Empowering Marketing Teams

I’m a huge advocate of the importance of a well-being strategy and the positive impact it can have on teams, colleagues and overall business performance.

Marketing is a fast paced, high demand function in most companies. What’s brilliant to see is that Marketing is now the strategic driver in a lot of large corporate businesses. If I look back 20 years ago, this wasn’t always the case.  Marketing often didn’t have representation at Board level and in many cases, the very senior Marketing leaders were male (we’ve come a long way on that front!)  But with the growing importance of a Marketing function as a key strategic driver to trade, growth and customer engagement comes pressure. That’s where well-being and looking after your mental health play a key role.

People often ask, “Who is responsible for well-being in a business?” The answer is everyone has their part to play. The culture of an organisation comes from the top, however, every leader contributes to how that feeds through into the day-to-day life of their teams.  I love the quote from Richard Branson “There’s no magic formula for great company culture.  The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated”.

In many ways, this is the “secret sauce”! To embed a real culture of openness that promotes well-being, leaders need to do just that…. treat others how they would like to be treated. It has to start on a personal level when it comes to well-being.  Yes, leaders can set up frameworks like a no-meeting zone over lunchtime, however, they also need to look after themselves. That comes with taking responsibility for their own well-being which indirectly gives their teams permission to do the same.

I make no apologies for my personal boundaries, as it helps me to be the best I can be at work. I’m always 110% committed to the job and my team.  However, I learnt over my time in leadership roles that I could only perform at my best and be the best for my team if I looked after myself too. For me that means, I do need to exercise as it helps clear my head, I need to eat regularly (anyone who has worked with me knows I can’t skip lunch!) and I need regular holidays where I totally switch off from work (that’s no emails, no LinkedIn, just time to clear my head and come back refreshed and re-energised!)

I love the fact that there is no longer the stigma there used to be around mental health and well-being. Many companies have either well-being champions or mental health first aiders. And often openly encourage people to talk. This is a huge step forward. Also, you can build conversations around well-being into your day-to-day life at work where it becomes a part of ongoing check-ins, bringing further openness to it.

I’m also proud of how The Marketing Society has embraced this change by running webinars on mental health & well-being. And of course, the podcast, Mick Doran and I recorded on mental health vs brain health, with the support of the Lane Agency. Tune in for first-hand insights from our conversation including our own personal learnings and experiences from the last couple of turbulent years.

Article written by Janice Hutchinson, Head of Marketing Change at Royal London.

Published 24 April 2024