At PAN, we’re proud to tout “people-first” as a core value. Afterall, our people ARE the business. They are the foundation of who we are as an agency and what makes PAN, PAN. For nearly 30 years, we have cultivated a culture that prioritizes our team. And as the agency has evolved, so have the needs of our team. At the core, we continue to create a supportive environment that allows each employee a path to grow and thrive and show up each day as their true authentic selves.
Today, I’m particularly proud to celebrate PAN being recognized as a Top Workplace for 2024 in key areas that demonstrate that while we create paths for people to grow; our team has helped US grow by showing us what’s important to them in their agency experience. We’re thrilled to be recognized in these core areas: remote work, well-being, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), employee appreciation, and training and development.
Embracing Change and Innovation
While our journey began with an unexpected and immediate change to the way we work in-office when we were hit with a global pandemic, we resisted the urge to reflexively go back to the way we used to work when the world went “back to normal.” We took a pause to understand what we learned about our workforce during that time and the two things that stood out were:
- We were able to attract great new talent by hiring where the talent was versus where we had offices.
- Our team was very happy being able to work in the way that worked best for them.
We pulsed our team with a survey to ensure our beliefs were grounded in their desires. This led to the development of our widely recognized HyFlex+ model. This innovative approach underscores our belief that the location of work is less important than the quality of the work, the services we provide and the happiness of our team.
The HyFlex+ model empowers our distributed workforce by emphasizing work-life balance and allowing employees to work in environments where they feel most productive, at home or in one of our shared offices spaces in Boston, NY, Austin and San Francisco (which we continue to expand as we see cluster of team members in specific markets). Our hope is that by eliminating rigid schedules and commutes, we help reduce workplace stress which has an overall positive impact our employees’ well-being.
As part of HyFlex+, we also leaned into creating more social connections for our team members, starting with appointing regional culture leads who collaborate to build in-person and virtual team socials. The people are truly the best part of PAN, and we wanted to ensure we didn’t lose the spirit of PAN as we moved to HyFlex+.
Investing in Our Workforce
2024 has ushered in a new wave of initiatives aimed at enhancing our workforce experience. We are grateful for our partnership with a new Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through CuraLinc and our new Learning Management System (LMS), Auzmor. These tools provide essential mental health resources and opportunities for professional development, ensuring our employees have the support they need personally and professionally.
Prioritizing mental health for our team is a top priority and we have introduced new programming through a mindfulness training series, moving from “sick days” to “wellness days” to remove the stigma that sick days are for physical ailments only. We’ve also worked to introduce programs that prioritize wellness – coming together for a walking challenge or just to blow off some steam with our Olympic Games challenge (boy is our team competitive!)
Through Auzmor, we’ve been able to create new learning modules for our team that allows our employees to attend both live and recorded training sessions. When we heard feedback that calendars were getting too meeting-heavy, this new way of training allowed our team members to take some of these sessions in the days/times that worked best with their schedules.
Fostering an Inclusive Environment
Bringing our whole selves to work can be challenging. We never know what someone else may be going through, which is why we strive to create an environment that is welcoming and inclusive. We celebrate cultural milestones and foster meaningful conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion through various platforms, including PANid and PANpov blogs, roundtables, employee panels, and book and movie clubs.
The participation from our PAN team members is inspiring and I know that sharing these experiences creates a solidarity that is unmatched, creating a richer workplace culture. My personal favorite is PANpov which has really given voice to some of the personal life experiences that have shaped our team members. I’m in awe of how bravely they share their stories and how our team members show up to thank them for their openness and honesty. For me this goes full circle back to being people-first and getting to know each other better on a human level.
Recognizing Excellence
Celebrating our teams and the great people we have at PAN is something I look forward to each week. Whether it’s the catchy WOW winner email announcements, the praise amongst team members for Cheers for Peers and PANtastic awards, or the accolades announced at all-staff meetings, it’s inspiring to see the pride in the work. In the fast-paced agency environment, it can be easy to move on to the next project or task, but our recognition efforts are a way to remind our teams to pause and celebrate the great work they do every day!
Looking Ahead
What makes PAN thrive is our unwavering commitment to embracing change, trying new things and innovating. As we continue to grow, so will our culture. We want to thank our PAN Team for making us who we are and being on this journey. This recognition reflects our collective efforts to create a positive workplace where everyone can thrive. We’re excited for what the future holds and look forward to sharing more milestones with our PAN Community.
