Gary Jenkins, Managing Director at digital PR, SEO and content agency No Brainer, shares his thoughts on why he believes “people are everything” and why agencies should “build a culture they’re happy working in”.
There’s no doubt that despite the challenges of the pandemic, all of us learned something valuable; something that has stuck with us and changed who we are, how we do things or how we work today.
Among the lessons I and many other creative agency owners have learned over this time, one of the most important is to have a relentless focus on people.
Whether it’s better communication, building and maintaining a culture of openness, ensuring our recruitment and retention is strong, or just maintaining the general happiness of the team, this focus must be consistent, and it must be a priority.
Because after all, our businesses are our people. And if you don’t think that, and your key metrics are around the bottom line and profitability, then you’ll find it impossible to find and keep the very best.
After almost seven years of running an agency, I know that people are everything.
Find them, invest in their professional growth and happiness, do what you can to build a culture they’re happy working in, trust them and just let them get on with their jobs.
How the pandemic changed agency life
The pandemic brought us more access to our teams’ and clients’ lives outside of work than ever before.
It showed we’re all human beings, who have to do their big shop after a long day at work, forget what time to pick the kids up from after-school clubs and spend their weekends in front of the telly with a share bag of Walker’s Sensations for themselves.
That access and openness to each other’s lives enabled creative agencies to fine tune not only what they do, but how they do it. I mean everything, from working models to technologies, meeting routines to communications, and – more broadly – the relationships we have with each other as a team and with clients.
And as a business where relationships are so crucial, that’s got to be a change for the better.
But I still see many agencies doing things the same way they always have – and I wonder, how long can that go on for?
Recruitment and retention have changed forever
When it comes to job-hunting, why do creative agencies continue to hide behind job descriptions like “work in a fast-paced environment” and perks like “free office fruit”? Is that really what people want these days?
The team at No Brainer.
Over the last year, we’ve spent a lot of time refining our approach to recruitment and retention and developed policies that really matter to our team, and work for everyone.
So, when it comes to recruitment and retention in our industry, what are the key considerations? I’ve listed a few below, based on what we’ve learned. You may have others, but here are five things that stand out for me:
1. Salary expectations
I’ve attended roundtables and I’m in agency leaders’ groups, and there’s no doubt it’s a competitive market out there right now. I think that’s a good thing as it helps the industry up its game in terms of what it offers and how it focuses on its team as a priority.
There’s a general trend where creative agencies don’t list salaries or salary bands in their initial job ads – we’ve done similar in the past, but not anymore. What does ‘competitive salary’ even mean?
Instead, there are some great recruitment agencies, industry data and accountancy firms who have valuable insights into current salaries – both in sector and region. Use it.
Just as the pandemic taught us that we’re all human beings and our motivations are different, it’s also reminded us that we all come to work to earn a wage, and just how much of an influence salary can have.
We made the decision to be transparent about salaries in our most recent job ads to ensure candidates can make a well-informed decision about their interest in the role before they even apply. We need more of that.
2. Interviews
Traditionally, as co-owners of the business (granted, we’re not as big as some agencies!), Lee and I have always taken the lead on interviews across all levels of the agency. However, as the team has grown and new specialisms and skill requirements have come into play, we’ve recognised we can’t do it all.
Culture and team fit take up a big chunk of our scoring criteria when it comes to interviews, and we’ve always appointed people with strong emotional intelligence, people who have something special about them as well as the capability to grow way beyond the role they’re applying for.
That’s why we trust the judgement of our team when it comes to growing it. After all, it’s not just Lee and I they’ll be working alongside!
When we made the recent appointments of our two account executives, Alex and Charlie, we ensured our account managers were a major part of the interview process, so both sides could get a good feel for who they’d be working with. Transparency is crucial in today’s world for employee and employer.
And more recently, when we announced our latest recruitment plans to the team, it was really refreshing to hear how members of the team – across all levels – wanted to be involved in our interview process. And they will be.
Gary Jenkins, MD at No Brainer.
3. Be honest about who you are
As creative agencies, we have all the tools we need to create a ‘reality’ of ourselves which is different to the one we live and work within every day. We can garner attention, create noise, showcase our best bits etc, for fun. But is it always our true selves? And is it right?
Albeit it’s always slick and nicely designed, but we portray ourselves and our agency warts and all. We are what we are and if that fits you, then brilliant. If it doesn’t that’s OK too, because we’ll never be a fit for each other and we’ve saved some valuable time faffing about.
I think this is important for recruitment, but also retention. We make No Brainer our own client and our comms planning and delivery for ourselves is all about being true to who we are. This includes having a plan for our internal communications as well as our external communications, so we’re all on the same page.
The last thing I’d want is to get some amazing person into our business for them to realise we’ve sold them up the river. So, we don’t. And other agencies shouldn’t either.
4. The real perks
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people really don’t give a damn about free office fruit.
The rise of corporate millennials and Gen Zs – who are driving a real change in how modern businesses operate – means understanding what really matters to people when it comes to their professional lives has never been more important.
And, in a trusted and open environment, they’re not afraid to communicate it either.
Do people really want a “Duvet Day” as part of their holiday allowance, or would they rather just have a good holiday allowance anyway and be trusted to work remotely and flexibly wherever they are?
In the past, we’ve been guilty ourselves of showing off about the stuff you’d expect a PR agency to be talking about; prosecco Fridays, cool office bean bags, a dart board, etc.
But we’ve learned they all come secondary to stuff like proper progression plans, training, mentorship, visibility and exposure to clients.
Pictured: Lee Cullen, No Brainer co-founder and Director, with Gary Jenkins.
It’s also important to create an environment where it’s OK to make a mistake or not having to reply to an email or WhatsApp past 5pm. Being able to nip out to watch your son or daughter in a school play or take your grandma for her weekly food shop are OK too. As long as your clients are happy and your account team is happy, we’re happy. All this supports better retention.
Contracts and policies are important, so it should always be managed well and clear. But, if you put trust as your starting point, then it creates a stronger, better culture from which to grow. It still amazes me how many businesses don’t trust their people. Or maybe we’re just lucky we haven’t been burned yet.
5. Setting boundaries and leading by example
In terms of retention and wellbeing, there’s a lot of conversation about stress and burnout in the creative and marketing industries, and it rightly remains such a huge topic as we move into post-pandemic life.
Flexible working hours and hybrid working are a must now, but we constantly need to be talking to our teams to understand how they are and ensuring they have measures in place to mitigate the risk of burnout.
We all have the issue of our inboxes being filled during all times of the day – there’s always something to do! – so encouraging our team to set boundaries for their day is something we really champion.
Every morning, our No Brainer team WhatsApp group comes alive with everyone pinging through their working hours for the day, and whether they’re at home or in the office. A way for the team to stay connected, and expectations managed through account teams.
But those boundaries come by example. If the team see Lee or I working past 5.30pm, or through our lunches then we’re setting a standard that this is the norm – it’s expected – for everyone else. And that’s not ok.
We’ve also set up a Culture and Wellbeing Steering Group, involving people from all areas and levels of the business, so we can get the insights – and find new ways – to promote better work/life balance now and in the future. Another pandemic positive.
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