Up the ranks: Adam Cooke of GroupM

GroupM has recently promoted Adam Cooke to talent acquisition manager APAC.

In his new role, Cooke will be driving the internal adoption of technology to improve candidate sourcing and selection.

He will also be responsible for the delivery of end-to-end recruitment service of business critical leadership roles, and the development of an internal talent marketplace of high potential staff.

"Adam had no serious recruiting experience prior to joining GroupM and he is a great example of how we hire for potential and culture fit, and then train for skills," Michael Wright, head of talent acquisition APAC for GroupM, told Human Resources.

"Lots of people talk about this but very few people do it. Talent Acquisition is not just about recruiting, it’s hard – to succeed, you need to excel at marketing, data, and tech. Adam does all of these things exceedingly well and I’m delighted to have played a part in his development."

Previously, as a digital recruiter APAC, Cooke was focused on diversifying the talent pool and bringing to the business talent such as digital specialists and digital strategists across APAC.

"I know GroupM are forging ahead as pioneers within an industry that is constantly changing and my transitioned role is also a good example of this," Cooke said.

"When I started three years ago, digital was considered as the shiny new thing that our clients wanted specialists to work on. Now digital knowledge is a pre-requisite in every business leader we develop or bring into the business. The ‘Talent’ function at GroupM is recognised internally as a much needed and well respected business partner in future proofing our leading market share."

Currently, Cooke is working towards improving the integration between Group M's sourcing and selection product.

He is also completing the roll-out of the company's recruitment platform across all APAC markets.