As you may have noticed, my blog focuses on purpose. One aspect that I wanted to explore more is how public relations professionals use it in their everyday lives, so I decided to reach out an industry leader. I sent Rob Flaherty, Ketchum CEO, a short list of questions and his answers led to this fantastic blog post. My sincere thanks to him for his time and insight.
Q: What would you say is Ketchum's overall purpose as a company? A: For the past several years we have stated our mission and purpose in this way: We deliver break-through creativity that produces campaign-leading ideas that deliver results for our clients. And we state our vision in this way: We seek to be the most valued agency partner in the world. But when you think about what we do on a deeper level and where we can have the most impact in the world around us, it’s in building bridges in a divided world. I think we are at our best when our people feel they are making a positive contribution to society and business by building bridges – whether in a purely positive context, like between a brand and its consumers or a healthcare company and patients. Or it’s in a more challenging context, like between a company and angry activists or a company and its labor union. There are so many divisions in the world today, and as PR professionals we are in the position to build these bridges. Q: How does Ketchum incorporate purpose into the work that they do for their clients? A: You will see our brand promise "break through" all over Ketchum. We are always striving to make a difference through the incredible creativity of our people. We are also always trying to help our clients to do the right thing, to behave in a way that is sustainable and in the long-term interest of all of their stakeholders. We also incorporate purpose through our award-winning employee-led corporate responsibility program, KSR or Ketchum Social Responsibility. In 2016 we raised $27,000 for pro-bono partner Room to Read, extending a literacy program to hundreds of children across Africa and Asia. And in September we celebrated our ninth-annual KSR month with more than 1,000 employees across more than 30 offices in 15 countries supporting 50-plus local projects. Q: What is the company culture like at Ketchum? A: Ketchum’s culture is an optimistic, can-do culture in which our colleagues bring a lot of passion to every challenge...passion to bring the best creativity, passion to do what's never been done before, passion to win. It's a culture in which our colleagues expect everyone to work hard but they also expect to be treated with respect. If a person is too aggressive or too tough on the people around them – a win at any cost attitude – they won't last long at Ketchum. Q: What kind of impact do you think this culture makes on the company's work? A: The greatest impact – and it delivers enormous value to our clients and to each other – is that we attract and retain some of the best talent in the business. In 2016, 45,000 people applied to work at Ketchum. From that impressive pool, we hired approximately 620 people globally, with more than 350 in North America. The acceptance ratio suggests the quality of the people we are able to hire into Ketchum. And it's this incredible talent that drives great work for some of the world’s biggest brands. Q: As a global company, how does Ketchum keep its purpose and culture consistent? A: As they say, it's a journey not a destination. Here are a few of the many ways we work to create and maintain a global culture and provide borderless quality to our clients:
Q: How do you use your role as CEO to make Ketchum a better environment? A: I do my best to lead by example: treat people with respect, reward them based on the value they bring, and bring my own creativity into the workplace. I also try to consistently communicate where we are going and recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of our people. Q: What do you feel is the most important quality for a worker in your company to have? A: It's a three-way tie between a positive can-do attitude, a strong work ethic and resourcefulness. A positive attitude means you're eager to dive in to an ambitious project and you control your destiny on any project small or large. A strong work ethic means you expect and want to work hard (that doesn't mean life-crushing hard, but hard within reason). And resourceful means that you may not know how to do something at the beginning, but you’ll figure it out with help from others. ABOUT ME: My name is Hannah and I love all things public relations. I am a student at Penn State studying public relations with minors in psychology and entrepreneurship, and I am also a pole vaulter for the track team. What I love the most about public relations is that we need it in all areas of the world. I hope to work in a firm or large company after graduation (May 2018) as I know that I can bring creativity, motivation and a go-getter attitude wherever I end up.
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