Ducks in a Row: Ads as Corporate Culture
by Miki Saxon
Companies struggle not only to create great corporate cultures, but to describe them. Perhaps they should read more ads, because off and on I see ads that do a great job of describing various parts of corporate culture.
For instance, in 1998 Sun Microsystems ran an ad that said, “Information shall circulate as freely as office gossip.” A great attitude for any company or manager.
Today I saw another that embodies another great corporate culture action; it was run by IDA Ireland in Business Week.
“New thinking is not about the dollars you invest. It’s about the people you invest in.”
That attitude is even more important today, in a world of shrinking budgets, than it was before tough times hit.
It’s simple; if you want to keep your valuable assets, AKA, the people who keep your company/department/team running smoothly then they need to feel that staying is smarter than leaving.
They need to feel valued even when there’s no money for raises and bonuses.
You do that by investing in them and helping them grow.
And you can do it even when your training budget has been slashed to the bone.
Funnily, I wrote about exactly that way back in 2006.
Worked then, works now.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/
