Flow Communications

At Flow Communications, skills development is a big part of growing our employees as well as the company. To this end, Flow has developed a special initiative called Rocks that has become part of our make-up the past few years.

Every quarter, Flowstars challenge themselves to learn a new skill or enhance their knowledge of a subject that is in line with Flow’s offerings, or bring in a new client, or simply challenge themselves to achieve a sales Rock (reach a set sales target). The reward for those who complete their Rocks is a well-deserved day off from work.

Here are some of the Rocks Flowstars pursued in the first quarter of the year ...

Senior writer and editor Sue Blaine completed her Rock, a course on “Storytelling in the Digital Age”. She says, “Audiences are everywhere, and they have become used to receiving your full message in seconds, but how do you do this while still capturing their imagination and not ‘giving the game away’ immediately?

“That’s where the principles of storytelling come in, and they can be used to write compelling copy (from blogs to tweets and beyond). So, my Rock (which I completed early in January) will actually benefit Flow’s clients first and, by definition, then also Flow.”

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The Storytelling in the Digital Age course helps writers to capture the imagination of audiences. (Image: Unsplash)

Designer Nicole Ellis says her Rock goal for the first quarter was to send out a design inspiration email once every two weeks to all the creatives at Flow.

“I think it’s so valuable to not only be producing content, but also to take creative content in from time to time. It’s important to keep our ‘design eye’ trained and stay on top of trends. This also inspires us to think outside the box and find creative solutions that we might not have thought of before.”

PR account director Allison MacDonald outlined her Rock as follows: “My Rock for the quarter was to compile a database of great MCs, guest speakers and motivational speakers. This will give Flow and its clients easy access to the best of South Africa’s public-speaking, moderating and motivating talent.”

“Great events, meetings and conferences are always the result of joint effort by a multiskilled team of passionate people. So, if you’re in the public-speaking business, get in touch; get onto our database and get your face, your voice and your brilliance in front of our clients,” says Allison

But be warned: Flow is well known for excellent, brand-boosting and business-orientated delivery. We’re only including the very cream of the public-speaking crop. If this is you, drop Allison an email at allison@flowsa.com.

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Flow’s Rocks initiative challenges its staff to gain a new set of skills each quarter. Flow Cape Town designer Cara Wares focused on online software design for her Rock. (Image: Flow Communications)

Cape Town-based Flowstar and designer Cara Wares had this to say about her online software design Rock: “This is my first Rock ever, and it feels great to have achieved something to help the team in my first two months of starting with Flow!

“I did a comparison between three UX software programs, including their functionality, costs and limitations. I have learnt a lot about Figma, Sketch and XD while upskilling and doing real work on the different platforms to be able to compare them and use their different features.”

Flow Rocks help improve individual employee skills and, in turn, help the company thrive and reach for new heights with its service offerings. By the end of each quarter, Flowstars are armed with a whole new set of skills that they implement in their respective departments.

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