Lab

Ever since we started more than two decades ago, Progressive has focused on creating a corporate culture that supports individuals and, through them, the successful teamwork and operation of the team. During this time, we have continuously added conscious and intuitive elements to our working method and internal communication to enrich and make it more effective, at the same time making the company attractive to job seekers.

Thanks to this flexibility, continuous development and vigilance, the rapid changes taking place in today's labour market no longer leave our management unprepared: solutions and responses to the new generation's expectations are developed quickly and effectively.

Of course, it is not enough to simply hire someone, "insert" them into a company culture and then let them "wander" around the system. Newly arrived, free-spirited, fresh and motivated workers, operating as individual entities, must be bonded after their recruitment, integrated into the team and taught to work together and well. Providing an environment where they feel their voice matters, where individual ambition is recognised and supported is crucial, not to mention the office atmosphere, where it's important to feel comfortable: whether it's your office chair or team chemistry.

Corporate programmes for individual wellbeing, management’s attitude and communication play a key role in this process, and in ensuring these conditions are in place every day.

Constant motivation and clear communication

Co-creation always means shaky ground: the process rarely succeeds on its own, and can even be daunting for some new colleagues. There is no individual control, you have to pay attention to your teammates, responsibilities are shared, you have to let go of the security of your own system and schedule.

For creative agencies, it is essential to have a stable team that can work together effectively, but also constantly innovate and have breakthrough ideas while facing the challenges of everyday life. To this end, it is important that we specifically support the creation and strengthening of team cohesion.

At Progressive, we reinforce the clarification of roles, continuous motivation and back-and-forth communication through an individual appraisal system and an internal coaching programme.

During the evaluation process, teammates provide feedback on each other - on both human and professional sides - through an anonymous questionnaire every quarter. The aim of the evaluation is to provide everyone with clear and unambiguous feedback on their work, their progress and their career path.

In addition to the appraisal system, since last autumn a coach has been helping us to strengthen workplace cohesion and accelerate integration. Getting to know colleagues' life situations, individual motivation and thinking is a priority. By identifying their personal needs and any issues or anomalies that may affect their functioning, management can better support the achievement of corporate goals.

The coaching programme is not only a response to the personal impact of the past period, but also a recognition of the critical factor that happy and satisfied employees are the basis for effective work.

 Let's be good versus let's be better

A fundamental goal of any company is to attract professionally skilled, capable people to its team. Progressive is also committed to providing opportunities for individual development and the most effective ways of doing so, through continuous improvement. It's not just about being good, it's about wanting to be better and getting the support you need to do that.

That's how Progressive's Havi tuti, a platform for collective knowledge sharing, was born last year, where once a month our whole team gathers and we present the biggest project, tender and event of the past period to each other, sharing goals, challenges and pitfalls. We set up analogies: what worked well, what went wrong. And in many cases, the parallel thinking between team members working on a project and the rest of the team will set us on the road to a more effective implementation of the next project on the same day.

Another knowledge-sharing platform, the Progressive Pro learning platform, has become a pillar of continuous improvement, making the professional transition between co-divisions and the onboarding process more flexible and smooth with online video content over the past year.

A good example instead of a principle

We could all tell stories about bad bosses, how they get things wrong, how they mood affects the day of any employee.

In Progressive's case, instead of the usual authoritarian management, managers see colleagues not as employees, but as co-workers. What does this mean in practice?

They don't manage from the top, but work with us as part of the team, so they are up to date on operational issues, have a clear view of the direction of progress and experience both positive and negative impacts directly. 

Thank you! I give you an Ikra!

For a stable and well-functioning workflow, we are always looking for capable people to work with on issues, challenges and projects. As on a journey, we want to be surrounded by people with whom we can have fun, who can show us new things, from whom we can learn and even develop together, and explore new areas.

We think it's important that our new colleagues fit in well with the team, that there's chemistry, because one of the most important factors in a workplace is the office atmosphere, because this is the place we spend a significant part of our lives.

That's why Progressive not only strives to provide an inspiring environment in the office space, but also to strengthen team cohesion through internal motivation systems and joint events.

For 8 years now, we have been turning the word "Thank you" into a corporate motivation system, where colleagues can show their appreciation for each other, thank each other, and return small favours in the form of an Ikra. Under our programme, called Lazac, each employee can give 3 Ikras a month to a colleague they would like to thank.

And what are Ikras for? You can choose what you want to redeem it for from a shared online catalogue. It could be company car use, a private terrace party, a beer with the team or an outsourced meeting on the Danube.

In addition to Lazac, we organise monthly internal events, green programmes, fun activities or charity campaigns, and if we can, we reach out to our colleagues who are absent due to the epidemic. Several times a year, we organise a big team-building event, where we help to deepen relationships in a playful way.

All for one, one for all

Research now shows that 75% of the success of a project at work depends on the following: how well the individual feels in his or her position, the company culture, the optimism of the atmosphere and the ability of the team to treat stress as a motivating force and a challenge, rather than a negative factor. This is what we have believed for over 20 years and what motivates us when we launch each and every programme and activity.

Above all, the most important goal of Progressive's corporate programmes is to build team confidence, a sense of being able to rely on each other and a shared commitment that together we can do more than we can do alone.