The Absolute Way: Transforming Our Company Culture

Company culture is something that is very close to us at Absolute Digital Media. Whilst all businesses know they need to create some kind of culture, many are unsure on the approach and how to make sure that their ‘culture’ is a hit for everyone in the business. We’ve recognised that one size doesn’t fit all so we’ve introduced a range of different benefits/perks to make sure everyone feels inclusive of our Absolute culture. Here’s how!

 

 

Award-Winning Culture

Last month we proudly took home not one, but three awards at the renowned Company Culture Awards, putting us in the spotlight when it came to ensuring your workforce was fully supported. Our awards included Gold for Best Employee Reward Scheme and Best Workplace Health & Wellbeing Awareness Initiative and a Silver award for Remote Working Initiative of the Year. So, let’s start from the beginning…

 

 

Embracing Remote Working

Back at the start of the Pandemic, we came to realise that a lot of money was being spent on the office which, at the start, was great. We enjoyed spending time as a team in the office, having drinks on a Friday afternoon, chatting at the coffee station and playing games when we could. But, of course, this mean that we were restricted on how much we could spend on our staff in terms of their personal and professional development, the events we could attend and sponsorships we could apply for.

 

There’s a lot of controversy around being a remote agency but, for us at Absolute Digital Media, it’s worked out incredibly well. We now have a team of 35 working across the UK including in Manchester, Surrey, Essex and even further afield. It’s been a real eyeopener for us and, when people have asked me about ever heading back to an office, my response is always “never say never”. The point is that, should we ever need to return to an office, we can. It’s a permanent move now, but it might be a temporary one in the life of Absolute Digital Media but, at this stage, who knows!

 

Maintaining High Staff Morale

Working from home all of a sudden was a shock for many of us and, although we prepared by ensuring our staff had access to the tools and hardware they needed, there were obviously a few teething problems in the initial few days. We also had to fight our own battle during this time, coming to terms with the sheer number of clients who had already let us know that they needed to hand in notice as they were no longer able to afford our services. This was a very real situation for us, and we wanted to protect our staff as much as possible.

 

This is when we started to weigh up the odds of the office, exploring how much additional investment we would receive without it, which we could then put straight back into our staff. It started with one or two perks, before eventually spiralling into multiple initiatives which have helped to maintain high levels of productivity and even attracted some of the industry’s best talent. Here’s just a handful of incentives we’ve introduced:

 

• Santus, to support our staff’s mental health
• Greater staff recognition, recognised by sending out individual goods in the post
• 1-2-1 training with key people in the industry
• Confidence training, to enhance how our teams position themselves within the industry
• Regular internal check ins to help ease pressure and provide additional support
• New client onboarding incentive
• New hire incentive
• New working hours, Absolute Early Birds (8am to 5pm) and Absolute Owlers (9am to 6pm).

 

The Fun Stuff

If you follow us, or any of my staff on social media, you’ll already know that we have a lot of fun at Absolute Digital Media. As well as the more “serious” stuff we’ve implemented to support our staff’s health and wellbeing, we’ve also introduced a number of fun incentives to help keep the agency alive particularly during lockdown when we were unable to leave our homes. Here’s just a few of our top picks:

 

• Regular care packages, containing lots of fun treats
• Awards night packages, complete with popcorn and drinks (cocktails and mocktails)
• Monthly virtual event afternoons, such as a cocktail making class, horse racing and an escape room
• Weekly online fitness classes, to give everyone the chance to step back from their desk
• Opportunity to speak at industry events and conference, such as Brighton SEO
• In-house webinars, as part of our #wtfwfh series
• Charitable events, whereby staff can select a charity of their choice to raise money for
• Free book scheme, whereby staff can request to order any book (for free) and get it delivered to their door
• Premium perk box account, covering medical, insight perks and recognition
• Free lunch on us to two staff members each week (selected at random)
• Our very own Bank Holiday on 22nd June to celebrate the end of lockdown

 

Absolute Fest

More recently, we have announced the ‘Absolute Fest’ which is our very own version of a festival. We’ve welcomed our staff to invite their partners too, so that we can have one huge celebration with not only our staff, but those who have supported them, too. Our plans are already well underway with a bucking bronco, candyfloss and popcorn machine and beer tent confirmed with so much more in the pipeline. It really is going to be the party of the year!

 

 

The New Normal

We know that being remote isn’t for everyone but, for us at Absolute Digital Media, it’s really helped us to progress and drive the agency forward in the direction we’ve always wanted to explore. I would love to hear more about how other agencies have maintained their staff morale and overall business in these strange times, so please do contact me on LinkedIn or Twitter.