The moral of the story is: Morale
One thing every aspiring advertising executive must learn to deal with is working long, very long, hours so it’s important to keep the team’s spirits up! There is no such thing as a steady 9-5. What I’ve learned from interning at Neiman Group is that every person depending on their work load starts and finishes work at a different time and that the agency often sees each other at work more than they see their loved ones. It’s important to help out all members of the team in agency life, to ensure the best work is produced and that colleagues feel appreciated. There almost is never an 8 hour work day, and they often take their work to their second office at home when the night ends. Clients, deadlines, ideas, advertising are always on their mind.
By the time I head back to Temple after a full day of interning around 5pm, most people are filling up their coffee mugs for the 4th time, or popping popcorn for a “mid-afternoon” snack. Since the hours are long and employees must be fully dedicated and passionate about their job. Stressful clients and long hours of hard creative work can bring anyone down. So, it’s important to keep the spirits of the team up so everyone remembers why they got involved with advertising in the first place, because they love it!
One way Neiman keeps the moral up is by having office happy hour every Friday in their office. The weekly get together is meant to bring everyone from work together for a relaxing fun end to the work week. It’s perfect because you can be included in the fun and food even if you have to work later than expected; everyone often hangs out for at least an hour to bond as an agency. Fun team functions and activities are always encouraged whether is a beer tasting presentation or watching the Phillies game during lunch. Boosting spirits of the agency by having fun incentives like this keeps employees wanting to come back to work every day. What I’ve learned about team spirit in advertising is keeping employees happy is just as important as keeping the clients happy in this biz. Without teamwork happiness, great work will not be produced.
