• by Amy Corr  @MediaPostOTL, May 15, 2017

DDB North America named Britt Hayes as chief people officer. A new position, Hayes will work with leaders from the network's 17 North American offices to oversee all talent and development programs, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and recruitment for the agency. She reports to Wendy Clark, chief executive officer.

Hayes joins the agency from Grey Group, where she managed creative talent and operations for the network's New York office as executive director, creative management. Prior to that, she was worldwide head of creative talent at J. Walter Thompson.

Hayes also spent 12 years at McCann as senior vice president/director of creative services, where she was responsible for managing the creative department and recruiting across McCann Worldgroup in San Francisco, including McCann Erickson, T.A.G., and MRM.

"At the very core of our business is people," said Clark. "Nothing works in our agencies, or in our industry for that matter, without talented people and the bright ideas and brilliant work they create. Investing in a role like this is a deliberate step to ensure the recruitment, retention, and development of our 2,000+ talented associates of DDB North America stays at the forefront of our focus. Britt is a proven and accomplished business leader. Her ability to identify, nurture, and develop talented people to create the best work of their careers is exactly what was so compelling about having Britt join us at DDB."