High Wide & Handsome mid-May rooftop soiree in Los Angeles.
When High Wide & Handsome last year lost one of its biggest clients due to an acquisition, its partners took a pay cut rather than enact any layoffs.
“Over the past 14 years, we've managed to avoid layoffs and figured out every possible alternative to layoffs as a response to some of those inevitable client changes,” said Mike Wolfsohn, the Los Angeles ad agency's chief creative officer. “Simply put, the solution always turns out to be that my partners and I just take the hit.”
The agency ended up performing better in 2023 than it did in 2022, Wolfsohn said. As a result of the partner pay cuts, the agency’s benefits and employee bonuses remained the same. This is important given the many different benefits that the agency offers.
Its most popular benefit, according to Wolfsohn, is a “peer pay” program that allows each employee to give four $500 bonuses to colleagues every year, dividing them among several co-workers or giving them all to one.
The agency also offers rewards for employee anniversaries. One key perk: At an employee’s 10-year anniversary, High Wide & Handsome gives a “Lunch for Life” card that essentially covers the staffer’s lunch expenses for the rest of their time at the agency.
High Wide & Handsome has summer Fridays year-round and an annual trip where the agency takes its staff to a resort in Palm Springs, California.
One benefit that has gained more traction over the years, Wolfsohn said, is its “Equal Justice Experience” program, where the agency pays for every employee (along with a plus-one) to visit the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.
Beyond its perks, the agency has built a work-from-anywhere culture, and it instills transparency by regularly sharing company financial information with staff. All of this has contributed to a 95% retention rate.
“We have no plans to be anything ever other than a work-from-anywhere agency,” Wolfsohn said. “It has been unbelievably life-changing for so many of our employees.”
Mike Wolfsohn, chief creative officer: “For the most part, just staying true to our principles and the fact that we continue to have industry-defining retention rates allows us to have a level of consistency that is just not standard at most agencies.
I think the turnover rate in the ad industry is about 36% annually. That means every three years it’s a completely different company. So of course you’re going to have these ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys and significant periods of transition.
The fact that we retain 95% of our employees every year just allows us to have a level of consistency and predictability that’s comforting for not only our employees, but our clients. Agencies want more loyalty from their clients, but many don’t realize that that starts with loyalty from your employees.”
High Wide & Handsome social media team letting loose in the splatter room.
High Wide & Handsome barbecue in Los Angeles.
