Multidisciplinary collective maximizes entrepreneurship and talent development
Amsterdam/Haarlem, Oct. 11, 2022 – Today, digital marketing agency Gradient, brand design agency Henry Handsome and digital development agency Synetic launch their, collective Label34. Within this strengths-based label, the three areas of expertise and all the talents present in the Amsterdam and Haarlem agencies come together. According to plan, more specialized agencies will join in the coming years. The vision is to maximize entrepreneurship. This by, on the one hand, better serving clients as a specialist one-stop-shop while, on the other, developing an integrated knowledge center for employees. The combo leads to rapid and targeted growth for clients and talent.
Within the new collective, the agencies continue to work independently and merge their expertise. Thus, Label34 provides both strategy and multidisciplinary execution. Because all agency founders remain actively involved, not profit but entrepreneurship maximization is the label’s goal. “We find that our clients prefer to work with one agency but expect specialism,” says Joost Jongbloed, CEO of Gradient. “With this merger, we suddenly have three disciplines and decades of entrepreneurial experience, while maintaining the same accessibility. We are all working toward the same goal from our own passion; this is where I get tremendous energy. Hopefully our employees and clients experience the same. If we can add value for a third of them in the first year, we will be satisfied.”
Talent Development
Not only clients, but all 85 employees benefit from the partnership between the agencies. Thus – along with entrepreneurship and creativity – talent development is one of the pillars. To this end, the agencies organize mutual knowledge sessions and knowledge events for clients. They are also launching an intercompany traineeship, allowing current and upcoming talents to develop on multiple fronts. “Within our agencies, competency development is central; this is also where we found each other,” says Joost Appers, Executive at Synetic. “Now that we have so much knowledge in house, it is a shame if we do not make use of this. Moreover, this strengthens our position in the talent market, we can really offer young professionals a lot as a collective. That’s why our goal is that within the first year all employees gain knowledge at a partner organization. I think it’s cool that we can maintain our individuality this way, while expanding solidly as an overall organization.”
Strengths-based entrepreneurship
The label name is based on the 34 CliftonStrengths, a science-based personal leadership development methodology. All three member agencies wove this into their organizations, and after years of working together they recognized each other’s competencies. Roel Stevens, Strategy Director at Henry Handsome, explains, “We find that you have talents instead of creating them. When everyone does what he or she thrives in, it increases work happiness and maximizes efficiency. Our competencies are primarily pragmatic-strategic, which can be defined as entrepreneurship. For example, the six shareholders within the collective collectively possess almost one hundred years of entrepreneurial experience. We also see that drive in many of our employees and clients. And that, to me, characterizes Label34: helping ambitious people grow in what they excel at.”
About Label34
Label34 is een collectief tussen digital marketingbureau Gradient (Amsterdam), brand designbureau Henry Handsome en digital development bureau Synetic (beide Haarlem). Within this collective, all agencies work independently from their own offices and help both each other’s clients and employees grow further in what they excel at. Because the six shareholders of the three agencies combine their expertise and disciplines, the member agencies offer a one-stop shop for their clients. In addition, Label34 is an integrated knowledge center, where all 85 employees can further develop their personal talents. They do this based on the 34 CliftonStrengths, which explains the label name. For more information, check out the website.