Office culture could be described as intangible—the feeling you get when you walk into a place, the way people interact with one another—but its impact on everything from employee satisfaction to work product is very tangible.
Work environment is a particularly tough thing to maintain or improve in the midst of accelerated growth—something Sandra van Heeswijk, global head of people and culture at Dept, and her team have had to manage over the past few years as the Amsterdam-based agency grew to more than 1,500 employees in 13 countries.
“When it comes to creating that environment, it is essential that we listen,” she says. “By listening, we can align employee needs with the cultural values of leadership and management.”
Just in time for Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2020 issue—congratulations to Amp members Bakery, Carmichael Lynch, Critical Mass, FCB, Horizon Media, Night After Night and Via for making the list—members of the Amp community share what they did last year and what they will be doing in the year ahead to maintain, tweak or overhaul office culture in their unique corners of the ad world.
Issa Sawabini, Partner, Fuse
One of the things I am most proud of is how much our staff gave back to the community by using their paid volunteer time. In fact, in 2019 our staff more than doubled their volunteer time compared with 2018. In addition, our employees enjoy some great benefits, like a free season pass to a local resort of their choice, access to a private skate ramp in our warehouse and a dog-friendly office. Other perks are a VW camper van that staff can use on the weekends, and the office closes if it snows more than 12 inches so staff can get out to ski and snowboard.
We are rolling out several new programs for 2020 to help our staff further improve their work-life balance and provide more schedule flexibility. To save travel time and reduce stress at the airport, we are reimbursing TSA Precheck Membership and buying CLEAR memberships for staff that travel on business. We are also launching adjustable office hours and work-from-home Fridays.
Read the entire article on Ad Age.