Employee Engagement in a Thriving Virtual Culture, with Kerry Guard

Episode 10:

Kerry Guard worked in New York where the marketing agency culture was churn-and-burn. She worked twelve-hour days, owned a $50MM account as an assistant, and was treated as replaceable. After moving to Seattle to be with her now-husband, Kerry set out to build an agency, MKG Marketing, that was the opposite; where people work no more than eight hours a day… whatever eight hours work for them. MKG Marketing is an agency where team members never feel like an island and where they know they are valued.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

  • How MKG Marketing’s culture came to be developed over the course of the last eight years, and how the virtual company has developed a strong culture
  • Why Kerry and her partner decided to take the company virtual and offer staff the freedom and flexibility to work from wherever they want
  • How MKG Marketing’s hiring process works to find self-starters who prefer to work remotely
  • What tools and strategies MKG Marketing uses to coordinate their remote team members and ensure that everyone is working on the same page
  • How Kerry has set up the company’s onboarding process to ensure that new hires feel engaged and supported
  • What benefits MKG Marketing offers its benefits that directly align with the company’s core values, and why flexibility is a powerful offering
  • How Kerry and her partner developed their values statements, and why Kerry recognized the importance of defining clear values
  • Why surrounding yourself with people who believe in your culture and share your passion are key steps to creating a strong culture
  • Why MKG Marketing has a three-month trial period for new hires, allowing both the company and the employee to evaluate each other

Additional resources:  

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