One of High Wide & Handsome’s primary objectives is to be among the best agencies to work at—a goal whose success was affirmed with the agency’s selection as a 2022 Ad Age Best Place to Work.
See all of Ad Age's 2022 Best Places to Work here.
“I think a lot of times the focus is on winning creative awards, or obviously, making a lot of money,” said Mike Wolfsohn, chief creative officer. “But for us, we wanted to start an agency with the sole purpose of being the best place to work in the industry.”
Employees decide whether they want to work in the agency’s Culver City, California, office or from home. Wolfsohn says those days he’s gone into the office have been some of his least productive, and that giving employees the option to decide has helped keep them focused and happy.
And the agency says its decision to not participate in multiple agency pitches has created a better work-life balance among employees.
The agency’s “peer pay” program allows employees to give four $500 bonuses to colleagues every year, dividing them among several coworkers or giving them all to one.
“There’s a certain level of trust that, obviously, is implied when we empower our team members to kind of make those kinds of decisions,” Wolfsohn said. “But there’s also a really strong sense of, I think, pride in being able to recognize somebody else’s contributions in that way.”
