EXPLORING LEADERSHIP

According to “Business Ethics: Decision Making for Personal Integrity and Social Responsibility,” the corporate culture of a company can be defined as “the communal expectations, norms, beliefs, and values that guide behavior within that organization” (Hartman, 2024). She goes on to write that these unstated norms shape a company’s employees but are also shaped by them. 

The culture of one’s workplace can have an immeasurable impact on both behavior and performance. As Paula Morgan said in 2022 for Forbes, culture “is always there in the background, affecting every bit of work that gets done—or doesn’t.” A sturdy environment can motivate employees to excel in their roles and promote employee retention; on the other hand, a weak foundation risks detachment from a company’s mission and values, as well as a high turnover rate. This is shown in the numbers: studies suggest that a large majority of both employers and employees care about each other’s cultures and values, and whether or not the two are compatible (Morgan, 2022). Naturally, a robust corporate culture can attract high-value employees who really believe in the company’s mission.

So we can all agree that corporate culture is important. But what is the secret recipe for a strong corporate culture? Well, it is a difficult question to answer, as every company is different and there is no “one size fits all” policy. For example, Google’s priorities as a company do not align with Patagonia’s. However, there are common principles that companies highly rated for workplace culture possess that stand out from the rest. This includes a commitment to a clearly communicated mission and values that align with those of your employees, as well as a focus on employee growth—that is, seeing failure as an opportunity to learn. In a learning environment, feedback and critiques are delivered in a respectful way with the intent to develop the employee, not to punish them. The inverse is also true: recognizing when employees have succeeded is equally valuable to encourage growth. A company thrives when its employees can be confident in their work and of its quality, and that cannot happen if they are afraid to fail. Encouraging learning and growth can inspire innovation and new ways of thinking.

One of the key areas where communications professionals can affect culture is defining the visions and goals of organizations and companies, as well as aligning them with organizational cultures that empower and respect employees, according to "Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators" (Ragas, 2021). At the highest level, they are also responsible for building and maintaining relationships between their organization and its stakeholders. This requires an extensive background in both business and communications, as well as a reputation credible and trustworthy enough to be granted the ability to define and implement an entire organization’s vision and values.

Ironically, the public relations industry has a problem of its own in regards to corporate culture. “Top-down, nose-to-grindstone, grab your place on the ladder and climb, climb, climb—this is the PR industry that I have known for most of my 30 years in the business,” reflected PR Associates president and CEO Robert Simpson in a Forbes article from 2021. “If you are an account executive, for example—the mid-tier managers who are the backbones of firms—it has been common practice that you’re expected to bring in new revenue each year… If you weren’t seen as being directly responsible for a new client or new files worth an additional 3.5% or more—that was it. Your job would have been at risk. At some firms, I wouldn’t be surprised if this still is the case.” The “old-school corporate culture,” as he described it, was responsible for creating a revolving door fueled by both ladder-climbing and burnout. This comes at a massive cost to companies, too: every year, energy and resources are pulled from client work to train the employees coming in to replace those who left (a process Simpson refers to as “perpetual onboarding”), not to mention the irreplaceable client knowledge that is lost when employees leave. According to him, the key to solving the problem of retention in the public relations industry—one that affects small- to medium-sized firms the most—is for these firms to take a broader perspective on what an employee brings to them beyond what is measurable on the bottom line and to reevaluate their vision and values. As mentioned before, when the values of the employer and the employee align, it is more appealing to stay where you are and grow because the atmosphere is more intrinsically rewarding. 

If there is anything I want you to take away from this blog, reader, it is that the core of corporate culture when viewed through a communications lens is the alignment between the vision and values of the organization and its members. After doing research, it is clear that the public relations industry has some realigning to do. Thank you for reading!