We won Agency of the Year: How are we creating the best place to work?

It’s actually just like any other relationship. It works only when you take care of it, listen, and work on improving it. But you also challenge it to make sure it doesn’t stagnate.

A good team that works well together is the necessary foundation

At the very start, there was a great group of people who shared common values, enjoyed working in marketing, and had many dreams. And it all starts with the right selection of people, because people and a well-combined team are the most important thing in the consulting business! After that, we simply strive to ensure that our people are happy, have the opportunity to grow, and collaborate on interesting projects that they also enjoy.

If you select responsible people for your team, you can give them enough freedom. We try to involve as many people from the existing teams as possible in the recruitment process so they can decide for themselves if someone new fits and will work well. Good relationships are important, but so are well-managed development, communication, and setting the right expectations from the start.

But that doesn’t mean things can’t change over time. Proficio goes through changes every day as well. What’s important to us is as much openness and transparent communication as possible.

Open communication and feedback is key – even when someone is leaving

We really appreciate hard-working and humble people who can also communicate directly and respectfully when they need something different. We encourage feedback not only immediately but also regularly send surveys across teams to improve our collaboration.

Every year, we conduct a comprehensive satisfaction survey across the whole group, where we regularly want to find out what our colleagues think was a success in the past year, how is each team feeling, what’s working, and what needs to be worked on for the next year. And if possible, we try to notice the small improvements, acknowledge them, and sincerely thank people for their efforts.

We know that working in the agency business is very demanding and it definitely isn’t for everyone. That’s why, when we see that someone is unhappy, we try to support them and find solutions. But if it’s clear that we have different needs or our paths are diverging, we’re not afraid to part ways. We are able to support people in their decision to change. Historically, we’ve found that it’s better for both parties. And often, those people find work that makes them much happier.

We have an exit interview with everyone who leaves, where we try to learn from mistakes and gather feedback. At the same time, we want to say goodbye personally and thank them for all their effort and time.

We offer growth opportunities for everyone

Working with us carries a certain prestige, and over time, it’s becoming more visible even on the market. More and more senior professionals want to work with us, and we’re also attracting young, promising talents to whom we can offer exciting opportunities for growth. We can provide them with a strong foundation full of professionals and great people, combined with maximum flexibility and interesting future prospects. This enriches everyone else who has been with us for a longer time and may not have as much work experience from other places.

Anyone who decides to collaborate with us gets a very high-quality onboarding process: A new employee guide, access to our internal wiki, a well-thought-out adaptation plan, and dedicated time to go through everything calmly. We don’t forget about the ongoing support of a buddy or direct supervisor, from whom newcomers literally absorb how things work here.

We place great emphasis on leadership development and educating our managers because they are a huge inspiration and driving force for others. We’re proud to say that our managers are truly amazing – both personally and professionally. Thanks to that, within the Proficio Hub, we launched more specialized agencies this year, supporting the ownership of individual directors and teams. We support learning not only for individuals through various conferences but also through many internal trainings and sharing knowledge with each other.

Work-life balance shouldn’t be just a phrase

We work in a performance-driven industry, but we fully understand how important work-life balance is. We know that only rested and happy people can deliver great performance.

We’ve experienced ourselves that in today’s world, it’s not easy to balance personal needs with work, no matter what life stage you’re in. That’s why we support as much flexibility in working hours as possible – for example, for moms on or after parental leave, students, or anyone who doesn’t want to work full-time. Our people have the flexibility to work from anywhere, and if possible, anytime. What’s important is that they deliver quality work on time. 

Although our offices are very comfortable, there are days when it’s nice to save the time you would spend commuting. If you want to get up at 5:30 AM, when most people are still sleeping, handle a bunch of tasks calmly, and then go work out or spend time outside, it’s no problem. On the other hand, many people are productive in the evening or at night. 

And that’s what’s most important to us: creating conditions where everyone can perform at their best. How that happens is up to each individual – as long as it is in line with our values, of course.

We admit, though, that we don’t forget about standard benefits, and there are a few other “little things” that make working with us more enjoyable. One of them is sabbatical, a month-long paid time off we offer to those who have been with us for 5 or 10 years. Those who’ve been with us for 5 years also receive a backpack and a choice of two books for their journey, so they have something to enjoy and resist the urge to work – because that’s strictly forbidden during sabbatical.

We really try to support both physical and mental health because it’s the foundation of success. We collaborate with Hedepy, whose vouchers our people can regularly use or access in case of urgent needs. 

We also support many different sports activities – regularly, it’s football, the annual “Bike to Work” challenge or regular yoga lessons in our Brno offices. And in every one of our kitchens, you’ll always find fresh fruit and quality coffee.

Our company culture extends beyond business

Whenever possible, we try to get involved in interesting projects. We have clients who provide meaningful services and products, and we help them succeed. Occasionally, organizations from the nonprofit sector approach us, and if the team likes their cause, we’re happy to support them as a pro bono project. 

For example, we’re working on the Živá půda project and supporting Nadace Partnerství, where we’re also involved in the Aukce pro přírodu, which has a huge impact on land restoration in the Czech Republic, but also in Ukraine.

And even though we’re many now, as the owners, we still make time to meet people. It’s important for us to take the time to ask our colleagues in the office how they’re doing.

Part of the monthly breakfasts includes communicating our vision for the upcoming period and offering a space for anonymous questions. Every other week, we have a joint lunch in Brno, and once a month in our Prague offices. 

Twice a year, we also hold larger events where everyone from all the countries we operate in can meet. At the end of the year, we make sure to meet with everyone personally and thank them for all their hard work. We fully understand that only thanks to having such great people around us, we’re able to overcome challenging periods together and achieve our set goals.

Our door is always open for skilled and hard-working people

As you read this article, did you maybe think to yourself that working in such a company would be great? We’re expanding across the country and internationally, where we’re building local agencies. And we’d be thrilled to welcome more wonderful people who want to help build Proficio Hub with us.

Join us