When Matt Pilcher set up F That, he made a vow to never repeat the same mistakes his former bosses had.
The vow was simple: his creative team would be given the time, patience and respect they needed to produce their best work.
“We used to think that if a designer was free for an hour and not doing any client projects, then we were losing money,” admits Matt. “But I realised last year that that’s not the case; we can actually give our creative designers time to learn new skills and come up with new ideas. Our designers have grown so much over the last year because of it.”
“We can then pitch those ideas to the clients, and for the hour that we’ve not charged someone, we might be able to charge someone double for this new idea somebody’s figured out.”
So what practices have F That implemented to empower this creativity?
- They give their creative team the time and space to work on the projects to ensure the best outcome.
- They implement a ‘Show and Tell’ for their creatives’ personal projects.
- Regular 1-to-1 sessions to ensure they’re doing all they can to help them grow.
It’s clearly working well. Where some companies often forget about the importance of allowing their creatives room to breathe, focused primarily on processes and deadlines, F That’s culture embraces it.
“No one’s actually left us yet, either. Staff retention is important, because everyone in the team is amazing, so I’m trying to listen to people more and be transparent about stuff.”
Such an approach has landed F That clients such as Gorillaz, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish.
If you’ve been struggling to get the best work possible from your creatives, baffled as to the different ways they approach their work, you should absolutely join Matt Pilcher for this online session.