HR responsibilities at TPG Direct (www.tpgdirect.com), a Philadelphia-based, full-service direct marketing agency, had fallen onto the shoulders of a semiretired office manager who had not been trained in employment law. But things started to change in the fall of 2008 after the agency hired a new CEO who is a “strong believer” that employees are the agency’s most valuable asset, according to Missaggia.

Missaggia, who started at TPG Direct in March 2009, worked with an HR consultant to identify and address HR-related compliance issues and then implement strategies to increase communication between employees and HR.

Open Communication
The agency performed both a Fair Labor Standards Act audit and a file audit. Within her first 3 months on the job, Missaggia interviewed each of the agency’s 50 employees to gain a better understanding of each individual’s role, determine the strengths and weaknesses of the company and each department, and identify “what needed to be fixed.”

Missaggia continues to meet with every employee 4 times a year to discuss any problems, seek input about upcoming changes, and talk about development opportunities.

She also started one-on-one coaching for managers as needed and introduced “coffee talks,” informal conversations with “randomized groups of employees” from different departments. Coffee talks, which initially took place twice per month but are now scheduled monthly, provide a forum for employees to vent frustrations, learn about other departments, and provide feedback to the agency, she says.

Based on employee input in coffee talks, TPG Direct started celebrating employee birthdays, increased transparency and communication, and increased the number of paid holidays (from 5 to 15 days), Missaggia reports.

A monthly mandatory agency meeting now provides opportunities for the CEO to update employees about the business and for the agency to convey its vision to employees, discuss changes in benefits or other HR-related issues, acknowledge accomplishments, and encourage employees to ask questions, she says.

In addition, “Refreshment Fridays” give employees a chance to mingle with their colleagues in other departments during the last hour of every workweek.

Employees appreciate the open communication, Missaggia says. “Now they feel like they know what’s going on in the company.” She reports employees are more engaged, satisfied, and efficient in their jobs. “They feel valued now. They know that we care about them now.”

More Efficient Workspaces
TPG Direct also revamped its office space and upgraded technology to create a more collaborative work environment. In the past, there was only one conference room, and many employees were assigned to individual offices “that were way too large” for one person, according to Missaggia.

The agency removed most of the 6-foot-tall cubicles, constructed walls to create office space that accommodates two to three employees, and paired employees with the co-workers they most frequently collaborate with—eliminating the need for some employees to walk to another floor in the building to work together, she says. In addition, five conference rooms were built, giving employees space to proof materials, hold impromptu or scheduled meetings, or have a private phone conversation.

The agency purchased new desks and chairs that are “physically and ergonomically more comfortable,” added a television to each conference room for presentations and webinars, switched to a new digital phone system (the speaker phone function did not work on the old analog system), trained employees on using Microsoft Outlook® so they can schedule meetings more easily, and upgraded all employees to the same Microsoft Word® package so they would no longer have trouble sharing files.

TPG Direct purchased new iMac® computers for its design department and started switching the rest of its workforce to laptops, enabling employees to bring their laptops to the conference room. Every new hire is now issued a laptop, and the agency buys laptops for existing employees when they need new computers, she says.

The new office configuration encourages collaborative work and makes employees more efficient, Missaggia maintains.

What to Do
When working to create a collaborative work environment, Missaggia recommends seeking input from employees about the types of changes that would be meaningful to them and creating a plan that reflects employees’ needs and the corporate culture. “For every employee and every company, that’s going to be different.”

She also says it is also important to introduce new programs slowly. “If you do too much at once, the value of each individual thing you are doing might get lost.”