Matari training, library strengthen human resources

Kurniawan Hari ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 04/27/2008 12:48 PM

Matari Deputy president director Michael D. Sudarto is photographed at the agency's internal library, which houses a collection of videos, print media and designs that date back to the 1970s. (JP/Kurniawan Hari)

Matari Advertising, one of the country's major advertising companies, is marking its 37th anniversary this year with several activities including an internal party, an exhibition and a book launch.

While the party was dedicated mainly to employees, the exhibition and the book launch were for the public, especially for those who have an interest in advertising. Through these events, Matari tried to share its knowledge, ethos and success.

Some samples of old advertisements and equipment used in the past were on display during a one-day exhibition at the Gran Melia Hotel in South Jakarta. The exhibition was an historical portrait of Matari, which was founded by Ken Sudarto and Paul Karmadi.

Ken, who died in 2005, was known to be an individual who believed in education as a means to improve the quality of human resources. In the 1990s, he introduced an internship program that provided intensive industry training for students.

The company also initiated a structured in-house human resource development program, through which Matari became known as an universitas periklanan, or an advertising university.

"This company provides services. We don't have tangible assets. All we have is only human resources. So, we try our best to improve our human resource development," said deputy president director Michael D. Sudarto, the son of Matari co-founder Ken Sudarto.

Under its human resource development program, Matari often sends its employees abroad for training. It also frequently invites foreign advertising experts to speak at a workshop or training here.

The most innovative program in the 1990s was Widya Karya, a three-month internship for university students in their final year that included a chance to study real-life cases in the industry.

They also learned the fundamentals: What is advertising? What is its process? What is a good advertisement?

The internship program was not simply aimed at finding the right individual for Matari, but was also intended to prepare qualified human resources for the nation.

After they completed their internships, students often received an offer to join Matari. Some former interns took the offer, and are still working at Matari today.

The internship was to be held once every five years to fulfill the employment needs at Matari; unfortunately, the 1997 financial crisis forced the company to halt the program.

"We will revive the program next year," Michael said.

As part of its drive to develop the quality of human resources, Matari also allocates funds to develop and maintain a library.

"We are the only advertising agency that has a library. We have collections of books, newspapers, case studies, videos from the 1970s. The library is run for employees to develop themselves," said Michael.

The training and the library of this dedicated program in human resource development has indeed produced qualified and creative employees, as was seen in Matari's achievement as the first Indonesian advertising agency to become a finalist in the Clio Awards. The global Clio Awards is recognized as the pinnacle of creative excellence in advertising, design and interactive media, and is given to students, industry professionals and agencies.

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