Building Organisations Fuelled by Trust & Creative Freedom

Let’s talk about trust – “a firm belief in the ability of someone or something.” When someone asks me what's most important to me when working at a company, my answer is always the same: When I’m given the trust and autonomy to do what I do best for the benefit of the whole company – employees and clients alike. This is one of the things I value the most in any workplace.?

What about you? What are the intangible items on your work bucket list that no amount of salary, bonuses, stock options and perks can diminish? Like with everything, we have to consciously create time for building work- and life-related value systems, or we’re forever chasing the next best thing.?

Back to the topic of this article. So how do we build trust-fuelled organisations that power creative freedom? And to clear the doubt – I’m not addressing this article to designers!?

Creativity, by definition, means: “involving the use of imagination and living with a mindset that allows you to think, feel and express yourself creatively, and consistently.” Thus creative freedom applies to everyone – from finance to operations to those influencers of the creative industries who are constantly involved with the coolest collaborations and projects.?

Below are a few practices based on the talent-centric ethos I’ve developed in the past 10 years in the industry, working with organisations and talent globally. While I’ve stepped away from day-to-day recruitment, talent acquisition and HRBP responsibilities towards business management, I remain passionate about topics related to talent communities and engagement, organisational development and psychology, and everything that helps us propel ourselves and others to new heights professionally and personally.

1. New Work Order

In a world where people are leaving because of unnecessary hierarchies and redundant workspace models, we have to pay attention to what our internal end-users – employees – are asking for. Businesses that lead with a trust-based mindset can thrive in a world that is actively rejecting organisational hierarchies, 9-to-5 routines, and even the 5-day workweek model.?

We’re undergoing a “work revolution”, and if we don’t embrace this, we risk losing not only talent but also clients. Most importantly, by failing to prepare the organisation for “The Project Economy and Revolution” (as coined by Antonio Nieto Rodriguez), we lose out on new business and future collaboration opportunities with external and globally-placed talent.

Which old operating beliefs are you still holding on to within your team, department and/or organisation??

2. Removing Silos

At Maker Lab, we’ve reshaped the agency and client partnerships by deconstructing the conventional agency model. We’re building multidisciplinary micro-agency teams that are given the trust and freedom to showcase their expertise and passions directly to the client. Through team org advisory, we always ensure we complement our client’s teams for improved output and efficiencies.

Once our micro-agency teams are in place based on brand, culture and project fit, we get out of the way so good work can happen without micromanagement or constantly hovering over their shoulders. Unlike other agencies, we never have senior management as the middleman between talent and clients, taking credit for the work and impact their on-the-ground colleagues create.

We grant our employees the freedom they require to do amazing work. This way, both our clients and the talent see faster and better results. Our teams become part of our client’s team and vice versa. Figuratively speaking, of course!?

Can you think of one way of working or one process within your organisation that could change for improved efficiencies and creativity flow? How quickly can you change it?

3. Knowing the End User

Every department in the organisation has a lot to learn from the CX, UX and product development teams, their strategies and methodologies. In my opinion, it is crucial that every business unit spends some time with the external end users – the customers.

At Maker Lab, we practice what we preach! Just like all our employees are trusted to work directly with our clients, even our TA, HR, Ops and Finance teams are on the sidelines with our clients. Have you ever heard of any B2B companies that empower their internal hiring teams to hang out and build relationships with business clients? How else can you find the talent that is aligned not just with the company culture but also with the client’s values, wants and needs???

All of our departments are, to a different extent, immersed in our client’s brand and culture and have a deep understanding of their organisational structure, department capabilities and capacity gaps, their marketing obstacles and goals, their onboarding processes and internal OKRs.

How well do you really know your clients beyond the service you provide them?

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In summary, trust and creativity are threads that must run deep within and across the whole organisation. As per my market evaluation and experience working with and at a vast range of organisations, employees and business partners (agencies, vendors, freelancers, external project-based resources) need to be trusted a lot more. Like a lot!?

I can’t wait to continue these conversations about the growing need for global trust-based creative partnerships. If the above resonates, or sparks something in your, feel free to email me directly: [email protected]