Thrive is a specialist boutique consultancy dedicated to finding and developing exceptional talent to help your creative and media business to flourish.

Since the Enlightenment we’ve celebrated the ‘visionary’… but technology has made the need for a genius almost obsolete. Here’s why that’s a bad thing.

Steve Jobs, eh? What a genius. It’s not surprising, then, that he would encourage us to gift the world to other geniuses. In 1997 (before he changed the world a few more times with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad) he said:

‘“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

It’s all doom and gloom in the TV industry at the moment; but there are opportunities out there for the talented teams that can work well with brands.

A survey conducted in September last year by Film and TV union Bectu lays bare the effects of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA disputes in the US on the UK TV and film workforce. 75% are currenty not working and nearly a quarter said they don’t see themselves working in the industry again in the next five years.

Meanwhile Channel 4 cut 200 jobs (and closed 40 unfilled positions), Sky TV cuts 1,000 jobs (mostly in satellite installation), and every major broadcaster from Warner Discovery to Netflix has cut its commissioning budget, reducing the number of productions next year, despite spending on productions in 2023 being down over 32% vs the previous year.

When we talk about talent we usually think of visionary directors, or the best actors, presenters, and influencers. But securing the best talent can make a massive difference to every part of your workforce.

Media and entertainment companies seeking to achieve sustainable growth and reach their financial goals have the best chance of doing so by sourcing a diverse team of talented individuals. So far, so obvious.

But hiring great talent isn’t enough.

Diversity matters. According to Deloitte, employees who feel their company is supportive of diversity and feel included, report an increase in their ability to innovate by up to 83%.

But when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, it’s clear that organisations must go beyond just window-dressing to be genuinely successful. If your employees consider EDI a performative “virtue signalling” exercise rather than a meaningful attempt to diversify your company, then EDI initiatives can do more harm than good.

If company values appear to be empty words just for show, why would employees feel a sense of loyalty or commitment and, ultimately, a sense of belonging?

Climate change is accelerating through our unrelenting burning of fossil fuels, making weather systems more unpredictable. Resource scarcity is a growing reality, and economic structures are increasingly unstable. At a time when even consumers are prioritising purchases that are more ethical and sustainable, we need to pay attention.

Khandiz Joni, sustainability facilitator and founder of REGENASYST believes in taking a more holistic approach to sustainability that recognises that, as well as ‘going green’, living by a set of principles that permeate the business mission, vision, purpose, culture and wider community the business serves builds genuine sustainability.

It is this approach that creates tangible change.

What’s your company’s culture like? Don’t reflexively say ‘great’, just because everybody likes the new coffee machine. Really think about it. How often do your teams clash and argue? Does management support everybody and resolve disputes, or are resentments left to fester? And when the pressure’s on, do people help each other out, or do they stick the headphones on and block everyone else out?

This is something that the best leaders think about every day. Because culture matters. Research shows that 73% of professionals have left a job because of a poor cultural fit, whilst 98% of employers and 97% of professionals agree that cultural fit within an organisation is important.

If you ever want to go down a rabbit hole, try googling ‘toxic’ and ‘creative industry’. Go on, give it a go. We’ll wait.

Oh, you’re back? How was it? Feeling sick yet?

Despite the hundreds of stories, and whistleblowers, and studies – like the Ulster University one in December 2023 that found that up to 60% of creatives had had ‘suicidal thoughts’ thanks to the toxicity of their jobs – not much has really changed. We had Weinstein in the US, and Jimmy Saville in the UK, and everyone said that it wouldn’t happen again. Then Russell Brand happened.

It turns out that the media and creative industries really, really suck at being nice places to work. And the reason for that is our culture.