Results from the Never Not Creative and UnLtd 2020 Mental Health Survey found that people in the media, marketing and creative industries were 20% more likely to experience symptoms of depression than the general public.
This was a key area that we wanted to do differently. We both knew the impact this industry had on our mental health, so employer benefits were a cornerstone of the studio’s founding. We knew that by investing in our employees, we were investing in our business.
Of course, that doesn’t mean our studio is without the issues that many studios face, but we’re working to make self-care a part of our studio norm. , almost all day, daily care. Team wellbeing needs are continually being met. We check in regularly, provide training, develop skills and encourage him to embrace his own RND. As a result, the team can enjoy their work and produce great work because their mental capacity is not overloaded.
Established in the pre-Covid era, we have always set up WFH. We have never opened an office and have no plans to do so. He doesn’t want the creative flow of a talented team to be confined to one space. As the studio grew, we realized that the line between work and life could blur when our home space was also our work space, so we created the physical and mental tools our team needed to separate the two. I believe that not being stagnant, recognizing where things are going wrong and working with your team to change them is another important aspect of a great wellbeing culture. . Help your team talk about their experiences, recognize them as individuals, and understand what works for one person may not work for another.
Vacations (honestly, the standard 20-day allowance is crap and this was the thing I struggled with the most when I worked for the company) is another key area for Covert. . During Christmas he provides 30 days of vacation pay and he provides 2 weeks of vacation (I am aware of other holidays such as Thanksgiving). As the studio grew, we realized that not everyone was on vacation. As many reports show, work pressure and poor work-life balance mean people are reluctant to take time off to reset. ) to try to ease the pressure by implementing a multifaceted level of support.
The team also know that if you need a break or some fresh air it’s fine. They can take their dogs for walks, no pressure at all. We trust our team and believe they know what they need to do, but we also believe they know when they are facing burnout. It turns out that giving autonomy helps prevent burnout, the antithesis of creativity. This means that as a studio, when a curveball is thrown (which is a no-brainer in this industry) your team has the bandwidth to deal with so they can do what it takes to smash the job ,it’s not. Always teetering on the edge of the crash point.
Every Friday, we open up a Slack Huddle where teams can drop by, have a non-work chat, and test each other’s GIF knowledge. In addition to this, once a year we close our office for a few days and gather teams from all over the world to create a secret hideout.
Employee well-being was at the forefront of the studio’s beginnings, and we sought to nurture it so that it became part of the studio’s culture. No, but it’s part of the studio’s DNA and has always been. What we did was nothing special – it was just conscious and respectful – and in doing so, we felt we were working towards an antidote to burnout. Employee retention is high, morale is high, and as a result, this has become a self-fulfilling embodiment of the corporate spirit we have come up with while producing incredible work. It’s transformation!
