The importance of a strong team culture when running an agency

When you grow a brand over ten years, from a sole trader setup to a team of 16 full time staff and contractors, it’s hard not to consider your business as your ‘baby’! The success of Elevate is in my hands, in my blood, and it’s there in my thoughts when I first wake up and when I last close my eyes.

But I have a confession to make to our roster of clients.

 I don’t write your company’s Facebook posts.

I don’t pull your monthly reports together.

And I don’t phone the journalists to pitch your story.

As the company has grown and shifted, so too has my role in it. While I oversee all activity and keep your account in line with our original strategy to ensure we are always working towards your KPIs, my team of incredible PR and communication professionals make the day-to-day magic happen through their relentless pursuit for success.

Instead of being hands on with the pitching and writing like I once was ten years ago, my role now sees me hiring the best in the business and encouraging a strong team culture that unites us in vision and drive. Growth in our team ultimately means we can do more for you and your business.

Happy team, happy dream

They say ‘happy wife, happy life’, and the same is true in an agency! When you cultivate a strong team culture, you foster happy employees which in turn motivates them to push boundaries, go above and beyond for clients and colleagues, and embrace challenges as learning opportunities.

Motivated staff are passionate staff, and that’s exactly what I need around me for Elevate to continue on its trajectory of growth. I’m also aware that while clients turn to Elevate for their PR activity, it’s the relationships formed with their appointed Communication Manager that they take away as their day to day experience of Elevate. As an agency manager then, it is critical that the team culture is strong to ensure staff are driven to stay and grow within the team, and our clients enjoy stability in their PR team.

A positive staff culture creates a winning team

When we were announced the Small Agency of the Year at the 2017 National PRIA Awards, I know it was our commitment to maintaining a strong culture that ultimately got us here. Yes, we deliver on what we promise to our clients. Yes, we focus on results and strategy. But at the heart of a PR agency is the people who can deliver this. The people who quite frankly, can choose where they want to work. No one wants to lose good people, and fostering a strong staff culture that encourages, motivates and nurtures individuals is the core objective to keep them working with you and not your competitor.

Agency life can be extremely stressful on occasion when trying to meet competing deadlines and securing KPIs, but I welcome any of our clients to ask your communication manager about our staff culture here. Whether it’s our financial commitment to every employee for training and development, the stand-up desks that allow them to work most productively or the weekly values whip-around that sees everyone nominating a team member for a job well done, I know our team members value the environment we foster here at Elevate, and that in turn makes it that much easier to do what they do best.

At Elevate, we know we are in the business of people, and that makes us both a Supplier of Choice for brands seeking PR and an Employer of Choice for PR professionals. Contact us today and benefit from our people-first philosophy.