Most agencies talk about clients and AI. But not Tinker

This post is sponsored by Tinker Society.

Behind many business growth stories, the cost is carried by the people doing the work: heavier workloads, tighter deadlines, and the assumption this is simply the price of progress.

The pressure doesn’t just stop with the team. Research has shown that work stress is linked to poor performance and higher turnover. However, it does not have to be this way.

In 2025, independent Kuala Lumpur agency Tinker Society grew revenue by 66.7%, while successfully cutting staff turnover and achieving a 90%-plus team retention, all in the same year.

Angeline Lo, CEO and founder, says the difference came down to how the agency looks after its team. “Most discussions of agency growth stop at the client side. The second half is less visible and, arguably, more important: the team,” she said.

It starts with purpose. As Forbes Business Council notes: “One of the most powerful motivators for any individual is a connection to a greater purpose or ultimate intent.” That matters more now than ever, because today’s employees want more than a paycheck. They increasingly value flexibility, career growth, and work-life balance, and they want to know their work counts for something.

Tinker built that sense of purpose into how the agency operates. It shifted its positioning from a content agency to a growth partner for its clients, which changed what the team's work is for. Instead of simply putting posts live, team members are now part of a bigger goal of helping brands move forward. When people can see what their work has achieved, they stay engaged.

If each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

David Ogilvy.

An agency is only as capable as the people in it, so developing them is part of the business plan. Tinker understands that, and builds skills at every stage of a career.

New hires follow a 100-day onboarding road map that gets them up to speed. Leadership tracks prepare people for bigger roles as the agency expands, with six team members moving onto them in 2025. And as a 4A’s member, Tinker put two account managers forward for the IPA certification through the association’s sponsorship programme. Growth for the agency means growth for its people.

Finally, Tinker gave its team freedom in how the work gets done. Flexible working hours and work-from-home Fridays, with weekly check-ins between leaders and team members. This keeps communication open and expectations clear, proving that structure and autonomy can sit side by side.

Keeping its team together has also paid off for Tinker’s clients. In 2025, 80% of Tinker’s social retainer clients stayed with the agency – a clear sign that its growth comes from deep partnerships and strong trust.

When the same people stay on an account, they learn the brand’s audience, voice, and priorities, and clients feel that continuity in the work. When people keep changing, every handover costs time: newcomers learn the brand, team members relearn each other’s strengths and look for their rhythm before the work can improve. A team that doesn’t have to start over each time can spend its months improving the work, and the numbers show how quickly that compounds.

Tinker’s work for Malaysia Airlines is one example. The airline wanted a digital presence to match its premium standard. The team got straight to work on a data-led strategy of continuous improvement, geo-targeted festive content, and a curated Instagram grid. The result? Their Instagram's followers doubled within a year, with peak engagement every month since.

Looking ahead, Tinker is turning to the workload itself. Lo shared that the agency is now bringing AI into its departments, with an AI engineer being set up in 2026 to support the team’s processes and keep output quality consistent. The aim is for AI to fit the team’s work, not for the team’s work to fit AI.

That is also what AI promised in the first place: taking the mundane administrative work off people's plates so they can focus on creativity and connection. Now that adoption is widespread, the question is whether businesses will keep that promise. Tinker's answer is to give repetitive work to AI and keep its people on the work that needs them.

None of this is unique to marketing agencies. Purpose, a path to grow, and freedom in how the work gets done are things any business can offer. Growth will always ask a lot of a team, and the agencies that scale well will be the ones that grow their people alongside the business.

We grow people. We grow brands. We grow the creative culture we want to be part of.