Within 18 months of our official launch, Finn Partners has been named the best PR agency to work for in North America by the Holmes Report. At our agency launch in 2011, I announced to our staff that this was one of our goals, and said up front that this would be an evolutionary process. It was something I aspired to, and I knew that the path was not an easy one. I never expected to achieve this goal so quickly, and the reality is that our work is far from done. It is much easier to lose this distinction than it is to win it. Our management team knows that we have to continue to earn and maintain the trust of our entire team and we have to continue to show them that we consider them true partners.
This award is about more than agency programs and policies; it is a reflection of every team member’s dedication and commitment to our clients, our craft, our agency and to one another. It is truly special to me that our distinction is based on direct input and comments from our team and is based on a survey of 5,000 employees from 60 agencies.
The “best place to work” distinction is important to me for two reasons. One, I care about every one of our employees, and want them to feel respected, inspired, that they are growing professionally and that at Finn Partners they are on a great career path. I love my work, and I want to do what I can to ensure that the others who work here love what they do too.
I also believe that if we create the best culture and work environment, we will attract and retain the best talent in our industry and we will do the very best work for our clients. This is the road to success for us all.
We all know what the workplace statistics say. Harvard Business Review reports that engaged employees are, on average, 50% more likely to exceed expectations than the least-engaged workers. And companies with highly engaged people outperform firms with the most disengaged folks—by 54% in employee retention, by 89% in customer satisfaction, and by fourfold in revenue growth.
Finally, success is not something we achieve by ourselves. It requires collaboration, a word that has defined Finn Partners from day one. That is why this honor really belongs to every single person that works at Finn Partners. That is why I would like to take this opportunity to say to every member of our staff: Thank you. Together, all of you made this happen. You make Finn Partners the Best Place to Work, and as our founding partner, I will never stop looking for ways to make our agency and employee experience the best it can be.
As some of you know, I created a not-for-profit organization 10 years ago called Global Peace Initiative of Women. Since its founding I have worked with young people and leaders from many different sectors of society around the world to foster peace initiatives in troubled global hot spots. I view this as part of the way in which I give back to the world.
The cost of healthcare is not the only issue driving the emotion of the current election cycle, but it is a critical topic. Who pays, how much and at the expense of whom? The on-going debate that has still not yielded a satisfactory answer recently saw Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center weigh in.
As if managing accounts and media strategies for Finn Partners’ clients wasn’t enough of a work out, Andrew Corcione, a Managing Associate in the Consumer Technology group, recently participated in the Timberman 70.3 Half Ironman competition – his fifth Half Ironman race – and, he did it in record time.
