Making advertising agencies more humane—a New Year’s resolution

I propose a New Year’s resolution for our industry: Let’s make advertising agencies more humane. Advertising can be hard on humans—hard on their personal lives, mental health, families and creativity. It doesn’t need to be this way. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. Talk with anyone in your creative department or agency. If you ask how they’re really doing, the majority are struggling somehow. It’s not just the pandemic, though it has accelerated things. It’s the constant pressure to perform at all times regardless of the circumstances. Then add back-to-back Zoom meetings, presenting to a screen of black boxes, relentless schedules and deadlines and little space for creative inspiration, and you’ve got a recipe for burnout. According to a recent Working Not Working survey, the majority of agency creatives are considering a job change even if they believe they are paid well. They are looking to have a better quality of life, and say a good paycheck is not worth the burnout. A burned-out creative cannot be a good creative. A burned-out industry cannot be a good industry. We need to help our people be healthy humans. Creative people want to think and make and put their work out into the world. And healthy humans are better creatives, which makes the work better and ultimately our industry more sustainable in the long run. I believe much of it comes down to leadership, which sets the tone for agency culture. Employee programs and initiatives are valuable but cannot solve this alone. We are responsible for helping the next generation change what’s broken and shape a new way of working that factors well-being into the equation. So, what do creatives need and what can we as creative leaders do to help them? Here are 10 ways: Spend more time coaching and mentoring Like athletes, creatives are asked to perform on the spot. How can we better prepare them for these moments so they are less anxiety-inducing? Enforce positive work habits People need more breaks and time away from screens to stay refreshed. If they don’t know how, that’s not necessarily their fault. Give them training, show them the way. Self-care is literally a practice; changing old habits doesn’t happen overnight. And when someone demonstrates “bad” work etiquette (scheduling a meeting over lunch or during what used to be commuting time)—nip it in the bud. As a leader, you are a powerful model for what is OK—when you leave to pick your kids up from soccer, it shows other people that they can do the same. Determine what is really important? We need to help creatives prioritize and not get bogged down in non-priorities or arbitrary deadlines. A culture of urgency is only adding to the performance anxiety, robbing people of time and space to be creative. Make mental health a regular part of conversations Have you noticed that after one person shares their mental health struggles, other people are more willing to share their experience too? I can’t overstate how important this is. Learn about mental health conditions. Change your assumptions about what mental health struggles look like. Create safe environments Whether it’s pushing back on client expectations or avoiding constant late night or weekend work, we have to create safe environments that protect people from burnout. Simple things like asking your clients not to have meetings on Mondays or after holiday weekends can make a huge impact. Say thank you more often All people want is to feel valued and appreciated and this should be an easy thing for all of us to do for each other. Treat everyone with respect regardless of title or position No explanation needed. Ask clients to help Most clients also want to avoid long hours, weekend work and pressure-cooker environments. They have personal lives and families too. Work in partnership with them to make the work environments more humane and inspiring. The work will be better and business results stronger. Check in on people and find out how they are doing/feeling on a more frequent basis Alongside your team meetings or even one-on-ones, try touching base with people a few times a week to be sure they are doing OK and managing challenges in a healthy and productive way. Learn about mental health in all its forms and look out for each other I can’t overstate the importance of this enough. Creative industries are full of people struggling with mental health because these very same people are often wildly creative and visionary. But don’t let that come at a cost. I have learned a tremendous amount this past year and a half with people in my life who I care about deeply. It is one of the most important things we can do as leaders and as humans. My hope for this industry is that legacies like David Kennedy’s—one of kindness, generosity and humanity—become the norm, not the anomaly. And that it can be one that allows everyone to thrive as whole, healthy humans inspired by and supporting each other. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

Making advertising agencies more humane—a New Year’s resolution

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