*cracks knuckles*
I look back on my time at ThirtyThree with a deep sadness that still endures today when I think of all the incredible people that came and went and continue to work there. Frankly, we all deserve/d so much better. It appears distance from a company is the best measurement for its problems, and with that hindsight, simply put, ThirtyThree has lost its way.
The company had a unique charm and energy at the beginning that made every day a pleasure. Perhaps it was all real, or the rose-tinted perspective of a newbie desperate to prove themselves. The post-COVID transition and the sale from Capita to private equity seemed the turning points, after which issues came thick and fast. We had trust for a long time that leadership understood the problems and were committed to solving them. It was all happening, the changes would come, we just had to be patient.
Town halls full of ambitious statements and promises came, with no follow-through and an awkward excuse the following month. Working groups stopped being formed, and everything started flowing from the top down. Most of what came from the top proved short-sighted and untenable. We were told ideas are encouraged and would be taken seriously, but it all went into a void. After a while most of us gave up. Clock in, clock out. It became clear that the opinions of staff didn’t matter, (or they did, so long as they reinforced the opinions of leadership.) I never thought a “get in line” and “just be grateful” culture would become a reality at ThirtyThree, but it did.
While other agencies seem to have recognised a need to change and adapt to the difficulties in the industry - move with the tide, not against it - ThirtyThree’s tactic is to strap themselves to the shore, take a brutal battering and hope it’ll work out in the end. Expansion to international markets would be a good move, but the business will not invest in any tools or training to upskill staff to know how to strategise for new markets. Google is free, and it’s delivery’s best friend, because nothing else is offered.
The agency continues to chase after large AOR accounts to fill the void of those lost before, competing with agencies 3-4x larger. How they plan to support new accounts given how much colleagues have to juggle already is unfathomable. Mistakes were already being made when I left because there’s simply not enough people to manage the workload as is. Teams are thrown in at the deep end with new accounts, assuring clients they’re in good hands while struggling behind the scenes, hoping not to get rumbled. And of course, leadership will go to great lengths to remind you just how important it is to not mess this account up because the financials aren’t good. If it fails, it’s your failure. That’s led to a toxic culture that years ago would have disgusted leadership. But in desperate times, the behaviour’s been allowed.
I won’t speak in detail to the senior colleagues that were there one day then gone the next. That’s their story to tell, but I’ll just say to leaders that outright lying to colleagues about the reasons people have left, and telling everyone to just roll their sleeves up when their head of a team hasn’t been seen or heard from at work in weeks, is not on.
Churn isn’t uncommon in agencies but I really thought the speed at which people had been handing in their notices (one a week for a while) would have been a wake up call. Instead we were told by leadership on a town hall that they were ‘glad’ people were leaving, that we had all been at the agency a long time anyway, and that it was in fact a testament to how great ThirtyThree was that we had the chops to move on to bigger and better things.
Let’s be clear: yes, there were some good things (see Pros), but on the whole, I truly believe those of us who will go on to succeed after will do so not because of ThirtyThree, but in spite of it.
I hope ThirtyThree turns this around, for the sake of those who worked so hard to keep it from sinking. But as time goes on, I fear the issues have been so bedded in, they’ve become systemic, and there’s an air of inevitability. Consider this all a harsh but heavy-hearted warning to ye who come after.