IN OUR HEADS
April 03, 2018
By Nathan Stack, Director, Quality Assurance, RAPP LA
Happy employees lead to happy clients. At RAPP, we believe the value we place on our employees’ work-life balance extends to their interactions with our clients, which is why we aspire to provide the best work environment possible.
Our clients have busy, complex, unique lives, and our employees deserve an environment that empowers them to make RAPP’s work a valuable presence in those lives. We regularly solicit feedback from our talent about workload and culture to ensure they feel supported. This practice aligns with our commitment to, and practice of, understanding our clients — because the more detailed our data, the more specific and useful our communications become. After all, we marketers are consumers, too, so it’s valuable to ask, "Would I want to receive this?" and "How would I respond to this?"
To demonstrate our appreciation, we try to go above and beyond in terms of employee benefits packages. Our teams enjoy flexible work arrangements, including the ability to work from home when needed; company-sponsored volunteer days; and a personal-fulfillment day during which they get paid to pursue passions that help them grow. We’ve also implemented an initiative to keep after-hours work obligations to a minimum.
Ultimately, we see ourselves as people helping other people. And by giving our employees the resources and support they need, we maintain that human-centric attitude to ensure that our teams, our clients, and their customers receive the best possible experiences.
The Value of a Better Workplace
The benefits and office culture that created such a strong team at RAPP didn’t happen by accident. We deliberately sought to build an inclusive, supportive environment that empowers our teams to succeed — a drive for success that continues today.
Our dedication to diversity benefits not only our company, but also the audiences to whom we market. Diversity within our workforce provides a greater collection of perspectives and experiences, which translates into more well-rounded work and a heightened ability to connect with audiences. People from all backgrounds desire kindness and thoughtfulness in life, and our unique workforce allows us to remain mindful of that truth throughout every campaign.
Moreover, this people-first approach keeps us humble and allows us to craft communications for our clients’ audiences that speak to real needs. We follow examples in-house, based on the work we do for companies like Toyota, which uses its Owner Welcome program to onboard new owners of its vehicles. Through a series of emails and direct mail communications, Toyota provides helpful, non-salesy information to buyers, maintaining a tone of thankfulness and positivity throughout.
That helpful human touch is what separates companies that understand the value of people from those that don’t. At RAPP, we place a premium on employees’ first impressions with us, which is why we’ve got a strong onboarding and buddy process that helps ensure that all new hires feel confident in their roles, comfortable with their new teams, and like a part of our family in general.
We use a series of companywide biographical emails to welcome employees, and our HR department arranges frequent reminders and seminars about the benefits our employees have at their disposal. The goal is to ensure that RAPP’s talent knows they’re valued and understands how RAPP’s perks are both professionally and personally advantageous.
In the end, it’s our goal that the same thoughtfulness brought to our talent relations is translated through the work we do for clients like Toyota. None of these thoughtful campaigns would be possible if the people responsible didn’t feel valued by their employers. Just as we constantly assess the evolving needs of the marketing world, we also keep tabs on standards for inclusion, flexibility, and diversity to empower the evolution of our workforce. We don’t want to keep up — we want to set the standard, both for our employees and our clients.
For our agency, “Fiercely Individual” is more than our mantra — it’s the way we see the world. It’s an ideal to strive toward: a world in which individuals can be themselves and can be understood and appreciated for who they are.
