Monday, December 30, 2013

WWE "enhances" their Talent Philosophy

WWE updated their "Talent Philosophy" page recently:

Old Talent Philosophy Page: 10/14/2013
Current Talent Philosophy Page: 12/15/2013

Three Major Changes Noted:
  • Lowered number of performers from 150 to 140. 
That surprises me a bit because I thought that opening the Performance Center would result in more talent under contract.
  • Dropped the claims about how much an "average full-time, main-roster performer" works, 4.5 days/week, and the average annual compensation claims of $550k. 
This number had seemed ridiculous skewed, especially since the specifically call out that 'They do not have corporate responsibilities or duties.' yet they're probably including HHH's million dollar comp in that number.
  • Changes "WWE's Talent Life Skills program" to "WWE’s Professional Development program" and greatly expands on what they're offering: Life Skills, Education, Wellness and Career Success. 
The third part is really where they've greatly expanded on what they're offering:

Life Skills: Provides talent with practical skills and solutions to manage their careers both in and out of the ring. Educational presentations and seminars help talent with decision making and the development of their personal brand.
Education: Assists talent in reaching their full potential through programs that include financial education, college tuition reimbursement, language courses and media training.
* Financial Education – A partnership with Money Management International (MMI) is designed to provide talent with educational resources that offer them valuable financial insight to build a bright future. This includes budget counseling, debt control, goal setting, understanding financial values, saving, choosing a tax professional and choosing a financial advisor.
* Media Training – Provides talent with a comprehensive training program that focuses on understanding today’s media landscape, delivering key messages, tips and techniques for conducting interviews and the effective and appropriate use of social media. WWE’s Talent Media Training program is conducted in partnership with Kevin Sullivan Communications.
* Continuing Education – Offers tuition assistance to all active WWE talent for college level courses, certificate programs or language courses.
Wellness: Through programs designed in collaboration with WWE’s Medical Team and Talent Relations department, talent receives relevant knowledge to aid their overall well-being and longevity. Seminars will provide information on living a healthy lifestyle as well as injury/illness prevention.
Career Success: Designed to aid a talent’s progression within WWE and beyond, career success provides assistance to talent the NXT and main roster levels, as well as those transitioning to prepare for life after WWE. A comprehensive rookie orientation program provides new talent with all relevant WWE information, including wellness education, strength and conditioning, financial education, media training, social media and continuing education.
Nope, it's not that Kevin Sullivan. Instead, it's a company started by a former White House Communication Director under GW Bush who also worked for NBCUniversal/NBC Sports. On the company website they list WWE in their digital brochure.

I'll be curious whether Cena's recent Chinese lessons are related to the "language courses", or if WWE provided tuition assistance for Xavier Wood's degree. Also, one is always be curious what career paths and suggestions the "life after WWE" training includes.

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