Lessons From TMW On Turning a Wellbeing Crisis Into A Culture-Wide Reset

Four years ago, TMW detected an unwelcome shift in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. Like much of the industry at the start of this decade, the integrated creative agency had fought tooth and nail to battle its way through the pressures of the pandemic to protect the business and its staff. The team soon learned that surviving and thriving are two different things.

Despite the buzz of new client wins and campaign launches, human resources (HR) enquiries relating to mental health issues were on the rise, and people and teams were feeling more strained and less resilient.

The agency’s HR business partner, Siobhan Kinsman, had seen much of the team’s struggles firsthand, and it soon became clear to TMW’s leadership team that something had to change. In partnership with Dan Bowers, the agency’s 'culture-obsessed' chief strategy officer, Kinsman embarked on designing a stronger, kinder culture at the agency where every individual thrives, and leadership means lifting up others.

For years, leadership in advertising followed a fairly predictable process: be visionary, be decisive, be driven. Whilst these qualities are still important, according to Kinsman, they are no longer enough on their own, “The post-pandemic world, and particularly the pressures of hybrid working and social disconnection, demand a different kind of leader.”

Bowers agrees. “What people need now isn’t just excellence: it’s empathy. If leaders give direction but they don’t have compassion, then they’re not meeting the requirements of their teams.” TMW set about instituting a cultural shift in what it calls ‘The Empathy Era’, where leaders are not only expected to perform, but also to be present, caring, and emotionally attuned.

It was important to the pair that this was not designed as a one-off workshop or a tick-box training scheme. The programme centred on core sessions with a trained psychotherapist who understood both business and human dynamics. The sessions covered practical empathetic skills, including how to hold difficult conversations, to support people in distress, and to maintain resilience as a leader when under pressure.

“We wanted a long-term leadership development journey that focuses on behaviour change at scale,” Bowers explains. “We started at the top, working with the entire leadership team in an intensive in-person session. From there, we cascaded the experience through senior leaders, managers, and eventually to every single person in the agency via virtual lunch-and-learn sessions.”

Why such an expansive rollout? “Because culture isn’t just set by leadership – it’s lived by everyone. If we wanted to future-proof our agency’s health and performance, we needed a unified shift in mindset across all levels.”

Empathy isn’t fluffy

Kinsman emphasised that the programme isn’t about turning managers into therapists, but equipping leaders with the tools to navigate complex human realities with clarity and care.

“There’s often a misconception that empathy is being ‘soft’, but that’s not true. It requires courage, consistency, and accountability. It involves listening deeply, but also giving straight feedback; showing vulnerability when appropriate; and being really clear on your limits.”

It’s also been good for business. Since launching their programme, known as ‘Together, Me & We’, TMW claims to have seen an eight-percentage-point increase in people saying that TMW supports their mental wellbeing before and after the programme.

Meanwhile, 92 per cent report a friendly working atmosphere and 88 per cent would recommend to a friend. This has contributed to lower staff attrition and helped cement a more connected and resilient culture at the agency. One new joiner commented that they were “blown away” that TMW conducts such progressive training.

The pair believes it’s no coincidence that these achievements have coincided with the agency’s most successful period. As well as record-breaking new business figures and leading the industry in Agency of the Year and Campaign’s School Reports scores, TMW has achieved four consecutive years of double-digit percentage growth.

Culture is how we all show up

According to Bowers, “One of the most powerful learnings from this initiative is that culture isn’t what we say, it’s what we do. When we talk about culture change, we’re really talking about leadership behaviour, repeated and reinforced across the organisation.”

This raised the question: What behaviours does TMW expect, encourage, and reward? And, on the other hand, what should not be tolerated? From that conversation came a new behavioural framework that reflects the longstanding core values of TMW, rooted in curiosity, courage, compassion, and pride.

“We also gave space to hard conversations”, adds Kinsman, “Because leading with empathy isn’t avoiding conflict, it’s managing it well.” The programme taught TMW’s teams to approach emotionally charged moments with composure, to manage their own nervous system responses, and to create psychological safety even during difficult exchanges.

The power of co-leadership

One of the biggest success factors of ‘Together, Me & We’ is that it has been co-led, not only by the HR function, and by the strategy lead within the business. This brought complementary perspectives and shared accountability.

TMW’s leaders both agreed that wellbeing is too often siloed in HR. Or, worse, it’s treated as a side initiative to the ‘real’ work. Bowers was insistent that culture, leadership, and wellbeing are business critical, and Kinsman agreed. “The initiative only gained momentum because it was visibly championed at the highest levels, and was built into the fabric of how we lead, develop, and assess our teams.”

What’s Next?

Kinsman stressed that this was only the beginning of the initiative. “‘Together, Me & We’ is now embedded in how we onboard leaders, run performance reviews, and train teams. The next step is to embed these principles even deeper into the way we design work itself, so rethinking how meetings are run, how teams are structured, and how we maintain high performance without sacrificing health.”

The pair has no interest in locking their success away from competitive advantage. They have a strong energy to challenge and support their industry peers to take on some of the learnings. “We believe the ad industry can no longer afford to treat wellbeing as an afterthought. In a world where talent is everything, where creativity is fragile, and where emotional intelligence is the new leadership currency, initiatives like this are a necessity.” Here’s hoping that some of the lessons catch on.

5 tips to rethink well-being in your agency

• Start at the Top, Then Cascade Down

Culture change begins with leadership. If senior leaders aren’t modelling empathetic behaviour, no one else will follow. Begin with an immersive, in-person session for your exec team, then gradually involve senior managers and the wider agency. Leadership must live the values before they can teach them.

• Treat Empathy Like a Skill, Not a Personality Trait

Don’t assume people “just know” how to support others. Train them. Give your managers practical tools: how to listen actively, how to handle emotional conversations, how to spot signs of burnout, and how to set boundaries without losing compassion. Empathy is a muscle, and it grows with use.

• Make Behaviour Change the Goal

Don’t think ‘wellbeing initiative’, think leadership culture transformation. Focus on behaviours, not buzzwords. Ask: What do we want our leaders to do more of? Less of? Define what empathy in action looks like at your organisation. Then embed those expectations into processes, development plans and day-to-day language.

• Don’t Silo It in HR

Wellbeing isn’t just HR’s job, it’s everyone’s. Lead the initiative from both people and business functions. When HR teams partner with business leads, it creates credibility, momentum, and shared ownership. It signals that empathy isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s how the business performs at its best.

• Make It Ongoing, Not One-Off

Culture change doesn’t happen in a half-day session. Create a drumbeat: lunch & learns, check-ins, reflection tools, shared language, and reinforcement in team rituals. Keep asking: are we living the behaviours we say we value? Keep adapting. Keep it alive.