The Sunday Times Best Places to Work series: 3. Instilling Pride

By Claire Penney, Account Manager at SWC Partnership.

We all want to feel proud of what we do, of the teams we collaborate with and the companies we work for. But what do you need to instil pride within your organisation?

In an article for Forbes, Joseph Folkman, a behavioural statistician, argues that some people may think that not liking where they work doesn’t affect an employee’s performance, ‘But they’re wrong. The greatest evidence to that fact can be summarized in one phrase: “It’s not in my job description.” Employees who lack pride don’t feel a sense of ownership and are not willing to go the extra mile.’¹

Following on from the first two pieces in our Sunday Times Best Places to Work series – Wellbeing and Empowerment – here we take a look at Instilling Pride, another area used to measure companies as part of the survey. The team were asked a range of questions about how they feel about working at SWC, including the impact on their wellbeing and happiness, how well information is shared, rewards and recognition and how satisfied they feel in their roles.

The results are in!

SWC scored an incredible 97% for Instilling Pride, with staff strongly agreeing that they not only felt proud to work for SWC, but they also felt they do something worthwhile.  

Results also showed that the team overwhelmingly agreed that they would recommend their friend and family to work for SWC, scoring an almost perfect 99%.

This in turn feeds into SWC’s overall NPI (Net Promoter Index) score, which is used to determine how likely a brand or company is to be recommended by customers and employees. It is a measurement rooted in understanding both internal and external loyalty and satisfaction, so to have scored so highly (100%!) is a huge endorsement of SWC and how it treats and motivates its staff.

Live, learn, evolve

As part of the team at SWC, I can certainly recognise the truth in Joseph Folkman’s argument that liking where you work enables you to feel proud, as well as a sense of ownership. The leadership team at SWC have worked really hard to ensure that team members feel valued, empowered and listened to, that the work is challenging and interesting, and people are given opportunities and training to grow. In addition to formal training opportunities, SWC team members present mini-training sessions to the rest of the team on a regular basis – most recently our superstar Account Executive Davis Jones clued us in on the potential of AI in Marketing, We also hold regular IWIDI (I Wish I Did It) sessions, where we each highlight a great marketing campaign we’ve spotted in the wider industry, discussing what we liked about it and why it stood out. Check out our recent LinkedIn post on a Heinz campaign that was the star of IWIDI. These opportunities to learn and share insights help us all to stay up to date as well as be inspired to think outside the box within our own work.

Great work, every time

We pride ourselves on delivering excellent quality work, always. Attention to detail is crucial to this, even for last-minute turnarounds. We work collaboratively from project start to finish, ensuring we take the time to properly review and consider each creative or strategic output. From content marketing to brand strategy, creative and beyond, all work is subject to a robust checking and sign-off process. This means that as a team we are not only confident in the quality of the work we deliver to clients, but we can also feel proud of the impact it is making for them and their customers.

Satisfaction with leaders is crucial

This is another area that seems crucial to a sense of pride within any organisation. Leaders need to inspire and stretch us and be role models we look up to. Here’s where I feel SWC hit the jackpot. We have three cracking leaders at SWC – Simon Cristal, our Managing Director, Stef Garner, Account Director and Jo Cornford, Account Director. This talented trio all have different styles and approaches, but are united in the vision for the company and how we work. We always feel motivated, inspired and challenged to bring our A-game, and that’s down to the leadership of these guys. They clearly communicate the goals, vision and values of SWC, and ensure we all have a role to play in the company’s success. This contributes to our individual and collective sense of ownership: how we work and what we achieve at SWC matters. And with a combined experience of over 80 years between us, we have a lot of expertise to share with our lovely clients!

Are we making an impact?

Another interesting element that feeds into how proud you feel to work for your organisation is the impact you are making through your work. Do you feel good about what you do? Does it ultimately help people? SWC’s Best Places to Work results showed an overwhelming 95% of us feel we do something worthwhile. At SWC we are lucky to work with some incredible global clients, whose products and services really make a difference to people across the world. From innovative tech companies to ethical consumer goods brands, we love to work with companies who are pushing boundaries to help and support their customers. For example, we have recently been supporting Teledyne FLIR with an Energy crisis content campaign, highlighting how their thermal and acoustic cameras can help individuals and businesses to save energy and therefore money; we are also providing an analysis on sustainability within the travel sector to Eurowings, which will be used as a springboard for a future strategy; and recently we worked on a flagship event film for aPriori, about how their innovative tech is changing the world for the better. It’s not hard to feel proud about your impact as an agency when you are working with clients like this who are looking after people and planet.

Helping our clients thrive

Ultimately, what drives the team at SWC is doing great work and helping our clients to achieve their goals and grow. We’re not interested in just doing what’s already been done. We love to push boundaries, challenge each other and our clients, and consistently surprise and delight. Our Instilling Pride survey results are further testament to this, and show how invested we all are in the success of the agency, and our belief in the work we are doing and the approach we take. We’re proud to work for SWC and the work we get to create each day for our lovely clients!

If you’d like to work with an international marketing agency based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent or learn more about job opportunities at SWC, get in touch with Simon or view our vacancies here.

---

¹ Source: Article ‘It’s Not In My Job Description: 5 Steps To Build Company Pride And A Sense Of Ownership – Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2016/08/25/its-not-in-my-job-description-5-steps-to-build-company-pride-and-a-sense-of-ownership/?sh=3211f03e3f2a