LOOMIS AGENCY | BEST PLACES TO WORK | DALLAS BUSINESS JOURNAL | ADVERTISING

The LOOMIS Agency has been named one of the Best Places to Work for 2009 by the Dallas Business Journal.  Agency president, Mike Sullivan, was asked to share some of the company's best practices with the Dallas Business Journal.

1. Besides pay and health benefits, what is your company’s most popular perk?

Time and flexibility. All of our employees currently get a minimum of nine weeks off each year.

2. Please tell us about your company’s most effective employee recognition programs.

Each year the management team gives out “Above & Beyond” Awards to individuals who demonstrate exceptional performance.  The most prestigious award at our ad agency is the annual “Luminary Award,” and it goes to the individual who best embodies the company’s core values.  The Luminary is voted on by ad agency team members.  Each award comes with a financial bonus, as well, but it has become clear over the years that the peer recognition is what matters most.

3. How do you make sure that employees know their opinions matter?

Ours is a collaborative business. It is because the opinions of our team members matter that we succeed as an advertising agency.  From the décor of the ad agency to pet day on Fridays, if our team members think it’s a good idea, we generally move in their direction, so it’s obvious their opinions matter.  LOOMIS is a reflection of the people who work here and not the other way around.

4. How would you describe your company’s culture? (Please provide a specific sample of how it’s evident to employees.)?

On any given Friday you’re apt to run into a 160lb Bull Mastiff or a 5lb Yorkshire Terrier roaming our Dallas advertising agency.  We strongly encourage our team to bring their pets to work on Fridays, because we know they enjoy it so much.  As a Dallas advertising agency that focuses on challenger brands – the “underdog” – it’s only fitting that we welcome real dogs in our space. Children are a relatively common site, as well. Allowing this flexibility helps alleviate the stress often associated with advertising—deadlines, last-minute pitches, clients in need—and strengthens the bonds between team members. The team also likes the flexibility we afford them to spend time with their families at home. In today’s environment, most everything that can be accomplished in the office can be accomplished at home, or anywhere you have access to a computer or cell phone for that matter. Our culture can be summed up as follows:  We take our work seriously—everything that needs to get done, gets  done and to the highest standards —but we never take ourselves too seriously.

5. What does your company do to help keep employee morale high in challenging times?

We do three things, in particular, that help keep our team’s spirits high during tumultuous times.  First, the company leaders actively absorb anxiety. We think about the way we show up as individuals and as a team, and we maintain awareness about the vibe our moods and words put off.  It’s just as easy to be optimistic as it is to be pessimistic.  We’re realistically optimistic and we always try to project that to the team regardless of the circumstances.  Second, we treat our team members like adults. We share information regularly, proactively, and completely. When the news is great we share it.  When it’s not so great, we share it quickly, explain our strategy for dealing with it and move on.   Finally, when we aren’t in a position to offer traditional rewards like compensation increases, we make up for it with increased time off and flexibility.  When times are tough, people place even greater value on being with their families. We work to make that possible.

6. What employee communication strategies have you found to be most effective?

Aside from being accessible to virtually every team member, we conduct quarterly ad agency wide offsite meetings called “Blueprint Meetings.”  We’re on a constant mission to build a better Dallas advertising agency, and at the Blueprint Meetings we share the work we’ve done, and our plans for the immediate and long range future. The meetings afford our team members the opportunity to present and share on their area of specialty, and ask questions and talk about things that are happening in the ad agency.  This is extremely important to me, personally, because while working at large and small advertising agencies as a younger professional, I often felt that this sort of exchange was missing.  After the meetings, our team connects over drinks in the bar, of course.

7. How do you keep employees engaged (e.g., social or volunteer events, etc.). Please provide specific examples.

The holiday efforts that help support local families in need are a big deal at our ad agency.  Like many other generous D/FW firms, our team works hard to make sure our “adopted families” get some needed love and attention at the holidays.  But we’re fortunate to have a number of team members who are involved with a variety of charitable works, and there is no shortage of interest and engagement for these endeavors among our staff.  From the SPCA to the Arc of Dallas and a number of independent efforts on behalf of various individuals, our team members are always eager to lend their time and considerable talent to making an impact.  I’m not sure this is altogether unusual among Dallas advertising professionals. Generally speaking, ad agency people are a passionate bunch with a penchant for contributing to positive change.

8. When it comes to the hiring and retention of employees, what’s the most important lesson you've learned?

About 10 years ago a good friend passed me a book called, “First Break All the Rules” by Marcus Buckingham. It’s a “must read” for anybody who wants to learn more about hiring and retaining the best people.  One insight, in particular, has stuck with our management team.  The number one predictive factor for employee satisfaction is the relationship they have with their direct supervisor.  We work hard to make sure our leaders understand their impact on morale and retention. In addition, we know that the best performers like to be surrounded by other excellent performers.  They like the challenge presented by smart, hard-working peers.  So, we are careful to recruit and retain people who can match the capacity for work, the pace, and dedication to excellence of our team.  Finally, we make sure our team members have the tools and access to learning they need to succeed. And it works.  In an industry with a turnover rate averaging right around three years, our people stay more than six-and-a-half years, on average.

9. What are your best employee recruiting strategies?

Referrals.  The same book previously referenced confirmed a notion we’ve had for a long time.  When employees work with people they know and like on a personal level outside of work there is greater harmony and satisfaction in the office.  In fact, the Gallup study which formed the basis of the book “First Break All the Rules” indicated that people who have a “best friend” at work are more likely to be satisfied.  We’ve found that our internal team member network and LOOMIS agency alumni network are rich recruiting resources. Check out the LOOMIS agency fan page on facebook.

10. Compared to your competitors, what makes your company a Best Place to Work?

Somebody once suggested to me that treating your team like volunteers is the best way to motivate and retain them.  We are keenly aware that showing up to work each morning is a voluntary act, and we are grateful for that. Approaching the culture and the people from a position of gratitude dramatically shifts the way they experience the work environment.  It informs every decision we make and every action we take.  It doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes or have bad days, but it does mean we work doubly-hard to make sure our team wants to be here and wants to do great work.  Happy people are motivated to excel.