Ahead of the Alliance of Independent Agencies Festival of Happiness taking place on 6th November 2025, I’ve been reflecting on one of the themes that matters most for agencies right now:
How do we create a culture of high performance without burning people out?
I’ve pulled together a 10-step plan for agencies on building a people-first, high-performance culture.
Each step comes with:
💡 A question to ask (so you can spark the right conversations)
🔄 A shift to make (the mindset change needed)
🚀 An approach to that shift (practical ways to bring it to life)
This isn’t “soft stuff.” It’s the strategy that sets successful agencies apart.
High performance isn’t about more hours, a harder hustle, or outputs at any cost.
It’s about creating the right conditions for people to thrive because when people thrive, the business follows.
1. Start With Questions, Not Assumptions
Ask: What does “high performance” look like for our people? What gets in the way?
Shift: Listen first, act second.
Response: Agencies often leap to “solutions” without first understanding the lived experience. Start by asking, not telling. Curiosity is the foundation of trust — and trust is the foundation of performance.
2. Define Performance in Human Terms
Ask: How do we measure success beyond revenue?
Shift: Value wellbeing, collaboration, learning, and creativity as much as output.
Response: If performance is only measured by financials and deliverables, burnout is inevitable. Sustainable high performance means balancing productivity with wellbeing, innovation, and client impact.
3. Leaders Model the Shift
Ask: Are leaders walking the talk daily?
Shift: Culture is caught, not taught.
Response: People notice the small stuff — how leaders handle deadlines, feedback, and meetings. If leadership behaviours don’t match stated values, culture change stalls. Leaders must embody the shift every day.
4. Make Psychological Safety Standard
Ask: Do people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and challenge norms?
Shift: Replace fear with trust.
Response: High performance isn’t consensus — it’s constructive debate. When people know they can question without risk, ideas sharpen, and better work emerges. Safety accelerates innovation.
5. Invest in Continuous Learning
Ask: How easy is it for people to grow here?
Shift: Curiosity drives performance.
Response: Agencies thrive on fresh thinking. Workshops, coaching, mentoring, and clear career pathways show that people are worth investing in — and that learning fuels better, braver work.
6. Design Work With Wellbeing in Mind
Ask: Are workloads realistic and rest respected?
Shift: Protect energy to unlock creativity.
Response: Agencies often mistake overwork for commitment. Exhausted teams underperform. Designing flexible, realistic workloads sustains sharpness and ensures quality output.
7. Recognise and Reward the Right Things
Ask: What behaviours are we celebrating?
Shift: Reward collaboration, not just heroics.
Response: If recognition only goes to big wins or late-night rescues, you’ll reinforce the wrong habits. Shine a light on teamwork, mentoring, and consistent excellence — because what gets rewarded gets repeated.
8. Create Clear Feedback Loops
Ask: How often do we give and receive feedback?
Shift: Build a rhythm of open conversations.
Response: Annual reviews don’t cut it. High-performing teams run on regular check-ins and real-time feedback. Feedback should be two-way, with leaders inviting critique as much as giving it.
9. Align Purpose With Practice
Ask: Do our daily decisions reflect our values?
Shift: Integrity drives pride and engagement.
Response: Purpose statements look good on slides, but people judge authenticity by action. When commercial decisions align with values, people feel proud of where they work. Misalignment quickly erodes trust.
10. Measure What Matters
Ask: Are we tracking both performance and people?
Shift: Culture is a business strategy, not a “nice to have.”
Response: Track progress with both hard and soft data: productivity, retention, client satisfaction, wellbeing, engagement. Share results transparently and treat culture with the same rigour as financial targets.
The High Performance Shift
Put people first → build trust → create the conditions for great work → deliver sustainable success.
Culture isn’t just about how we feel at work. It’s about how well we perform together. High performance isn’t found in late nights, off the scale stress, or quick wins. It’s found in the trust we build, the space we create for ideas, and the energy we protect so people can bring their best.
This shift asks us to rethink what we reward, how we lead, and where we focus our attention. It challenges us to see people not as a resource to be managed, but as the source of our success.
When we get this right, performance stops being fragile or short-lived. It becomes sustainable, shared, and deeply human.