I love an awards night. I really love it when we win. Which is why when in June at this year’s Firm Awards, we picked up the ‘Best supplier partnership’ for our work with NFU Mutual, I was over the moon. I was last seen around midnight brandishing two bottles of champagne topping up random glasses waxing lyrical about how great my client is. I was as happy as a skunk. As elated as a lord. As delighted as a newt. I woke up the next morning having lost all dignity… and the award. Although, it has since been found. The award. Not the dignity.
Self-praise is no praise at all. So unexpected praise must be the best
Traditionally, we only enter awards that are focused on employer branding, careers websites or recruitment marketing. Entering this category was the client’s idea. They are so proud of the work that we’ve done together that they wanted the partnership to be recognised. We started to collect examples of the work – employer proposition, careers websites, films, social media strategies, referral programmes, brochures, even newspaper adverts. A lot of really lovely work. But even more they started sharing with us the impact of the work we’d been doing together. Real results. And then some direct feedback from the team saying some genuinely nice things. And using the word ‘partner’.
And that got me thinking …
The word partner is thrown around a lot in our industry. After all, they’re the client and we’re the supplier. But our relationship with NFU Mutual is probably as close as you can get. But why? What is it about this relationship that really works? Is it that we’re honest, transparent and great to work with? Obviously. Is it that we’re creative in our thinking, precise in our execution and deliver on time? Mostly. Is it that we’re good at what we do? Probably.
It is all of that. And more than that. They can see the value we add to their team. Where we take all our knowledge, experience and creative thinking and apply it to their unique challenges. To understand the problem, talk it through and find the solution together. Challenging each other. Seeing the problem from all angles. Understanding any potential obstacles or limitations. And celebrating successes.
As Heather Kitto, Head of Resourcing, says, “We were looking for an agency that would be a true partner. That would help shape our strategy, build our profile, challenge us where needed and help us deliver a best-in-class resourcing service. We knew from the moment we met them that the agency we needed was that little one.” Thanks Heather.
A good match
There are some very clever people in the Resourcing Team at NFU Mutual. They’ve got market-leading knowledge, a huge amount of experience and many war stories to tell. And they work hard. We’ve been fortunate to share their transformation journey. From offering an agency-led recruitment service to where they are today, a full-service direct resourcing team. A transformation that saw them pick up the award for ‘Large recruitment team of the year’ on the same night. Incidentally, they didn’t lose their award.
We know that NFU Mutual took a real punt on us. We were only three years old when we did our first piece of work for them. What followed was a pitch, a pandemic and a couple of years supporting them as they shaped and launched their ‘Target Operating Model’. Two years later we’re sharing the same stage for a couple of awards that highlight what we’ve achieved together. I shouldn’t have been on the stage for their award really. But by that time, I was as pleased as a boiled owl and there was no stopping me.
Heather again, “Working with That Little Agency has truly changed the external face of NFU Mutual in the employment market. The employer branding work has led us to exceed all our KBI’s and resulted in demonstrable cost savings. They are a business in their own right, but they operate as an extension of our team. A true partner approach.”
They make us a better agency
This isn’t just true of NFU Mutual. It is true of all our clients. Each employer has their own unique set of challenges. Their own pain points. Our job is to understand what it is that keeps them awake at night. And help them think and work their way through it. We even bring recruiters from different businesses together, offering them a platform to share their experience, offer new perspectives and help shape a solution. And with each piece of work, we as a team learn something new and have another story to tell. Clients support our development as an agency as much as we support their growth as a team. And that’s as close as you’ll get to a partnership.
We’ll leave the final word to Kenny Graves, Head of HR, “Our relationship with That Little Agency has been critical to the development of our employer brand. Enabling our candidates to see what it’s really like to work at NFU Mutual. The team have taken the time to understand us as a business, spent time in all our offices and have translated our proposition to the appropriate targeted audiences. They have the creative ability that has enabled us to attract great candidates which deliver value for our Mutual members.” Shucks.
That’s it
No call to action. No sales pitch. Thank you for your time.
