In this engaging conversation, Sarah Brougham, VP of Operations at GenFlow, shares her journey from the entertainment industry to agency operations. With a remarkable track record of scaling agencies, she emphasizes the importance of structured hiring and effective onboarding processes. Sarah discusses strategies for culture-aligned hiring, navigating employee retention, and the complexities of offboarding. She also highlights the critical role of operational systems in agency efficiency and the value of mentorship in fostering growth.
Hiring the right talent requires a focus on cultural alignment to ensure new employees integrate well within the agency's values.
Robust onboarding programs greatly enhance new employees' confidence and adjustment, leading to higher job satisfaction and retention rates.
An effective offboarding process should include understanding employees' reasons for leaving and maintaining positive relationships through constructive exit interviews.
Deep dives
The Importance of Consistent Pricing
Consistent pricing is critical in agency operations, as it prevents discrepancies in client quotes and budgets. By implementing a system like Scoro, agencies can create a library of standardized quote templates that incorporates consistent language around project scope and predefined margins. This structure not only streamlines the quoting process but also ensures that account managers have ready access to build budgets accurately and quickly. The approval workflow feature enables team leads to review and sign off on quotes, further enhancing consistency and accountability.
Challenges in Hiring and Recruitment
Hiring the right talent is an arduous task, often fraught with challenges such as high recruitment fees and extensive time spent on screening candidates. Utilizing tools like VideoAsk can help automate the initial stages of the interview process, allowing the focus to be on the most suitable candidates. Despite efforts, agencies may still struggle with hiring due to applicants fitting well on paper but not aligning culturally with the agency. The speaker emphasizes a significant learning curve in adapting hiring strategies to ensure alignment with organizational values and culture.
Effective Onboarding Programs
Robust onboarding programs are essential for integrating new hires smoothly and efficiently into the agency environment. The speaker takes pride in developing structured onboarding processes that give new employees a comprehensive understanding of the business, facilitate team introductions, and outline responsibilities from day one. Positive feedback from new employees indicates that knowing what to expect during their initial weeks fosters confidence and accelerates their adjustment to the organization. This strategic approach ultimately contributes to higher retention rates and overall job satisfaction.
Navigating Team Expansion and Growth
The speaker reflects on their experience with team growth from a mere six employees to over one hundred, highlighting the lessons learned throughout this rapid expansion. Frequent evaluations of profitability and client relationships revealed the necessity to pivot from quantity-based client strategies to selective, quality-focused engagements. As hiring surged, the agency also adopted a more remote work culture, tapping into global talent pools to manage clients more effectively. This collective approach allowed the agency to enhance its operational efficiency while maintaining a deeper focus on profitability.
Best Practices for Offboarding
An effective offboarding process involves more than just administrative tasks; it includes understanding the reasons behind an employee's departure and maintaining positive relations. Exit interviews provide valuable feedback that can improve retention strategies moving forward by revealing potential areas for improvement within the agency. The speaker emphasizes the importance of evaluating each employee's value to the organization and engaging in candid conversations to potentially reshape their role or address grievances before they decide to leave. Ending on a positive note is essential, as it preserves professional relationships and protects the agency's culture.
Hiring and training new employees is a big commitment - and getting it right will have a lasting impact on your agency.
Kicking off The Big Agency Club series, we chat with Sarah Brougham, VP of Operations at GenFlow. Sarah’s helped multiple agencies go from start-up to established, having a big hand to play in their growth and maturity journies. Sarah has spent the past six years at GenFlow, helping grow revenue there by 5x and headcount 16x.
Sarah gives us her best tips on:
Hiring the right people for your agency
Creating onboarding programs that new hires love and gets them off to a running start
How offboarding goes beyond formalities and systems removals, and includes decisions on retention
How to decide whether to fight to keep an employee that's thinking of leaving
