here, depending upon the performance, all members get a lot of money from time to time.”
Agrees Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT, Delhi, “To my mind, this is a result of the sale to IPG. This was a natural step and in this case, the employees were taken by surprise. This happened in JWT as well. When JWT did it, it was based on the shareholding of each employee.
“Here, this should be seen as Prem Mehta’s way of sharing the good fortune with employees. This keeps happening at JWT and Ogilvy. Employees repeatedly get back money.”
© 2010 afaqs!From Sudhir, Fri 27 Jul 2007 02:53:34 PM I see noone has talked about the creatives missing out on the windfall...Big trouble ahead after the bounty, I can guarantee all readers...
From Michael P. S, Thu 26 Jul 2007 10:48:48 AM This news will be a trend setter for the advertising community.
Wishing for a good health Mr. Mehta.
From Priya, Tue 24 Jul 2007 12:30:51 PM The two guys should not have jumped into the conversation. Anyways it is interesting to note such a trend. All agencies should begin paying quarterly bonuses to the emlpoyees.
From Arg, Mon 23 Jul 2007 05:00:16 PM Absolutely agree with you Dicks. and well said. Mr. Singh and Mr. Ohri, to throw some much-needed light onto the subject, recently Ambience, Ulka and Saatchi have been sold.
What you too are referring to (i think) are the bonuses which we recieve from time-to-time.
It would be great if firstly, afaqs, asked opinions of some relevant people. Secondly, people speaking on it, should know what they are talking about.
From SBAHL, Mon 23 Jul 2007 04:42:20 PM Its a good way to reward loyalty with younger admen and adwomen raking in so much salary today.
Kudos to Lowe, O&M, JWT, and others. Give back something to the employees for what you make from their work!
From Dicks, Mon 23 Jul 2007 02:59:02 PM This is truly good corporate governance...somewhat of an example! It is unfortunate the way the facts have been distorted here. Let me clarify for everyones' benefit. In these circumstances, what the Ogilvys and JWTs give is money in lieu of shares which are, to begin with, investments of the beneficiary. When a buy-out happens, people are paid in lieu of their holdings and are compensated for the future when they would have got dividends etc. So, what Lowe has done is not the same...they were not legally obliged to give this money out, but they still did what they did. Kudos!!!
