Martin Sorrell, Stuart Rose and now even a Panorama documentary…the return to desk debate rears its head again.
For JAA this is really simple: you are free to come and go as you wish. You are accountable and responsible for your actions but I am not your keeper. Many people think I’m mad to advocate this. Conversely, I thought it was madness when agencies ‘invented’ the ‘3 and 2” working policy as if they were the first humans to split the atom or create fire.
It is absurd for me to issue a top-down decree that dictates the best day to be in the office, for a data scientist to wrangle data to create the latest dashboards; or the best time for a planner to craft their media plans. Our people know their workflows better than I do. It is self-delusion to suggest otherwise.
The JAA Media mantra is very much ‘more connections, more possibilities.’ We evaluate our people on their ability to:
- – Connect with their colleagues.
- – Connect with their clients.
- – Connect with creative agencies.
- – Connect with media owners.
Well, good luck doing that from home five days a week!
Our website homepage boldly states “Every Underdog will have their Day. Seize Yours.” Seizing the day is what we expect our people to do. So, we respect how tricky some people’s lives are now. Many of our people have child-care juggles; some are primary carers at home for someone else; many have hinterlands that matter to them. If it matters to them, it matters to me.
Fear not – we still call ‘three line whips’ when business circumstances require people in. We also reserve the right to revoke WFH privileges if there are performance issues. However, the policy is largely self-policing.
Perhaps for companies with thousands of employees there does need to be more top-down control? I’m not sure. In a knowledge-based creative industry, being chained to a desk doesn’t deliver more ideas. Agency life is pretty full-on. We need to ensure that our people are free to choose how to run their lives so that they are in the best position to show up positively at work. Most people choose freedom if you give them that choice.
