The talent crisis post Brexit and post pandemic lockdowns continues to hit businesses hard, with the creative industry feeling the effects at all levels. It has forced a rethink on multiple levels.

Working has become flexible, hybrid and remote – and these changes have fast become the expected norm, regardless of sector or size, business or employee needs. These adjusted working practices proved essential for business survival in these troubling times, but while everyone was affected, the impact differed. In this case, size does actually matter. Business giants, like Google and Microsoft, able to draw on vast teams and resources, have lauded a hybrid workforce as the way forward. With philosophies and working practices most suited to these larger corporations, many small companies are not able to offer the same options.

For small creative companies, the team is at the heart of the company culture. Behaviours, interactions, values and beliefs are all fundamental to innovative thinking in a creative workplace. When people are working from home, absent or on holiday, it is keenly felt, and they are missed. From mind mapping and spurring ideas to creative collaborations and the simple sharing of weekend plans, small teams only have a finite amount of people to tap into. And when they are not there, it has an impact on the culture of a company. When a company’s core purpose is bringing creative heads together – to bounce ideas for that ’out of the box’ symbiotic thinking – the shift from physical to digital is not always ideal. There’s no denying that the screen can get in the way at certain stages of a project.

We are used to experimentation and have been keen to explore new ways of doing things. But we have also had to be ready to admit when things don’t work.

For instance, we’re in the process of rethinking our space at Curious and how that translates to our home set ups. We moved into our studio last summer and despite our best intentions temporary solutions inevitably became fixed. Our initial hot desk idea – sit wherever you fancy – didn’t quite work; everyone sits in the same place every day. People like familiarity.

Within small creative companies, creativity really does need a home. It needs an inspiring space to thrive and come alive, for ideas to flow, to be nurtured and developed. Creative teams need a place for thinking to evolve, for walls to showcase ideas and for those moments of clarity to form in the kitchen as the tea round is being prepped. So when reconsidering the physical office space, it may be best to start with the basics of what the space is needed for, and work back from there. For creative organisations that’s about how to use a physical setting to support the intangible process of working with ideas and is integral to a company’s culture.

People’s personal views, attitudes and behaviours are intertwined with the culture of the company. Within a small team, everyone’s voice is that bit louder. This makes protecting the culture and the way in which thoughts are shared and communicated, all the more important. With the current talent crisis, leaders have to work hard to avoid feeling pressured into making hasty or inappropriate decisions; to take the time to choose personalities that are aligned with the company values.

Protecting company culture

Business leaders have a responsibility to their teams to protect and nurture the culture of the business. To make sure that new recruits respect what has been established before they join and that they are set up with the tools they need to improve it, but not diminish it. This requires transparency, trust, openness and clear communication as to what’s needed to support this. Involving different members of the team in the interview process is good practice for protecting the culture. It offers the opportunity for the potential new joiner to get a better feel for the team they’d be joining as well as for the existing team to have a genuine involvement in the process.

When looking at company culture with a broad lens, it is important to acknowledge working practices are changing, and often quite radically. The four day working week is currently being piloted in the UK. The vision is that a four day week will improve employees’ quality of life without impacting business productivity. So, businesses – and employees – across the land will be watching the outcome with interest. The way we work inevitably evolves but the consequences of implementing changes is not always equal – and invariably harder for small businesses and agencies servicing clients.

Finding what works best for your business, your sector and size, in parallel to supporting your team and meeting clients’ needs, is all part of the tricky challenge of nurturing and maintaining company culture. It requires constant attention and vigilance.