The many aspects of an award-winning culture
For new recruits, it is refreshing to learn early on that Cuttsy+Cuttsy do not follow the norm of most marketing/advertising agencies. Thanks to our ‘No Long Hours’ policy, our team do not put in 50+ hour weeks, so they have time to spend with family and to pursue interests other than just their career.
Don’t misunderstand. We are an agency full of ambitious, career-minded and talented people, but our culture is such that from the top down, the team are encouraged to find that work/life balance we all crave in this busy world. Yes, there is an expectation of hard work and commitment for those 37 ½ hours a week (or less, for those part-time team members). However, there is a culture that recognises the need for there to be more to life than work and for the time we do spend at work to be enjoyable, fulfilling and ultimately to make a difference. We find that this is what gets the most productivity and best work from people, not keeping them at their desks for 10-hour days.
Many more parents are choosing to work, and in today’s volatile job market, many more people are also choosing to build portfolio careers.
First and foremost, we need to attract the right people. We recognise that without a good team, the business won’t flourish. That important first impression starts from how and where we advertise, whether on social media, via flexible working sites (like WorkingMums.co.uk) or on our own website. We want to shout about the fact we offer flexible working (and not just for working parents!), how we value people’s health and wellbeing (of our team and ultimately those we work for) and that we are IPA Platinum accredited, reflecting the emphasis we place on CPD for all, whether you are a Director or have joined the company in your first ever job.
Many more parents are choosing to work, and in today’s volatile job market, many more people are also choosing to build portfolio careers. With this in mind, and with the desire to provide that work-life balance, it’s essential we flex with the times and have been a long-term supporter of flexible working in many forms.
We need to ensure that prospective new team members are going to embrace and fit in with our culture. So, recruitment is not just seen as the responsibility of the Directors, but involves the team too. Each possible new recruit takes part in something social (such as lunch/coffee) with some of the team and their feedback is a fundamental part of the process. Another integral stage is the DiSC assessment to give an insight into working style, behaviour and personality traits.
To get the right people, we also need to offer the right benefits, which are all wrapped up in our Health and Wellbeing pack. This outlines everything we offer to promote good mental, physical and financial health, plus some additional resources that might be useful to the team, such as our new mental health handbook.
The IPA 2017 Agency census reported an average agency turnover of 30%, compared to Cuttsy+Cuttsy’s most recent figure of 11%.
In a company ‘Where People Matter’, we look after our team. As well as the many standard benefits you might expect to see (from pension to private healthcare), we go that bit further. This includes the annual free sports shoe giveaway to all team members (whether running trainers, walking boots or AstroTurf boots, we know regular exercise has a multitude of benefits!), regular ‘4:30 Fridays’ and ad hoc team rewards, such as lunch outings or charity donations when the team hit milestones. We have also recently seen the introduction of the ‘Fun Fund’ where the team build a pot of money to spend on something fun together.
Who wouldn’t want to work for an agency that is always evolving and aiming higher to be one step ahead? In today’s world, it is not always the financial reward of a job that is the biggest attraction. You can have the most sought-after job title in the world, work for a ‘big name’ company in the big smoke, who on paper sound unbeatable and offer the highest salaries. But unless there is an ingrained culture that truly values both its team, its clients and end users, you are unlikely to want to stay long. The IPA 2017 Agency census reported an average agency turnover of 30%, compared to Cuttsy+Cuttsy’s most recent figure of 11%.
You could be forgiven in thinking that it’s only our workforce who benefit from our culture of ‘Where People Matter’. But look a little closer and you will find that there are also benefits for our clients and those we reach on a wider scale, such as the wider community, HCPs and most importantly, patients themselves.
We also like to try and give something back to the community through our pro bono work. This is for health-related charities and we have offered our services to the MS Society, a local hospice in Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust amongst others, with our focus always being on the benefits to people (not just talking about features).
To genuinely live out our motto of a place ‘Where People Matter’, Cuttsy+Cuttsy have fostered a culture where the team want to work hard, go that extra mile and produce first-rate results, because more importantly than the financial rewards, they feel valued, involved and listened to. This can only make for a better place to work and ultimately, better outcomes for our clients and patients themselves.
