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What Does the Agency of the Future Look Like: Part Two

17/12/2021
Associations, Award Shows and Festivals
London, UK
18
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Exploring how important aligning with your employees’ passions and principles are to create great work…

In part one yesterday we talked about getting the flexible working culture right, and valuing your employees in order to create the best independent agency of the future. If you missed it, check it out here:

Today we explore how important aligning with your employees’ passions and principles is to creating great work…

Passion breeds excellence

Writing for Forbes, Ashley Stahl highlights the differences between the working generations and their attitudes to life. “Gen-Z’s expectations in the workplace are values-driven and aligned with their personal morals”. Today’s talent want to work somewhere they can be proud of, somewhere they feel they are making a difference. Our Gen-Z’s expect the companies they work for to be sustainable, they expect them to have Diversity & Inclusion policies in place, and they want to share a passionate belief in what the company is trying to achieve. In his book 'The Power of Us', David Price writes passionately about leaders needing to be less managerial and more horticultural. He explains that the leader’s role is “to feed the right nutrients into the growing medium, so that innovation is fed by the root system and not by a top-down process of fertilisation”. What an excellent metaphor for how we should value our people and allow them to shape the future of our industry. We learnt that 1/3 of agencies have an employee-owned agency model and the remaining 2/3 expressed a willingness to explore this for their agencies. What better way to bring the best out of your employees than for them to have a true stake in how the company performs? Ownership is a powerful thing. Get your people truly believing in your company’s core values and watch them (and the company) thrive.

So if our talent wants to work for agencies that put sustainability and D&I high on their agenda, and for companies that genuinely value their contribution and their wellness, the question is are our current agencies up to the job and what can the agency of the future do better?

Five stats to consider from our research:

  • One third of the agencies are looking to pursue accreditation in the ESG space, with only one in four stating their current sustainability practices above average.
  • 80% of our respondents said they are not currently monitoring D&I figures, but…
  • Over half will be undertaking recruitment training with an aim to make our industry more diverse and inclusive.
  • Three quarters of the agencies have a Wellbeing Programme.
  • 2/3 have a dedicated culture team.

The stats are encouraging, we are moving in the right direction, but we have so much work still to do.

The project identified what must change and also what we should keep. Culture, camaraderie and sharing of expertise are vital elements in a workplace. Not to mention inspiration that comes from collaboration and innovation. Retaining talent is not free lunches and working from home, it is reimagining traditional working models to put trust, purpose, meaningful connections and shared ambitions at the forefront of the agency of the future.

To learn more about the Alliance of Independent Agencies go to https://allindependentagencies.org/

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