In For The Long Haul

Milton Bagley joined Pace Advertising in New York 45 years ago as an account executive and junior partner. He's still there today, now 76 and chairman of the WPP Group shop. "Never for one moment have I ever thought of leaving," he says. "What it boils down to is the fact that this is a nice place to work." In Adweek and Euro RSCG's recent "Images of the Image Makers" survey, 96 percent of the 3,000-plus respondents from the image-making industries claimed to be loyal to their employers. But as the job market strengthens and the poachers come calling, what keeps people from jumping ship? A number of things, says Chris Woolard, director of client services at Indianapolis-based Walker Information, a consultancy that focuses on loyalty issues: being treated fairly, having training and new career opportunities, being recognized for accomplishments, being treated like an asset and, increasingly, having a balance between work and life.It's something the managers at Crispin Porter + Bogusky think about often. "How do we continue a culture where if Donny Deutsch calls and says, 'What are you making? I'll triple it,' people say, 'No, thank you' and hang up the phone?" says director of account management Jeffrey Steinhour. "That, to me, is our most important job." The Miami agency reviews its retirement and health benefits every six months and maintains what Steinhour calls a "generous" bonus pool. But he says pay-related factors usually aren't the main reason people stay. Instead, he says it has more to with letting people know that their opinions matter and that someone is listening and "truly on [their] side here." Some departments, for instance, offer informal evaluations twice a year where employees can talk with their superiors about what they're doing right and what they can improve on. "They leave understanding what they need to do," Steinhour says. "I think a lot of companies don't do a good job in giving candid feedback." Poaching was a big problem for Denver's McClain Finlon during the dot-com boom, when staff turnover hit 40 percent a year. Two years ago, to avoid a repeat of that offensive, chairman and CEO Cathey McClain Finlon intensified programs to build loyalty. "I think it is a management philosophy change in realizing acutely that employees don't bring loyalty automatically," she says. "And earning loyalty is a constant examination of what a company has to offer that will help an employee to build longevity with a company." One thing the agency did was institute a lecture series, which has featured speakers including a graffiti artist and a mountain climber who had scaled Everest. "You feel empowered in a way, and you feel you just got a gift," account strategist Chris Ruszkowski, 32, says of the lectures. The shop also sent Ruszkowski to an expensive conference recently, which he saw as an investment in him. Such efforts, he says, go beyond the "pep-rally type events and morale building" exercises he experienced at some other shops. "There's not a lot of grass-is-always-greener conversation here," he says. "People are happy." A simple idea guides Austin, Texas, agency T3: "We don't want this to be a sweatshop," says HR director Marie Bevione. The agency offers weekly yoga classes, gives employees gift certificates for putting in extra hours, and has a book club. Dogs are allowed, and so are babies. The shop's president, Gay Gaddis, "was ahead of her time in realizing if she wanted to keep working women happy, then a little bit of flexibility and family friendliness will go a long way," says Bevione. Copywriter Kate Donaho, who brings her 7-month-old, Lucy, to work these days, says she feels indebted to T3 for the program. "This will be a huge tenderness for me in the way I feel about T3," says Donaho, 31. It's not just the tot program that she's grateful for, either. "I haven't felt like I have needed to move to grow," she says. "A lot of agencies use people up and spit them out. This isn't one of them." Neither is Pace, where Bagley estimates the average tenure at 16 years. The president, CFO, creative director and chief marketing strategist have 93 combined years at the agency between them. Bagley's advice to shops seeking to build loyalty? "The important thing is to produce good work, make as much money as you can," he says, "but don't hurt anybody."

Brand Marketing

In For The Long Haul

Mindy Charski

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Mindy Charski