By Tara O’Donnell, UK Managing Director at Hotwire,

Having been awarded a place in the top 100 in The Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For last month, our efforts to create an outstanding working culture have finally been recognised. As we were awarded the highest level of accreditation, we are now focussed on improving and maintaining standards going forward in the UK and across all of our global offices.

We have forged a unique culture, developed over 20 years, thanks to the constant focus of our management team and people & culture department. It’s a simple formula: listen to feedback, act on it fast and build trust.

Our industry is all about people and building relationships, so creating an atmosphere where everyone feels included and enthusiastic about their work is a priority and something we take very seriously. We want our staff to express themselves freely and create careers that are built with them collaboratively.

What set us on the pathway to success, is three main factors to creating a unique and positive culture:

1 Creating a community:

Without doubt, the highlight of the year is our annual global company get together, Hotwire Bootcamp. For 20 years, the global team meet in one location, where we learn, celebrate achievements and get to know one another, strengthening company-wide relationships year after year. This is open to everyone, in any role, at every level from every office around the world. As far as I’m aware, we are one of the very few mid-size, global agencies to do this.  The result in a unique, close-knit global community across all of our offices.

We want our employees to thrive professionally and personally and recognise the need for fulfilment and giving back. This year we partnered with WaterAid to develop a pro-bono creative campaign that gives our team an opportunity to do something meaningful. We also encourage and allow time off for individual, charitable work.

2 Building trust:

Life doesn’t always fit around 9-5 in the office. That is why we introduced “thoughtful working,” which allows everyone to work flexibly whenever and wherever they need to, focussed around accountable outputs. Showing this trust to our employees makes them happier and healthier, plus allows them to work smarter.

We also offer a sponsored sabbatical after four years and eight years of continued service in the UK, where employees are free to spend time exploring the globe, volunteering or even just taking a break.  We strive to unleash everyone’s full potential, whilst ensuring our employees are well-rested and fully charged.

3 Driving innovation:

As in every business, we have a mix of personalities and skill sets. It is easy for organisations to focus on encouraging skills like process, measurement, and execution. However, what about vital qualities such as creativity, imagination, analogy, and empathy? They need to be promoted as much as possible too, because there is not one without the other in moulding a successful team culture.

We have monthly Hotwired Inspirational talks where we bring in people from other industries and professions to share new perspectives and ideas.  The purpose is to encourage creative thinking and new ideas which can come from anywhere.

We are also constantly evolving our integrated marcomms capabilities, based not only on our clients’ needs and our employee interests, but also building expertise, shaped around the world we live in.

What really makes a great culture is the way that a company is structured and in making staff feel valued. I am confident that the culture we have formed through trust, a feeling of community and smart ways of working will continue to flourish.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash