From this week's Happy Teams podcast: Ed shares how Seven Dots' culture evolved from its two-person founding team to the agency it is today.
When Ed co-founded digital agency Seven Dots, the initial approach to culture was straightforward: "Day one, we started the business. There were two of us. We were the company culture. And as we grew, as we brought more people on board, it's very much a top down approach to it."
The turning point came as the team expanded: "When we got to 15 people, it's almost like the culture started to take on its own personality. The first time you find out that you've got WhatsApp groups that you're not part of... I certainly didn't take offense and I just thought, that's great. Because people are organising their own things."
This organic growth stems from Ed's focus on individual development: "Really understanding what people's strengths are really trying to bring those out. Not getting people to shy away from trying to develop the toolkits to, maybe where they have got weaknesses, but really empower people."
The results speak through their retention rates: "We're 15 years in the making. At the start of October, we had three people pass the 10 year mark. There aren't many people I think in this day and age, particularly who hang around for 10 years."
Hear Ed's full story on building lasting agency culture on the Happy Teams podcast.
