PAYING the living wage is a key part of the positive culture that Wire, an award-winning creative marketing agency, aims to foster.
Although the Glasgow-based company just recently took the Living Wage pledge, it has been offered since Pam Scobbie and Lee Beattie launched the agency seven years ago.
There’s now a team of 24 people who were mainly head-hunted from a spectrum of backgrounds including digital, journalism, advertising, events and marketing, bringing a variety of specialisms to the agency.
Everyone is offered a package focused on competitive pay, flexible working and other benefits.
“In our sector, an agency is only as good as its people,” said culture and strategy director Lee Beattie. “We take a bespoke approach to hiring staff – they need to be talented, hard-working and the right cultural fit, so when we find the right people, we want to keep them. Therefore, it’s a no-brainer to ensure that we really look after them.
“Paying the national living wage is not only morally right, it’s actually vital, especially for the more junior members of our team and for the interns we hire on summer placement every year.”
In the marketing industry, one of the best ways to get a foot in the door is via work experience or an internship. Despite a drive from marketing industry bodies like the PRCA and CIPR, many agencies still expect interns to work for free.
“Expecting free labour to help you deliver work is shameful and thankfully it’s practised less and less,” said Beattie.
“Not only do we pay interns, we pay them the national living wage and we make sure their valuable contribution is recognised with a proper development plan during their time with us.”
As a result, one of Wire’s senior account managers, two account managers and a senior account executive all started at the agency as interns progressing to be offered jobs at the end of their placements.
Senior account manager and last year’s PRCA Rising Star Victoria Irvine said: “I’d done a couple of other internships before Wire and had barely been paid for travel so it was a welcome surprise to actually be given a wage never mind the national living wage.
“It made the difference between me being able to pay rent or having to go back home. In the end, I’ve never left the agency and have progressed right through the ranks over the last four years.”
As well as paying the national living wage, Wire also offers flexible working, which means that all employees set their own hours and are measured on outputs rather than the number of hours spent in the office.
The company also offers 36 per cent more holidays than required, extended parental leave and a monthly cultural allowance. Plus, dog owners are encouraged to bring their pets to work.
“We call it freedom with responsibility. By trusting our team and giving them the tools to enjoy a better work-life balance, we’ve enjoyed a 98 per cent staff retention rate over the last three years,” said Beattie.
“In turn, we’ve seen an increase in productivity that means we also have happy clients who include Tennent’s Lager, Whyte & Mackay, Magners, Marketing Edinburgh, Scotrail and BAFTA Scotland – enjoying outstanding results for their business.”
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