A few weeks ago, the Rhotic team headed to Manchester for the Apprenticeship Guide Awards in which we were shortlisted for in the provider category for small businesses.
We attended a glittering gala dinner and stayed overnight at the wonderfully named Hotel Football, which gave us the opportunity to have a group photo outside the world-famous ‘Theatre of Dreams’, Old Trafford.
(For those following the football, ‘Theatre of Nightmares’ might be a better name this season, but I digress.)
The photo captured the team spirit we feel at Rhotic; from the seniors to the apprentices, through everyone else whose work and commitment help us deliver and move forward as a business.
The night was a success, and we scooped our third award in three years for our degree apprenticeship scheme against some tough competition.
In my first call the following morning, gazing out over Sir Matt Busby Way, I shared the news with one of our clients who happened to be the head of marketing at a large private assets company.
Of course, he congratulated us, but our conversation soon turned to the absence of training of this sort across the industry more broadly and how it is already beginning to bite.
It’s no secret that marketing and comms teams across financial services have been and continue to be hollowed out as margins are squeezed and costs are cut. By the same token, however, the jobs still need doing either by those at the top who are tasked with the strategic vision to drive the campaigns and programmes or the juniors several ranks below, who have been recruited to “do the work”.
As an agency, we have seen companies entirely restructuring teams to remove the mid-section of marketing and comms teams, leaving those in charge with smaller budgets and fewer, more junior staff to make it all work, yet more deliverables arrive each day.
No wonder everyone is knackered.
So, what does this have to do with awards?
At Rhotic, it is a key part of our own marketing programme to identify the awards that really show our strengths. We spend time researching them, both in the market and internally, to ensure we have what we need to put a good nomination together.
And I’ll be honest; we usually win or place.
But why is this important, if not to boast about our trophy cabinet?
By undertaking these exercises, we learn more about our own business and processes. We see what has worked and is working well, and where we have gaps or a need for someone to take ownership or make the case for training.
It’s an opportunity few companies ever make time to do, and that’s a shame.
Done properly, awards submissions allow a company to hold a mirror up to their operations and see what is being done well and what needs attention. Sometimes, it might help identify a team member’s spectacular performance or where more support is needed.
Along with the opportunity to have a posh night out, awards are a key tool to team and skill development.
Of course, it’s also a chance for those within a company that may only tangentially consider the marketing and comms function to help put together a nomination that clearly illustrates the efforts and impact they bring.
Outside validation is a big driver of internal recognition.
I have lost count of the number of investments, insurance, broker, research, trader, banking etc etc awards I have been to, where the marcomms team is responsible for getting everything from the submission to getting the attendees along to paying for it out of their own budget.
And it’s rare they even make it on stage to collect the gong.
So, you are all cordially invited to make the Financial Promoter Awards all about you. You can even quote Rhotic, which has some success and experience in these matters, as saying there is more to it than just having a jolly. I could even be interpreted as a commercial imperative.
Join us at London’s HAC in November, and spend the next few weeks really using the nomination exercise to see how your team is performing to help build a case internally for recognition or support, but outwardly for celebration whatever the outcome.
Elizabeth Pfeuti is the Publishing Director of Financial Promoter and Director of Rhotic Media.