Stop me if you’ve heard this one:

An art director and a copywriter walk into a creative director’s office. They present a dozen ideas they’ve been working on for weeks. When they finish, the creative director shares a few ideas of his own. Unbeknownst to the art director and copywriter, the creative director has been toiling away on the same assignment. Two weeks later, the creative director returns from the client presentation with great news: one of his ideas was selected.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one:

Three creative teams are assigned to a project. Weeks later when it’s time to make a client presentation, the creative director chooses work from two of the teams, but not the third. The team whose work wasn’t selected heads to Starbucks to discuss how much the other two teams suck. When the creative director returns from the client presentation and announces that one team’s work was approved, two more chairs are added to the table at Starbucks. 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one:

A creative team works all weekend to meet a tight deadline. When the creative director arrives Monday morning, he offers up a critique of the work that doesn’t include the words “thank you” or “comp time.” The team leaves the creative director’s office feeling unappreciated and under-compensated. 

Heard them all before? Not surprising. Unfortunately, almost everyone in this business has heard these stories. Even worse, most of us have experienced them. I spent the first six years of my career at various shops throughout the U.S., from small independents to big holding company agencies, collecting a few dozen such tales of my own. And in the course of interviewing candidates at Ignited, I’ve heard roughly a few thousand more.   

Those of us who have suffered through the politics, greed, egos and unhealthy competition of agency creative departments have a responsibility to break the cycle when we become creative directors. While it’s to be expected that some CDs will take the payback approach (i.e., “my creative director did it to me, now it’s my turn”), I remain hopeful that many more will take the opportunity to create an environment where someone’s job satisfaction isn’t purely a function of how much work he or she has produced lately. To that end, here are some things you can do to make your creative department happier and more productive:

1)    Have creative directors provide the direction, not the creative. Make this a rule, not a suggestion. CDs should be forbidden to cherry pick assignments or compete with teams working on a project. It’s an honor to lead a team and being a creative director requires one to be selfless. Those who wish to art direct should remain art directors. Those who wish to write copy should remain copywriters. But to be a creative director, you must be willing to let go of the mouse and put down the keyboard. It’s the only way to maintain objectivity, and the only way to engender the trust of the teams under your guidance.     

2)    Avoid “gangbangs,” avoid turf wars. If you put three teams on a job, the only outcome you know for sure is that two-thirds of the group will be disappointed when the project is over. Assigning multiple teams because you don’t have confidence that one team can deliver is likely an indication that you’ve hired the wrong people. Besides, the best creatives are motivated to work harder when you put your faith in them.

3)    Distribute thank you’s and comp days generously. Don’t take it for granted that people should work until midnight or over the weekend. Better yet, try to avoid it. But when it happens, and it will, show your appreciation. If a team is in the office on Saturday, they should expect a comp day and a thank you come Monday. After all, when people don’t resent being at the office, the time they spend there tends to be more productive.

4)    Make no exceptions for the all-stars. Everyone admires the top talent in the building. So when you let your “big guns” miss meetings, pass on certain assignments, treat others disrespectfully or use the phrase “that’s not my job,” you can be sure the junior creatives will emulate those behaviors. Likewise, when your best teams are willing to cut mat boards, work on jobs with small budgets and pitch in to help other members of the department, the rest of the group follows suit. It makes recruiting the One Show winners a bit harder when you don’t let them exchange their gold pencils for free passes, but it makes employee retention even more difficult if you do. 

Since initiating these approaches in 2003, annual turnover in our creative department has been well below the industry average—and most of the departures were the result of someone needing to relocate for personal reasons, not professional ones. I accept that we’re running a business, not a Little League team. There’s no coddling within our doors; we set high expectations and provide clear, direct feedback. Yet no matter how hard we push our creatives, their attitudes always remain positive. As it turns out, people are more receptive to criticism when it comes from someone they see as their guide, not their competition. 

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