With the WFH battle still raging, how are agencies finding the right balance?

So, we asked agency leaders about their approach to working in the office versus working from home and what tactics they are using to encourage their people to return to the office.

Remote is the future forever

Cara Schaeffer, people ops director, Hook: “Like most agencies, we decided to go remote-first during the pandemic, and we aren’t going back. Giving people the flexibility that they truly want is the best way to strengthen your culture. Enough of the office culture buzzwords, the ping pong and kombucha. Employees are smart and can see right through all of that. The companies that take a holistic approach to ensuring the wellbeing of their people are the ones making it work, creating a culture that thrives on employees being able to balance life and work on their own terms. The ability to work from anywhere, with flexible work schedules, and the time saved from no longer having to commute are all appealing perks of remote work and what makes our search for the best talent that much simpler. And if you think finding talent is hard, try retaining talent if your focus is strictly on presence over performance.”

Angela Wei, president, Milk Agency: “At Milk Agency, we operate on a hybrid schedule, asking staff to work from the office two days a week, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays, with flexibility for client meetings and pitches. We emphasize a dynamic and creative environment, supported by practices like ‘Fuck Off Fridays,’ where the office closes on the last Friday of each month and ‘Golden Hour,’ which allows staff to use regular work hours for doctor appointments or self-care. This balance of structured office days and flexible policies fosters collaboration while respecting individual needs and promoting overall wellbeing.”

Niki Hutchinson, founder & MD, LarkHill PR: “No one wants to go back to the days of mandatory five days in the office or turn their agency into a ‘club’ (that’s what Soho House is for!) – it’s simply not a necessity, certainly in the marketing industry. And I truly believe that for those agencies who are leaving the hybrid model behind, it has very little to do with reinstating the agency’s culture. It’s about trust. Quite simply, it makes no difference where someone is working from; all you need to know is that great work is being done to the deadline and meeting both internal and external expectations – which requires a laptop and mobile, alongside a reliable internet connection! Where WFH doesn’t work for an agency is when the work is not being done – I’d say that has more of an impact on an agency’s culture, given the butterfly effect it can have.”

Better together

Patti Mcconnell, co-founder & managing partner, Something Different: “Without question, we find being together is better; for creative and innovative collaboration, for efficiency of communication, for better interpersonal skills and for the sheer enjoyment of being together. We’ve moved into a new office that has literally drawn people to the office because it’s new, it’s fresh, it’s fun. It encourages IRL. We will never mandate the number of days in the office, but the manner in which people converse is different when we’re all together. There is definitely a remote persona and a remote manner of working that is hard to shake if it’s more the norm; it’s robotic and overly process-focused. Having said that, we’ll always stand by what works for each individual: what makes you happiest, most productive, most flexible.”

Jennifer Davidson, Founder, Sleek: “Sleek has always been an office-based workplace whenever it’s been safe to do so. We’ve never forced people to come in if there are reasons they can’t, but we have a mutual understanding that it helps both the people and the business. The team naturally enjoys spending time together, which is lucky, but they can also see the benefit of knowing who everyone is and the role they play at Sleek. We work in a highly pressurized environment, so it counts for a lot to be able to tell when someone is stressed or having a bad day – this kind of understanding can only happen when people spend time together. It also creates a fantastic learning environment; there’s a constant exchange of knowledge that people see for themselves when they work here. We appreciate the team’s efforts to come to the office, so we make sure the space itself accommodates everyone’s needs. We have things like hair straighteners so people can get ready to go out or simple things like someone’s favorite snacks!”

Guy Utley, founder & ECD, Tall: “Having observed the impact of lockdown, I’ve seen how some team members, particularly younger ones, had their development hindered. We promote the fact that an in-office environment fosters the sharing of information, skills, and casual conversations that contribute to personal and professional growth – something video calls or Slack can’t fully replicate. We require a minimum of three office days per week. Many team members voluntarily come in on Mondays and even some Fridays for various reasons: the clear separation of work and home, fewer distractions at home, and the enjoyment of being around colleagues for creative discussions or quick feedback. We offer flexibility, but I firmly believe that spending too much time working alone at home can hinder creativity and development in a creative agency.”

Alicia Iveson, CEO & co-founder, Hijinks: “We’re incredibly lucky that we don’t feel the need to actively march our teams back to the office. Instead, we give people reasons to come in. Reasons to be together, to work together, to review together and to present together. Interestingly, most of us find ourselves in the office most days. Working to the rhythms that suit us all best. It’s important that we don’t confuse physically being in the office with an agency culture. A true culture can exist online as well as when we’re together – it’s the way that we behave together and with our clients, that’s then manifested in the work that we put out into the world. And while we’re fortunate enough to not have to demand that people use our physical space, we’ll stay true to the fact that we firmly believe and subscribe to hybrid and flexible working. After all, we have to take something positive out of the Covid era!”

Culture & camaraderie count

Jamie Lapensee, VP, director of HR, Hill Holliday: “At Hill Holliday, we ask staff to work in the office three days per week while still offering the flexibility of two WFH days. Our approach to increasing office presence was to be open and honest about what we felt was missing: the camaraderie, familiarity, and teamwork that comes from human interactions, not just those that result from a pre-planned meeting but also the kind that come from sitting next to someone every day or getting coffee together. Our CEO, Chris Wallrapp, said it best: ‘It’s those interactions that power ideas, chemistry, culture and, as a result, growth. Collaboration is essential to creativity, problem-solving and results – personally and for our clients’ businesses.’ The bottom line is we are stronger together.”

Chris Witherspoon, co-owner & CEO, DNA: “We ask our Seattle-based team to come into the office twice a week and it’s not just for the sake of it. Face-to-face time amps up our cognitive diversity, meaning better client results. Our office isn’t just a workspace; it’s a lively, creative hub. We’ve got perks like Taco Tuesdays (where we order food, but it seems to rarely be tacos!), a snack bar that’s hard to resist, a DJ area for impromptu music sessions and no assigned seating, which keeps things fresh and vibrant. Our in-person meetings are more than just sit-downs – they include fun competitions and training sessions showing the value of being here. We believe this mix of flexibility and collaboration brings out the best in our team. We’re not just working; we’re creating, connecting and having fun while doing it! We trust our team to be adults and show up, so there’s no need for strict attendance monitoring – though managers do keep an eye on things.”

Barney Worfolk-Smith, chief growth officer, Daivid: “We ask for two days a week in the office. Our Insight and Tech teams often favor WFH for deep work and the Commercial team enjoys being in the mix more. In the round, we’re classic ‘twats’ (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). The problem with using culture as an excuse to coerce people into the office is that so many places don’t have one. We have some deep underlying principles of respect, trust and mutual support in the business, which means our team genuinely wants to be together. TBH, this has been the most effective way of getting the team in the office. Strangely enough, fundamental respect seems to beat free pizza.”

Hybrid is not just for cars

Hannah Baker, CMO, Brave Bison: “Speed, agility and diversity of thought are just some of the key benefits that make hybrid working invaluable to Brave Bison and our clients. While we do ask for staff who live within two hours of one of our hubs to commit to two days in the office per week to ensure that we maintain that all-important sense of community, we also have a brilliant and thriving community of hybrid workers, who spend the majority of their time working fully remotely. Not only does this model allow for access to broader talent, but it also allows us to be a much more dedicated partner to our clients, allowing us to easily hire hybrid workers on the ground in key markets for them without costly office overheads.”

Emma Rainbow, HR director, Brandwidth: “Our lifestyles have changed post-COVID, and we understand that mandating office attendance can be disruptive, potentially leading to higher attrition and limiting our talent pool. We value our team’s well-being and recognize the financial challenges of commuting. Employees are not required to be in the workplace on specific days. Instead, they can select which days suit them to come in. This hybrid approach has evolved organically. By giving our employees the freedom to choose when they’re in the office, we’re rewarded with engaged and motivated teams. Our weekly Town Halls and frequent Loop Days (in-person events ranging from painting to pub quizzes) support our approach and help maintain our strong culture.”

Patrick Lafferty, COO, Acceleration Community of Companies: “There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. In some situations, people need more in-person time; in previously built relationships, more virtual time works well. The agencies in our Community have policies that are unique to their and their clients’ needs. We have an influencer agency that works individually with creators and brands spread all over the world. They are completely remote. They physically gather once a quarter to learn together, and they visit clients frequently. Conversely, our fabrication agency, which builds physical experiences, is ‘in the office’ five days a week wielding 3D printers and CNC machines. Our agencies that operate best with a combination of in-person collaboration and virtual solo creation have struck a balance of two to three days in the office. The one common thread across all agencies has been ensuring leaders make the time to physically be with their people - in an office or on the road.”

It’s all about trust

Sam Brown, managing director, Wonderhood Studios: “We’re lucky to be an independent company that doesn’t need to instill set rules or run like a club to entice people into the office. We treat people like adults and trust them to do the best thing for their team at that time; sometimes, that means being in the office three days a week, sometimes that means five days. We listen to our people and because we rarely have the opportunity to learn from ‘exit interviews’ with a churn rate of just 7%, we run regular colleague engagement surveys and ‘stay interviews’ to understand how we can continue to create an environment people want to be part of. So, no hard and fast tactics for getting people into the office, but having a banging office in the heart of Soho and working with people we enjoy spending time with certainly helps.”

Louisa O’Connor, managing director, Seen Presents: “We are a young agency; having people in the office was critical for me. We needed face time to build that relationship, that trust and that shorthand I believe you can only get in person. I also wanted the more junior team members to be around the more senior members to learn from in the moment – see and hear firsthand what it takes to build a successful and happy agency from scratch. I would say 99% of people are on board because we have balance. We are in three days, you can work from home on other days if you need to and you can work from anywhere on WFH to help extend that respite holiday time if needed… Also, the office is a nice place to be… we have created a space that supports creativity, stimulates collaboration – people like coming here.”