What is Culture? Why Does it Matter? How do You Inspire it?

One thing I’ve learned about myself so far in my careers is that I am a catalyst. I have the ideas, the passion, and the leadership skills to create something out of nothing and grow it.

When I first showed up at Moncur, it was a culture shock for me. See, I had come from a giant competitive 500-person ad agency in the middle of Downtown Detroit. It was a jungle of creatives fighting for the best ideas and the best work, and I interacted daily with people who had personalities straight out of a comic book or an incredibly successful sitcom.

Then after two years, I made the move to a little boutique digital + branding agency in Southfield. The thing that scared me the most? The silence.

I am a loud person. My personality is always at 100%. (You will love it or hate it, and I know that). So, coming into as small office where there is a lot of autonomy going on was different for me. People weren’t connecting, collaborating, or communicating like they did at my last agency and it seemed to me like there was no connective tissue between each employee holding them together. What did they need? How could I inspire it?

While client work always comes first, I knew this agency was lacking a focus on culture and needed to make it a priority. So I created a pitch and took it to the big boss in my first week. Ballsy. But, worth it.

My pitch identified ways that the agency could create a cultural program, add some more stimulation to the space, encourage interactivity and improve company morale.

I saw so many opportunities and had some many ideas it was hard to know where to start. But I got the green light to be a catalyst, to make something, own it, drive it, take care of it, and get results.

Two years later, I lead a Culture Team of five in continually improving and evolving the employee experience. Our culture program focuses on five key areas: team building, recognition, communication, community, and amenities.

Below are some specific ways we integrate these areas into our everyday office life:

Team Building

We are all human. It’s important for us to acknowledge that sometimes and stop being workaholic robots for a second—just talk and hang out. Moncur has committed to dedicating every Tuesday morning to “Team Tuesday”. Team Tuesday is a set time each week that the entire agency gets together for half and hour and one employee will present something — a group activity, thought leadership, insightful business advice, a TED talk, recent client work, etc. Additionally, Moncur also made it a priority to all get together once a month for a happy hour, where shop-talk and cell phones are prohibited (unless your snapping pictures). And we put on some pretty fun and creative spreads if I do say so myself!

Recognition

We like to celebrate each other. All employees need top-down recognition, hands down. It’s important for leadership or a team as a whole to call out good work and make a good example of each other. We recognize birthday, anniversaries, wedding and baby showers, as well as work anniversaries. We also have a quirky employee of the month program that scores one team member.

Communication

We are all professional communicators. However, a lack of effective ways to communicate in any workplace can cause confusion and frustration.

Our team utilized Slack as a quick way to share files or collaborate in real time. Having this instant messenger open can make you feel more connected as you’re working autonomously—jamming on your laptop with your headphones on.

Additionally, to stay open and transparent, our CEO sends out a ‘3 things you need to know this week’ email to keep us updated on culture events, clients, recent successes, any any other items we need to be aware of. It truly keeps us all on the same page.

Lastly, we of course have our Medium blog called Communi-Creations (a combination of ‘community’, ‘communication’, and ‘creation’) that captures our culture, our experiences, our expertise, and our insights.

Community

We care about our community. So, to be as green as possible in this day and age we’ve created a recycling program that helps us eliminate waste — from toner cartridges, to water bottles, to used paper.

Recently, we’ve also look forphilanthropy opportunities that will help us connect with our community, including pro bono work and team volunteering days.

Amenities

We love free stuff. The last part of my culture program is the sprinkles on top, they’re the things that make working here just a little bit sweeter.

Amenities at Moncur include shoe cleaning/repair and dry cleaning services. We also have an entire slew of free coffee and beverages (from Dasani to La Croix to Angel’s Envy). We take food really seriously, so there are also a bunch of snacks — we keep the healthy ones (fruit and nuts and such) out in the open, but also have an amazing wall of snack bins that helps you curb any craving: salty, sweet, sugary, cheesy, etc. (Plus we have#glutenfree snacks for our special friends with dietary restrictions.)

In the end, I discovered that culture isn’t something that just happens naturally, it is an entity that needs to be attended to, cared for, and constantly evolved. But the results I’ve experience have been so incredible and meaningful, not only to each individual who works here, but to the agency as a whole. Creating a culture program has truly shaped the way that our team works and interacts together, which makes all the difference in the employee experience.

Interested in being a part of Moncur’s culture? We’re hiring! Visit our Careers page to view our open positions and apply today.