Our little story9

Has it really been 12 months since I last wrote about the business? It only feels like last week. Maybe that’s because so much has happened between then and now and we’ve barely stopped for a breath. So now seems to be a good time to tell our little story, part three.

Last year in partnership with our little cohort of in-house recruitment professionals we were able to focus our business and build our reputation in four key areas. And it seems to have worked. Everything we’ve done in the last year has been around employer value proposition (EVP) definition, employer brand development, careers website design, development and delivery and recruitment marketing. We’re really starting to play to our strengths.

A great client base for a little start-up

We’ve spent the last year getting out there and talking to people. Presenting at conferences, hosting breakfast meetings and chairing seminars around the subjects of building great careers websites and developing an employer brand. We’ve met some really interesting businesses and shared our thoughts with them. And some have even become clients. We’ve feel very lucky to have worked with the likes of Bristol Airport, Connect Group, Consort Medical Group, Hastings Direct, Manchester Metropolitan University, Phoenix Group, Principality Building Society, Vodafone and Unum already in our first year. And on some really nice projects as well.

Work that we can be proud of

We’re unapologetically a start-up, therefore every job we do needs to be impressive. It needs to delight the client not simply answer the brief. Which is handy because that’s the only way we would approach a project anyway. And our clients have given us the projects and freedom to delight them:

• We made some films for Principality Building Society
• We designed, developed and delivered a careers website for Unum
• We made some films for Consort Medical Group
• We designed, developed and delivered a careers website for Connect Group
• We developed an employer brand for Hastings Direct
• We designed, developed and delivered a careers website for Hastings Direct

They’re all projects that we are very proud of. And some of them have been recognised by our peers.

An award-winning agency

My thoughts on the value of awards is well documented, but I certainly didn’t think that we’d be picking any up in our first year. But when Hastings Direct took a punt on us (and it was a punt) they proved to be as brave and ambitious a recruiter as we are an agency. We found a great match. And the work that we delivered together at the end of last year had an almost instant impact. Which meant that we had something to talk about and something to enter for awards.

What we ended up with was:

• EBMAs: Best digital communication of the employer brand – Winner (Website)
• Recruiter Awards: Most effective employer brand development – Highly Commended (Website)
• FIRM Awards: Best development of an employer brand – Highly Commended (Website)
• OnRec Awards: Creative online marketing award – Finalist (Website)
• OnRec Awards: Best corporate use of online recruitment – Finalist (Website)

Not a bad little haul for our first year. Oh, yes and we were even shortlisted for Bristol Business Awards ‘Start Up Business of the Year’. Sadly, we didn’t win. But we have already seen new business enquiries coming from people who’ve seen us shortlisted or picking up an award. So see, awards are still valuable.

Saying thank you

It has been a great year. Challenging but thoroughly enjoyable. We’ve met some brilliant people, been engaged by some great clients, delivered some highly-effective work and picked up a couple of gongs. Not bad really for our cheeky little start-up. So what better way to celebrate our birthday then by saying thank you. We invited everyone who had helped us in some shape or form over the past 12 months to join us on a booze cruise around Bristol. No speeches. Well, maybe one little one. But it was a great way to say thank you and a great way to mark our first birthday. Messing about on the river.

What now?

I think that the next 12 months are going to be really important to the agency. We’ll continue supporting companies in telling their employer stories, we’ll deliver more high-quality (hopefully award-winning) projects and we’ll keep getting told by our clients that they think we’re brilliant. Because we believe that the very best work is a combination of a great initial idea, a bunch of talented people who all want to deliver something special, and a brave and ambitious client. And if we can have some fun delivering it, all the better. Oh, and we’ve already agreed what we’re going to do for our second birthday party.

Need a little help?

If you feel that you’d like some help, support or even a little chat around defining your employer value proposition, developing your employer brand or any aspect of your talent attraction strategy just drop us a line. After all, much of our best work has started with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

What an interesting 12 months it has been. And a good opportunity to recount our little story, part two. Today sees the end of my incubation partnership with ThirtyThree as they release me back into the wild. And not a moment too soon as I’m hungry and ready to go. Having their support for the past 12 months has been invaluable. It has given me the opportunity to talk to a number of leading talent acquisition professionals on what they are looking for from an agency and shape our offering around their actual needs.

This combined with the support from the NatWest Entrepreneurial Spark programme has seen me pivot the business a little. No longer are we trying to offer all things to all clients, we’re actually focusing on what employers are looking for and playing to our strengths. And those strengths are:

• Employer value proposition (EVP) definition
• Employer brand (or more accurately recruitment identity) development
• Careers website design, development and delivery
• Employer and recruitment marketing (including social media)

Having a clear focus on what we want to do has meant that we are able to more successfully articulate our offering as a business. We offer tactical support to talent acquisition, resourcing and recruitment professionals.

While we’re always looking to build long, beautiful and highly effective relationships with our clients, we’re also equally happy delivering a single one-off project. What’s more we’re not too precious about where in the creative process we come in. If you’ve already defined your EVP then our creative team can use that to deliver a meaningful recruitment identity. If you already have an employer brand, we’re happy to work with that as we develop your careers website and recruitment marketing. But then again, if you’d like us to do the whole lot – then we’d probably love you forever.

This clear focus on what we do, enabled us to develop a purpose for That Little Agency:

“We bring great people and great companies together.”

It’s a simple purpose, but one that will shape everything we do. From this came our values. And then finally our own value proposition:

“Every employer has a story to tell. We’ll help you tell yours.”

Of course our guiding principles haven’t changed. We still offer insight-led solutions, creative thinking and digital expertise. And remain a great bunch of people to work with.

So that’s it. Our little story, part two. And as we start the next chapter, we’ve moved into a new home. A converted bank, complete with a safe for a meeting room and a place for Ted. Of course. So let’s see where the next 12 months take us.

Need a little help?

If you feel that you’d like some help, support or even a little chat around defining your employer value proposition, developing your employer brand or any aspect of your talent attraction strategy just drop us a line. After all, much of our best work has started with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

It was always going to take something special to encourage me to say goodbye to ThirtyThree. It was never going to be the promise of more money, better clients or even partnership, because I had them all there. But I started to get itchy feet. Why? During my decade there we had worked with some great clients, delivered some impressive work and picked up a hatful of awards along the way. Perhaps that was the problem. It was a little too safe. So what do you do in a situation like that? Well, the sensible thing. Talk to the boss.

The result was an arrangement that would be good for both of us. I’d have the freedom to set up my own business with the support of ThirtyThree as my first client. And ThirtyThree would retain my services on a part-time basis. Win, win. And so the adventure begins. With a laptop, a mobile phone, a desk in a shared workspace and an idea. A little one.

The idea is to tweak the big agency model. To offer clients a more agile and flexible way to work with the very best people around. I work with clients to design, develop and manage a client’s project or strategy, and call upon a wide network of trusted, talented friends to help me deliver it. An associate enabled delivery method. Something new for our industry.

And so I am going to be spending the next few months seeing if this idea has actually has legs. And I’ll be doing it not only with the support of ThirtyThree, but also the NatWest Entrepreneurial Spark programme. This is an enablement programme designed to help me develop my idea into a full formed, mature business of three years within 18 months. Exciting stuff. And exactly the support I need right now.

And so the adventure begins. Come on Ted. Allons-y.

Need a little help?

If you feel that you’d like some help, support or even a little chat around defining your employer value proposition, developing your employer brand or any aspect of your talent attraction strategy just drop us a line. After all, much of our best work has started with a cup of tea and a biscuit.