The results are in and it’s official! SVEN – The Digital 1st Agency has been awarded a Great Place to Work (GPTW) badge by the global authority on workplace culture, whose research represents over 10 million employees from thousands of companies in more than 100 countries.
Powered by digital-first thinking and tech, SVEN — The Digital 1st Agency seeks to make every digital encounter refreshingly good for brands, people and communities. “At SVEN, our goal is to make digital refreshing not just for our brands and consumers, but also for the people working in the agency by creating a culture that challenges the norms and stereotypes of always-on agency life,” says SVEN Chief Executive & Innovation Officer Arvi Villacin.
“Being one of only two certified agencies in the country says a lot about the challenges our industry faces, making this achievement so much more meaningful to all of us at SVEN,” he adds.
Youth culture rules! SVEN, a Scandinavian name that means “youth,” encapsulates the work experience and shapes the company culture.
The secret seems to lie in the agency’s highest scoring focus areas – a strong sense of family, the freedom to be themselves, and knowing they can count on and support each other, with an impressive 92%, 92%, and 90% respectively.
Surprisingly, a lot of this was due largely to the pandemic and how it changed not just the digital landscape, but also how people worked. SVEN recently overhauled its agency structure and processes, on top of significantly increased its headcount to account for higher demands for digital products and services. Lockdowns and working from anywhere meant being more creative and intentional with engagement programs and ways of working, while psychological and emotional challenges fueled initiatives to refresh perspectives and mindsets. Finally, the agency went beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, tailoring its programs and benefits to account for diversity in the context of the varying passions, priorities, lifestyles, and needs of its workforce.
Game on! The SVENBuddies program cultivate hobbies and interests outside of work such as video games, k-culture, and pets.
With promising results which include lower turnover, reduced overtime, increased participation, continued business growth, as well as the invaluable feedback from employees themselves which led to the agency’s Great Place to Work certification, this journey towards refreshing life at SVEN is far from over. “The call to make digital refreshing has given us a renewed sense of purpose. It’s gotten such a great response from everyone at SVEN because aside from being timely and relevant, it was also deeply personal – WE needed to be refreshed, too,” said Aileen Coyukiat, SVEN’s Chief Experience Officer.