‘With the right agency culture, time is irrelevant’: CHEP’s Chris Howatson on working smart
Before his session at Mumbrella’s neXt conference, CHE Proximity’s 35-year-old CEO, Chris Howatson, talks to Ruby Feneley about defying convention, flexible hours and staring down fear.
It’s the first 28-degree day of spring and I’m at CHE Proximity, down on the pier in Walsh Bay, Sydney. The office cantilevers over the harbour, floor-to-ceiling windows offering three-sixty views of glittering hard blue ocean. It’s enough to make the most jaded Sydneysider catch their breath. Above us soar the high arches of the upper floors- black and skeletal like a ship’s rigging. Chris Howatson, who considered studying architecture at university before switching to advertising, is showing me around with pride.
Chris Howatson will be lifting the hood on his career at Mumbrella neXt.
New to the industry, I’ve heard Chris Howatson’s name dropped enviously in conversations everywhere. Starting as a ‘work experience kid,’ at Clemenger Brisbane, Howatson worked his way across the Clemenger organisation before taking over CHE Proximity at the tender age of 27. His restructure has been incredibly successful. At 35, he is now the CEO of CHEP, an organisation he is credited with resurrecting from the brink. On top of these early successes, he’s earned a reputation as one of the industry’s most forward-thinking employers and innovative leaders. Which is what brings me to CHEP today, to find out how those starting their careers in advertising can be a little bit more like him.
The Mumbrella neXt conference will be invaluable for future leaders looking to make a mark on their industry.
Onya Howie. Best boss I’ve had. Great to see the continued success.
Well done Howie – great guy, super smart.
Chris is a cultural leader as well as an industry leader
Great.
Howatson noticed when CHEP began implementing 4:5 working weeks for new parents that office time could be used more productively: “You would have new mums coming in, and doing a full-time job in four days. They would be working till 10pm Monday-Thursday and when Fridays came around, their colleagues would chill and go to the pub.” It wasn’t fair, and he could see the new parents were using their time more efficiently. So now they offer the same flexibility to everyone.
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Sorry, this is confusing. Unfair to who? Because mums staying back to 10pm doesn’t sound fair to me. I struggle to see the flexibility when working to 2am seems to be the norm. This industry is getting nowhere in terms of mental health with standards like that.
Top interview with a brilliant man! Great work Chris!