The Irish youth marketing agency THINKHOUSE has just completed a new ‘job swop’ initiative with the Finnish agency SUPERSON, which is officially ranked as ‘the best marketing communications agency in Finland.’
The Job Swap programme is designed to facilitate professional and personal international learning experiences amongst the world’s leading independent agencies. Facilitated by thenetworkone, the international network of agencies (of which both agencies are a member of) the ‘Job Swap’ took place in both agencies (Dublin & Helsinki) over the month of June where one staff member from each agency, ‘swapped jobs’ for a month.
Miikka Mannio, a Client Producer at Superson ‘swapped jobs’ with Fin O’Callaghan, a Media Relations and Advocacy Executive at Thinkhouse, to experience life in a different agency – bringing learnings and taking inspiration from their respective ‘new agency.’
On completion of his job swap experience, Fin O’Callaghan, Thinkhouse; said: “What I’ve found fascinating is how intrinsically linked our two companies cultures are to the countries in which they were founded, and the people who founded them. So many of the differentiating points between Thinkhouse & Superson are in-fact just derived from the same differences we share as Irish and Finnish people.
” The most valuable facet of our shared cultures, in my opinion is the inclusion of fun. Throughout so many companies in various industries you will find staff who are dissatisfied, restless and lacking motivation. I’ve seen statistics quoting numbers as high as 85% when referencing people who ‘dislike’ or even ‘hate’ their jobs. Factoids like this serve as a reminder of how fortunate we are to work within organisations that value our happiness. It is this happiness that keeps people showing up every day with a smile of their face and striving to make an impact. Whether in Helsinki, Singapore, London or Dublin it is this aspect of culture that should be valued and prioritized above all else.”
On completion of his ‘job swap’ experience working with The Youth Lab, Thinkhouse’s insights strategy and planning team, Miikka Mannio said: ‘With the research & strategy department called The Youth Lab, the agency clearly positions itself as experts in marketing targeted to the younger generations and/or future-focused organisations that hope to remain relevant in the future. The approach to whatever challenge clearly starts from the point of ‘what would today’s youth (and tomorrow’s older generation) want to be a part of?’ instead of what the client wants to shout at them. To me, that’s exactly the way to do it to ensure relevancy with future generations.”
Both agencies have hailed the ‘Job Swap’ programme as a hugely positive and rewarding professional and personal growth experience and they have committed to exploring further ‘job swap’ opportunities with members of thenetworkone’s 1,200 agencies in over 109 countries.
