Steer clear of a bad reputation. Top tips on how to put the 'awesome' into your studio.

Like any business there are going to be positives and negatives, good days and bad. So how do you know if the studio is a potential soul sucker or if it's just one persons bad experience?

Running a great, efficient and productive studio takes a lot more than just winning great projects and having some snappy PR. Well, what does it take I hear you say.

• A strong team of artists
• A strong, knowledgable management team
• Excellent internal communication
• Tools to get the job done
• A strong company spirit and positive morale
• Goals, plans and structure

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The staff you employ are your sole reason for existence. Without them, there would be no company.

Freelancing and moving from studio to studio is often the nature of the industry. Artists who have been in the biz for a few years come with a wealth of knowledge. Knowledge of how other studios are run, what they pay, how they manage their team etc and they will compare. Some studios are lucky enough to be able to hold onto most of their staff on a permanent basis but those studios who have a higher turnover of staff need to be aware. Your contracted artists will judge the workplace and when it's time to move on to the next studio they will have made up their mind about your studio. Would they return or not? If somebody asked them about the company what would they say?

Management is key. The artists need to be managed and have structure in their workday. Managers in this industry need to be qualified in their area of expertise and need to be aware of what is happening on the floor. A manager who sits in an office all day scheduling artists from an excel sheet on their pre-determinded schedule isn't going to be as effective as a manager who is out on the floor, looking at work and talking to artists about deadlines etc. Active managers make great managers. Managers who know what they're talking about make great managers. Why or how are you a Compositing Supervisor if you have never used Nuke or After Effects before?

Communication is so important. And sharing information is important. Managers need to have great communication skills, that is/should be part of the criteria. And it needs to be efficient and effective. If an artist gets notes on a shot, what are they and why? If a team needs to work overtime, why? If shots are getting re-assigned or there's some shot/ project shuffling, why? Communication is the foundation for relationship building. So communicate with your team and within your team. Take the time to find out what they did on the weekend and how their work is progressing.

Tools are needed to do the work. Having three floating licenses for ten artists doesn't work. At the end of the day it's not saving money because time is wasted and employees are frustrated. Provide the necessary tools for every employee.

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A strong company structure and spirit is important to employees. All of the above points are the building blocks for strong structure and spirit. Team morale is so important. If one employee feels like he is the only one suffering then it will have a huge impact on their work, their personality and their overall experience. Taking the time to have team meetings boosts morale, something as simple as a 10 minute team chat in the morning. Trust is important. If your employees trust their manager they will open up to them, informing on any issues etc and then they can be addressed faster. There are so many ways to boost morale that cost nothing. Communication and strong relationships are at the top.

Ways to build strong workplace relationships and communication - 

• Talk to your team. More walk-arounds, more small team meetings. Always keep them informed.
• Provide and suggest opportunities for team socializing (new employee lunches, sending out 'whats on this weekend' emails, team dailies). Provide ways to the team to communicate within work hours. 
• Take the time to know your team. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Schedule shots accordingly. Provide constructive feedback. 
• Provide ways for artists to be creative (Poster designing competitions for the new project you just won).

Company goals, plans and structures are important otherwise people run around in circles and get frustrated. Artists need deadlines and a well structured and planned project. You need to plan out their week for them. Keep them informed of upcoming shots so there's no surprises. Managers need to know company goals and plans so they can adhere to them. If there is no structure for management then they'll run it however they want, possibly in the opposite direction to what the company vision is.

Your studio depends on the artists that you hire and if word has spread that you are running a not-so-great studio then your potential talent pool is going to be small. Flashy events and PR stints aren't going to save you. You need to start at the root and build structure and communication. It may seem like a lot of work but small, gradual steps will reap big, positive and effective changes and results.

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Here's some more great posts to back me up and provide some more ideas and information - 

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-hardman/best-companies-to-work-for_b_2287193.html
• http://lifehacker.com/5988849/how-to-turn-your-hellhole-of-a-company-into-a-great-place-to-work
• http://jeffhilimire.com/2011/09/12-characteristics-of-a-great-place-to-work/
• http://smallbusiness.chron.com/top-10-characteristics-great-workplace-11226.html

Simple ways to improve your company PR

Public Relations is 'using the news or business press to carry positive stories about your company or products; cultivating a good relationship with local press representatives'. (www.entrepreneur.com)

Great publicity is more effective than great advertising because great publicity is cost efficient, if not free. A great news article in the local paper about your company and the work you do and the local people you hire will be remembered far longer than a small ad in the classified section.

For visual effects one of the best forms of public relations has got to be employee word of mouth. The artists and employees that you hire are the strengths of the visual effects industry, without them we would not be able to produce the high quality work that the studios do. The nature of the visual effects industry requires these employees to freelance and move from studio to studio depending on where the work is. So the best thing you can do as a company is treat these freelancing employees like royalty because they are the ones discussing your company whether it be in a positive or negative light.

If a company has poor management, employees become frustrated and vent this frustration, spreading bad publicity about the company. If a company has great facilities, a weekly meeting and ping pong Fridays, employees view the company favorably therefore spreading good publicity.

If a company develops a bad reputation via artist word of mouth then it is going to be difficult to employ these artists that often have multiple employment opportunities. At this point you may have to revert to offering artists a higher salary to compensate and persuade them to accept the job offer.

5 ways to improve you company PR

• Be more active on social media. Post updates on LinkedIn and Twitter about new projects, industry news and employment opportunities.
• Take a look at employee exit interviews or create an anonymous forum for employees to post comments about the company. Assess what may need to be improved.
• Attend local job fairs and universities. This creates a great community presence and builds professional relationships.
• Have frequent social events and functions. A weekly company meeting shows that you care and want to include your employees in company communication.
• Develop better relationships with your employees. Past, present and future. If your HR department has built trusting relationships with past and present employees then those employees will get in touch when they are looking for employment or they may send a referral. 

When I think about companies in the industry that have great PR they all have similar ways in which they are achieving the status.

• They have a great recruiter. Someone who is a great communicator and is pro-active is sourcing and relationship building. 
• They are present on all social media platforms and contribute professional and exciting content.
• They have a reputation for treating their employees well. There is a community presence that they feel a part of. They can contribute at meetings, they feel comfortable approaching members of management, there is the opportunity to socialize.
• Management is efficient and effective. They have a company structure where everyone knows their place and their duties. Managers and Supervisors have impeccable communication and time management. 

Having good PR doesn't have to involve witty promotions or spending time thinking about how to spin some company hype. The best PR is honest and my advice to the visual effects industry would be to work on your employee relationships, build trust and treat them well.