THE WPR WAY

In 2010, our peers voted us the agency who "they most admired". In fact, we scored three times as many points as the number two on this list, who we won't name. It sounds very corporate but we think this is down to our ethos of "looking after our staff, so they look after our clients." Lots of companies say this, but we really mean it. We want all of our staff to enjoy coming to work as much as is possible.

So, we make a number of promises to our staff when they join us:


• We will provide them with champagne on their anniversary, give them a day's holiday on their birthday and give them the three working days between Christmas and New Year as holiday, all on top of annual leave, which will then be increased by a day for each year spent with us (to a maximum of five)
• We will tell all employees about company progress
• We give everyone the chance to share in the management of the company through marketing, facilities, blogging, PR, social events etc
• We have quarterly appraisals where staff are given the feedback they need to progress
• Staff are given the chance to appraise up, as well as down
• Suggestions as to how the company can be improved are encouraged and taken seriously
• Staff are encouraged to have a work-life balance with Directors keeping an eye on rechargeable days and tweaking working hours around family commitments and travel arrangements
• We never ask for contributions to staff gifts (for babies, big birthdays etc) – these are funded by the company
• We employ an open door policy – with Directors always on hand to listen and help
• We recognise staff endeavours and achievements in monthly internal "newsletters"
• We invest in our staff through training, personal development and most importantly, social events

In return, we just expect our staff to look after our clients to the very, very best of their ability. They won't miss a deadline, they won't send them sloppy copy, they will use good grammar (even in emails) and they'll constantly look to wow them with ideas and know how. We want our staff to take time to understand their clients' industry sectors and, with the rest of the team, think about how we can really help to grow their bottom line.