Miss Robbie previously held the role of Managing Director, Australia and will celebrate her three-year anniversary at YouGov in October this year.
“One of the key areas I will focus on in this role is to build on the strong foundations we have in place to grow a regional team that transcends our geographical borders. We have so much talent in the region and the ability to service clients globally and regionally, whilst maintaining the best what makes each market unique.”
“I think empowering our people to showcase their skills will drive momentum to power our ambitious growth plans and to increase our brand awareness of YouGov in Asia Pac,” she said.
“I have a very clever team who know research inside out, so there are certain things I leave to the true experts,” she laughs, “and like me, they are intrinsically motivated, which is something I really rely on.” But her self-effacing honesty belies a much deeper motive.
“Working in data analytics and research is all about people. I am intensely interested in people, in understanding people and in bringing the human aspect to business.”
“I believe that we can only do our best work when we can confidently bring our whole selves to our work. We all wear so many hats and our lives are challenged by so many external factors. Ultimately, our work is about people – our team, our panellists, our clients. If we look after our people, we prioritise and we focus well, the success will follow.”
Miss Robbie credits much of her career success thus far to having people who helped push her out of her comfort zone. Equally, Miss Robbie hopes to inspire and motivate others to do the same. “I want to be able to create an environment where everyone feels safe to showcase their talents – even the ones that they don’t know that they have yet,” she said.
Miss Robbie is also passionate about making YouGov’s work meaningful. In a world where ‘corporate social responsibility’ can sometimes seem like a checklist item, Miss Robbie has already taken the first step in replacing the company’s social event committee with a ‘social good’ committee. “It won’t always be fun living in the shadows of Covid and facing the realities our current economic climate, but we can do good and that can bring us joy and satisfaction,” she said. “Also, our teams want more from a company culture than a party scene these days. Coming together to give back is a much more powerful equation.”
Unsurprisingly, “taking a breath” is on her list of things she needs to remind herself to do in the role. “I’m in it for the marathon, not the sprint.”
Laura would also like to acknowledge the very substantial leadership and support of outgoing APAC CEO Julien Chevignon. “Julien and his regional team built the APAC region for YouGov and off the back of this success, will be taking up the role of YouGov CEO for Western Europe.”
