Do you struggle to find the right way to motivate your agency team? What's the right balance between sharing too much and not sharing enough? Are you looking for an effective way to incentivize your employees? Your team is your agency's biggest asset. When you create a team that shares the same common goals and who all work hard to get there, everyone wins.

In today's episode, we'll cover:

• How transparent should you be with your team?
• 2 Reasons why your agency's bonus structure matters.
• 3 Ways to create a culture for employee retention.

Today, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Slocumb, president and founder of Clarity Quest Marketing, a boutique agency dealing solely with biotech and the healthcare space. Chris jumped to the agency world after she realized there was a serious gap in the market when it came to agencies equipped to handle the biotech market. Right off the bat, Chris made it her mission to create a culture where people are the number one focus. Chris shares how she was able to build a rock-solid team and how that team has helped her agency grow.

How Transparent Should You be with Your Team?

It's a problem agency owners struggle with every day — "How do I make sure my team has enough information, without sharing too much?" What exactly is too much? Chris says, when it comes to running her agency, her goal is to be as transparent as possible. Obviously, she can't share information about everyone's salaries, but everything else is pretty much fair game.

Chris believes, the more information her team has, the better decisions they'll make. She also believes by sharing revenue, profit margins, and timekeeping, everyone on the team has a greater feeling of ownership.

2 Reasons Why Your Agency's Bonus Structure Matters

Do you have a bonus structure in place at your agency? There are many ways to incentivize your employees, and each has an impact on how hard your team works and how valued they feel. So what does a good bonus structure look like?

At Clarity Quest, Chris uses an annual bonus and quarterly bonuses to motivate her team. The team gets a quarterly bonus when they all come together to meet a specific goal by the end of each quarter. The annual bonuses focus on the roles of each individual. Chris says there are two main reasons why this structure has worked at her agency:

• Continued motivation. When you spread out bonuses throughout the year, employees have something to look forward to. This, in turn, keeps them engaged and inspired. When your team has to wait an entire year for a bonus, it can feel too far out of reach.
• Cause and effect. There will be some quarters where your agency doesn't meet its goals. It happens. When you use a quarterly bonus system, your team is more likely to remember exactly what mistakes caused them to lose out on their quarterly bonus.

3 Ways to Create a Culture for Employee Retention

No agency owner wants to put in the hard work of finding an employee, training them, and watching them grow, only to watch that same employee walk out the door a few years down the road. So how do you retain employees and in turn, help your agency succeed? At the end of the day, it all comes down to culture.

At the core, there are a few main things every employee wants — to feel valued, to be happy, and to enjoy what they do. How do you provide a culture where your team is happy and devoted to your agency's success?

1. Provide opportunities to grow. Nobody wants to feel like they're expected to know too much in a short amount of time. In the same regard, you don't want your team to be bored. Pay attention to what your employees want and create a culture where they can move up and advance on their own terms.
2. Create training opportunities. Be there to support your employees and make sure they have the tools to succeed.
3. Keep stress levels to a minimum. This one sounds easier said than done. But really, if you can find a way to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction, you're all more likely to be happy with your job.

If you want a great team you have to build and support it. Successful teams don't just happen on their own. When you treat your employees like a cohesive group and not a bunch of individuals, they're more likely to share your goals, and ultimately help your agency grow.