Welcome to Episode 34 of Navigating the Fustercluck—a podcast full of bite-sized insights to help you navigate the up & down world of creativity & marketing. My name is Wegs, like eggs with a W, joining you from Deaf Mule Studios in Dallas, TX where we’re here to talk about onboarding and exiting an agency. According to the most progressive HR person I’ve ever met, Steve Drotter, 90% of what you need to know about a company is how they bring people on and how they see them off. I couldn’t agree more. Yet, when it comes to the front or the back end of your stay, how many agencies make a real effort? Honestly?  Think back. Besides a bag of swag and some paperwork, how have you been greeted on the first day of a new job? Shouldn’t we go beyond a logo-adorned t-shirt, mug and trucker hat?  Here are some things I’ve seen that might spark a thought or two for you. A Book Digital or paper…some agencies have “How to Work Here” books. Culture books.Most suck. Filled with platitudes and written like a Valentine card to themselves.Some are actually pretty well written but aren’t adhered to. Or the office politicians figure out how to twist it for their own gains. I’m not sure which is worst. Mehhhh, office politicians are the worst.  Another book that I have seen help is a short book full of tents that the agency believes in. For example, if you’re a Multicultural agency how do you think about assimilation? Acculturation? Language as a tactic? Other agencies may be most concerned with the best ways to work with influencers. How do you choose the right celebrity? The right athlete? When is an event called for? And what kind? What makes for great shopper? PR. Whatever it may be. What you want to do is have everyone singing from the same hymnal. Reading from the same page. Whatever cliché you choose to use. So if a client has a question about one of these things you know how to respond. The book I helped pull together for one agency served as both an agency piece but a plane & train book for clients as well. Companies like P&G would call every so often asking for more copies to give to new teammates or those they hoped to influence. It also was a great piece to share with sister agencies to create new opportunities to work together and collaborate… and maybe even help drum up a little new business. And after all, there ought to be something that we all believe in. A philosophy. And cornerstone to the collective culture. Should we know what the agency believes in? How we’re expected to get the job done. Without it, you have no hand on the tiller, and a default culture. Default cultures are rarely headed anywhere interesting. Lunch Stan Richards of the Richards Group has lunch with every new employee who comes on board. And as the owner of one of the largest independent agencies in the country, that’s a helluva effort. I’ve worked at another place where the senior leadership team has one or two lunches a month with newbies. Interviews One place required that within your first month that you conduct a 5-minute interview with every single person at the agency. I rather liked it. Gave me real insight into people. Also gave me a pretty good clue as to who could be counted on to collaborate and who couldn’t. You also hear about whose sleeping with you and where the bodies are buried, etc.,etc., which can really help you from stepping in it. Onboarding Celebrations We celebrate birthdays monthly. Why not new teammates? Monthly. Every other month. Whatever makes sense. Let people introduce themselves. Tell people what you do. Share silly facts. Things that help bring us all together, not just physically, but emotionally. And can we please, please, please reveal what clients and categories everyone has worked on. Shocking how many times new business pitches are nearly completed on...