How do you keep a team engaged?

By our Culture and Engagement Lead Yaz Saeidi

As Culture and Engagement Lead for HDY Agency, it’s my job to make sure that HDY is an awesome place to work (with the help of my canine sidekick and part-time office dog, Pickle).

Making sure that employees are engaged is vital for staff productivity and retention and our culture is a crucial part of what we do. When you have curated a team as wonderfully talented as ours is,  you want to make sure they’re motivated to reach their full potential. According to Officevibe, companies with engaged employees see 2.5X more revenue than companies with disengaged employees. 

Since starting with HDY Agency two years ago, I’ve seen the team grow from 15 to over 40 – and yet we still feel like a tight family unit. As with every family, we support each other through the good times and the bad. Here are five things I do as part of my job to keep our HDY family happy and engaged!

1 – Listen

I’m always on hand for coffee chats and encourage everyone to approach me with any worries. As well as regularly checking in with team members,  I also keep a close eye on confidential feedback from employee engagement surveys to identify any problem points that need addressing.

2 – Reward

It was reported this year that 54% of employees who quit their jobs felt undervalued. Developing our HDY… And Some! Benefits package has been an important part of making sure our team’s hard work is rewarded. Birthdays off, access to health benefits and discounts and regular chances to win amazing prizes in our monthly spin the wheel game prove that we believe work should be about more than just a payslip. We value our HDY’ers – they make us who we are! With an average 8 out of 10 score on satisfaction with recognition in our employee engagement surveys, it seems we’re on the right track.

3 – Celebrate

Whether we’ve won an exciting new client account, and HDY’er got engaged at the weekend or someone in the team has been promoted, we’re sure to pop open a bottle of fizz to celebrate together.

4 – Play hard

Our team work their socks off, so our summer and Christmas bashes give everyone the chance to play hard. A huge part of our culture is about striving to ‘Be More Kid’; not taking ourselves too seriously and embracing our playful side. Over lockdown, with big parties and after work drinks off the table, we stayed connected with a remote wellbeing programme, including art therapy sessions, dance classes and games. This year, Officevibe revealed that 70%  of employees say friends at work is the most crucial element to a happy working life, so opportunities to socialise and build friendships are key to HDY’s success. Our own Officevibe surveys have shown an average score of 8 out of 10 for relationships with peers and managers in the team, so there’s clearly some strong friendships growing at HDY HQ!

5 – Spot talent 

The team at HDY are undoubtedly the driving force behind our success. We’re in the business of people after all. I’m always on the lookout for more dynamic, talented and passionate creatives, marketeers and content gurus to join the ever growing HDY family tree. Want in? Drop me an email on work@hdyagency.com – I’d love to hear more about you!