As agency juniors rethink career options, one indie agency is ...

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By Sam Bradley - July 8 2021

Agencies across the industry are reimagining what work looks like Will remote workers return Can team cultures survive aslong-distance relationships And will agency bosses keep their promises In the wake of the pandemic we explore thedifferent ways agencies are evolving to meet the needs of staff and clients in a changed world

Junior staff have been the most likely to be made redundant or put on furlough during the pandemic Now as the UKrsquos furloughscheme begins to wind up and the American and British economies restart many are now likely to be looking for a new employer ndash ora new career

So what can agencies do to persuade junior staff to hang around Indie agency Here Be Dragons has come up with one solutionfunding their staffrsquos own startups

The London creative shop is offering its junior employees the chance to pursue their own business ideas on the side offering financialbacking business advice and a company laptop

Paul McEntee founder and chief executive officer says rdquoThe pandemic has really raised some big questions about peoplersquos purposein life Are they really happy or is now the chance for them to follow a passion theyrsquove always had and take a metaphorical jump intothe unknown We did our best as a business to support all of our team through a tough time last year safeguarding their mental

NEWS

As agency juniors rethink career options one indieagency is funding their startup ideas

Here Be Dragons offered staffer Jasmine Brown financial backing to launch her jewelry business That Dress Up Mood

wellbeing and keeping them engaged But it comes as no surprise that as we ease out of lockdown people want to make changes tohow they live and work

ldquoThis new fund recognizes and encourages professional curiosity among young people who might decide that they want to dial uptheir entrepreneurial mindsetrdquo

The amounts offered will differ on a case-by-case basis McEntee says but Here Be Dragons offers would-be entrepreneurs a cashinjection without taking equity in return

One staffer has already taken them up on the offer Jasmine Brownrsquos jewelery business That Dress Up Mood got off to such a goodstart that shersquos gone full-time with it She tells The Drum ldquoHere Be Dragons backed me and gave me the tools I needed to get mybusiness off the ground ndash equipment capital and advice More importantly I left the agency on a high instilled with the belief that Iwas making the right decision for my own personal trajectory I wish more companies thought about the bigger picture of individualnot collective development ndash even if they lose the employeerdquo

McEntee says rdquoWe noticed that our junior staff had sort of itchy feet and we were having some tough conversations We thought youknow what wersquore going to help you out because weve always believed wersquore a people first business

rdquoWe try really hard to look after all our staff especially juniors to develop them and keep them in the agency and watch them growBut if they decide to take their careers elsewhere and follow a dream or business idea theyrsquove always had then we think thatrsquos greatrdquo

The agency launched the initiative after identifying an entrepreneurial trend among gen Z consumers as well as conversations with itsown staff in a trend report published by its forecast service Tailwinds

rdquoLoads of gen Zs were either made redundant or put on furlough Itrsquos a huge time of anxiety for them being at the start of theircareers

rdquoBut it also provided a moment to pause and reassess their lives [A record number of] of new businesses were created andregistered last year and therersquos been a 76 increase in 16-20-year-olds registering as sole tradersrdquo

McEntee says the policy will form part of its offer to new employees as it recruits for the future

rdquoWe want to be seen as a great place to work for anyone looking to get a leg up into the industry Wersquore forward-thinking in how welook after our staff and our internal policiesrdquo

And if the policy works too well and its side hustlers move on he points out they might return one day ndash as its customers

rdquoI want to take this long-term view on people development It doesnrsquot mean they necessarily end up at your agency you still invest inthat person and wish them well [If they] go on to set up a business it might do really well They could come back as clients later downthe line

rdquoHopefully we can build a reputation as someone who looks after their staff even after they leave and gives them our blessing Thatrsquosthe company we want to berdquo

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