Last week Glassdoor released a ranking of the top 25 Companies for Culture & Values, based on surveys filled out by employees. Edelman ranked second on the list.
How is it that our firm finishes just behind Twitter and is on the same list as Facebook, Google, Southwest Airlines* and Chevron*? Here are a few thoughts:
- Family Business — You can feel the difference at Edelman. While money is important, we are prepared to invest when and where needed. We are driven by our commitment to achieving excellent results for our clients. There have only been two CEOs, my father and me. Along with my brother and sister, we now have members of the third generation in the firm who are working and learning alongside the rest of the Edelman team of employees.
- Permission to Experiment – The digital business at Edelman was born when a bright executive in Chicago had the notion that the Butterball Turkey* Talk-line free call-in number should be put onto the Web. We went into the Middle East on the basis of our willingness to invest ahead of revenue, with a single client and a committed and inspired regional manager. And due to the passion an employee had for sponsored content, we were the first PR agency to enter the field.
- Intellectual Property and Training – We want to add value and to have the best-educated team. We invest in the Edelman Trust Barometer, now in its 15th year and in 27 countries, and in brandshare, our consumer study now in 10 countries. We are also dedicated to training. Each year we gather the agency’s best and brightest for our Leadership Academy, and more recently we introduced a module on digital, now completed by 80 percent of our team.
- Give Back – We do volunteer work for local charities and take on one or two important global pro-bono clients each year (Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation for example). Between volunteer PR work and actual cash donations, we gave away nearly $4 million last year. Through our Community Investment Grant program, we provide funding (approximately $150,000 last year) to employees who need support for their own charitable activities outside of the firm.
- Straight Talk – We report our results to our colleagues after the end of our fiscal year in June, even though we are a private company. We deal with tough issues such as client conflicts in an open manner. When my parents passed away, I joined my brother and sister in an all-agency call to reassure every one of the family’s commitment to carry on and to be sure they knew that all of the finances were in order.
- GWEN – We have the Global Women’s Empowerment Network, run by Gail Becker, one of our top executives. It is a commitment to having 50 percent of the agency’s leadership be women by 2016. It offers mentoring, a forum for recommending new policies to management and a network for discussion.
- Have fun – We are a rather irreverent bunch. My happiest memories are of dinners with our young staffers. At one such dinner in Tokyo, the waiter tripped and inadvertently poured a pitcher of beer on my head. As the suds dripped down my face and the colleagues looked on in horror, I grinned, grabbed a few napkins and said “I have not had such fun since college.” We are a team that knows when to stop work and start having fun.
I am deeply appreciative of this honor, especially as it is based on feedback from our agency’s employees.
Richard Edelman is president and CEO.
*Edelman client