Case Study – DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG
In 2005, DreamWorks Animation created an Outreach program to recruit entry-level animation artists and software engineers from top undergraduate and graduate programs across the U.S., and internationally.
The goal of this program was to seed the next generation of creative and technical leadership at the Studio, and to also offset the rapidly rising salary rates for experienced talent.
The Outreach program grew from 7 initial colleges to 40 institutions in 2009, ranging from Art, Illustration and Animation programs to Digital Media Studies, Computer Science and Computer Graphics programs.
For ‘hard to hire’ departments, including Storyboarding, Special Effects and Character Rigging, special training programs were put in place to bring entry-level hires up to speed so that they could succeed in these disciplines.
All entry-level hires were Onboarded by Outreach staff for a period of 6-months, working with their creative and administrative supervisors to make sure they were being properly tasked to get them up to speed, and to make sure expectations and communication were covered – thus preventing anyone from slipping through the cracks unnecessarily, and addressing common problems for grads’ ”first job out of college.”
The program created community-building events and mentorship relationships with other recent entry-level hires, and alumni from the Outreach schools.
The program developed close mentorship, R&D, curriculum consultation and recruiting relationships with target schools, bypassing Career Services and working directly with faculty to identify potential recruits, and to conduct special classes and portfolio reviews by visiting DreamWorks specialists.
DreamWorks Animation set up a special program with the California State University system to support the concept of a “private school animation education at a state school price” and funded a visiting professorship on the San Jose State University campus.
The program partnered with HR, but did not “live” in HR. This separate identity removed any possible “big-brother” associations with other staff-oriented practices that might have inhibited openness and integration into the community.
The results are compelling:
Of the 165 entry-level grads hired:
- Retention: 93% (including 8 “superstars of tomorrow”)
- Savings vs. cost of journey-level talent: $8 million
- Program ROI (including all sourcing/recruiting): 300%
- Training Program Impact: over 25% of ‘hard-to-hire’ departments now consist of Outreach grads