Assessing and supporting your agency’s mental health means asking with meaning.
And meaning the follow up.
It is paramount that you get closer to your staff now, so that you can support them through the uncertainty ahead. They have been innovative already in making things work. However, your people will need guidance and support to sustain them through a prolonged period of uncertainty.
The truth is that the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will not be temporary. The damage that it is causing to agencies goes way beyond revenue and clients won or lost.
The most powerful way that you can recover and ensure long term high performance is to properly listen to your employees. When agency talent feels their best – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – they will focus more deeply, think more creatively, and make better decisions. That will deliver better value to your agency and your clients.
There is no question that the current pandemic is a massive challenge. The minds of all agency leaders will be racing from one point to another trying to make what worked in the past fit with what the near future looks like.
There is so much that you don’t have control over. Focus on what you do have control over. Concentrating on how you can support your staff and your teams will send a loud and clear that your energy and attention is focused on them. This will pay huge dividends in the future in terms of commitment, loyalty and motivation.
This elements of resilience and growth mindset are what will determine the future success of your agency.
Understanding the issues
Our approach is to first understand your agency’s stress levels and triggers.
During this time of crisis, we recommend keeping solutions simple and practical. It is not a time for further complexity.
➜ How are people feeling? What is creating stress and anxiety for them?
➜ Is your organization helping them adapt to new ways of thinking and working?
➜ Are you offering your staff channels that allow them to raise their concerns and anxieties, creating authentic dialogue that will resolve ongoing issues?
➜ How can we support their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing?
➜ How can agencies adapt our processes and communications structures to support staff working in new ways?
➜ How can you benchmark existing stress levels and look to achieve success through continuous improvement?
’How Are You? – A Structured Approach to Addressing Agency Stress and Wellbeing
This program is designed to cut through confusion and anxiety in this time of uncertainty. It is based on our knowledge and experience as former agency staff and leaders.
Deliverables and resources
The program includes
- A stress and wellbeing assessment through a detailed temperature check questionnaire-Identification of areas of stress organized from most to the least manageable
- A roadmap and timescales for the plan to address the prioritised issues. This includes what can be managed internally and what external resources are required.
- Recommendations will combine elements of e-learning with one-to-one support. Our experience is that the benefits of e-learning are substantially improved by individual mentoring.
The program is being led by Iain Dawson, Head of Agency Wellness at Agency Futures. Iain’s strong commercial grasp of the advertising industry comes from having been a media director, board director, equity partner and investor in agencies. He has devoted the last 10 years to becoming an accredited psychotherapist, mindfulness teacher and a specialist in managing stress and anxiety.
To arrange an initial consultation please call
Doug Baxter on +447702218752
or email: doug@agencyfutures.com