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ThinkEQ is a digital agency that’s driven by emotional intelligence. We take a unique approach to developing brands, combining creativity with technology to create digital experiences that build meaningful connections between brands and consumers.
We are a young, ambitious agency; we’re passionate about growing our offering and helping our clients find the most impactful ways to amplify their business. But our passion doesn’t mean we compromise the health and well-being of our team to achieve our ambitions.
We’ve all worked in agencies that put profit before people, but that’s not us.
When we launched ThinkEQ, we knew we wanted to create a person-centred agency that placed our people first. We wanted our team to feel valued, respected and supported personally and professionally.
We’re now in our fourth year of business; we’ve maintained 100% of our original team and continued to grow whilst negotiating the complexities of Covid in our first year of trading.
We cannot think of a better way to celebrate than being shortlisted in the Best Small Business category at the UK Company Culture Awards, 2023.
Creating a better way of working for our team
Like every business that fought to survive and grow during the pandemic, we had to pivot our approach to onboarding, team management and relationship building in order to protect not only our culture, but our mental health and wellbeing too.
CEO, Drshna Vara says “The ThinkEQ mindset is focused on achieving great things together, so our team’s voice is integral to shaping the way we work and how we communicate with each other to build a harmonious environment where we can deliver our best work.
“As a result, all initiatives we have introduced into the business have been a direct result of what our team has asked for. This has enabled us to strike the perfect work-life balance and improve operational efficiencies so that our team can benefit from flexi-time and hybrid working without any impact on agency deliverables.”
Building a legacy of trust and open communication
We have worked hard over the last four years to create an environment where our team’s opinions and recommendations are valued and respected.
We regularly run staff surveys and project retrospectives to gain valuable insights into what we’re doing right, where we need to improve and where we need to upskill.
This helps us capture individuals’ specific needs, identify preferred working styles and define training and development needs.
As a result, we have sustained substantial growth and retained 100% of our team whilst minimising stress, anxiety and burnout.
We’re proud of what we have achieved in our four years of business, and we’re incredibly proud to be recognised at the UK Culture Awards as being one of the best small agencies to work for.
Some of the initiatives we have introduced that are now integral to our business include:
Flexitime: Life doesn’t revolve around the standard 9-5, so our team can flex their working hours around our core business hours. This means our team can support their family, go to appointments and take care of life admin when they need to.
Hybrid working: We see the value of home working and the importance of time together in the office as it allows us to build better relationships and encourage collaboration. We have a minimum requirement for coming into the office, but we allow our team to decide when those days are. The days are confirmed in advance, so it means we can have dedicated time together in the office and ensure our junior team members, apprentices and placement students get the help and support they need to thrive.
Learning and development: Sometimes, having the brain space to step away from the work and immerse yourself in industry news is all we need to inspire change. We ringfence time every week for learning and development, where the team is encouraged to attend webinars and events. We also have a yearly training budget that is available to everyone.
Mentorship: We don’t believe in limiting our team to one role. If they want to learn a new skill from others in our business, we make the time and space for exploration to happen. We’re also passionate about inspiring the next generation of digital experts, so we welcome apprenticeships and those seeking work experience from local colleges and schools.
ThinkEQ is not your average agency. We have a soul that’s honest, open, and real.
We empower our team to do great work in an environment where they can thrive; we want them to feel emotionally fulfilled by their work and their role in shaping our agency’s future.
