The latest COVID variant, Omicron, is still a mystery to many of us. Will it be severe? Will it be minor? What are we to make of having a different variant discovered about every four to six months and how do we handle that? We also are going to weigh in on the Jussie Smollett verdict and the embarrassment it has caused Chicago. Speaking of Chicago, what are big cities to do when crime runs rampant, especially during the holidays, when so many people are downtown?
Five Things You Will Learn From This Episode:
Follow Rob Johnson on LInkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-johnson-communications-advisor/
Follow Eileen Rochford on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-rochford/
Corporate Competitor Podcast https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-62/
Learn more about Newsweek’s first Most Loved Workplaces rankings
https://www.newsweek.com/americas-most-loved-workplaces-2021
Learn more about the Jussie Smollett Case https://apnews.com/article/jussie-smollett-entertainment-crime-race-and-ethnicity-hate-crimes-8a32dc8a1fc1b4a9972b0c08a75f2762
Learn more about Covid-19 Variants
Rob Johnson [00:00:07] The latest COVID variant, Omicron, is still a mystery to many of us. Will it be severe? Will it be minor? What are we to make of having a different variant discovered about every four to six months and how do we handle that? We also are going to weigh in on the Jussie Smollett verdict and the embarrassment it has caused Chicago. Speaking of Chicago, what are big cities to do when crime runs rampant, especially during the holidays? So many people are downtown.
We are also going to discuss Newsweek's first-ever list of most loved workplaces. This elite list of top 100 small, medium, and large businesses produced in partnership with the Best Practices Institute, measures something critically important right now: how happy employees are with their organizations. It is a mix of interesting topics on episode 13, our last episode of Can You Hear Me? in 2021!
Eileen Rochford [00:01:03] Hello, everyone. I'm Eileen Rochford, CEO of the marketing and strategy firm The Harbinger Group. Welcome to another edition of our communications focused podcast. Can You Hear Me?
Rob Johnson [00:01:13] And I'm Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson Communications. On this podcast, we like to talk about the most pressing communications issues of the day that companies face. When someone's doing it right, we like to shine a light on that and certainly making it on Newsweek's annual list of top loved workplaces of 2021 would be considered doing it right. We're going to get to that a little bit later in this podcast, but we first want to discuss some hot current topics that everyone's talking about, and discuss them through our prism of best communication practices.
Eileen Rochford [00:01:47] The first topic that really got Rob and me thinking was the Omicron variant of COVID-19. It was initially discovered in South Africa, and is making its way across Europe and has now been discovered in the US and here in Chicago. How severe will Omicron be? What kind of impact might it have on companies that have already returned to office in some form or fashion? Or those about to return after the new year?
All told, at the moment, Omicron seems to be having a milder impact compared to Delta, which is obviously very good news for all of us. But while that may be the case, I just want to say for one second, everybody, please continue to be cautious and smart. Wear your masks indoors. I truly believe it is super important that we all get boosted asap, all that good stuff. But at the same time, it does look like Omicron is not as serious as we were afraid it might be within the first three or four days that it was reported on. But what this new world looks like as you talked about a bit earlier, Rob, every four to six months or less, we may be seeing these variants. What does that mean for us?
Well, I think as leaders, that really means that we are going to need to remain vigilant and flexible. We have to learn to operate in this new way, right? And that new way is here to stay. So I think our success as leaders is going to hinge upon remaining highly aware of developments as they're coming at us, evaluating them, adapting quickly, then continuing that through communication. Leaders have used frequent communication successfully throughout all of the COVID-19 saga.
Rob Johnson [00:03:36] It is hard to believe it's been 21, almost 22 months since this was a reality in our lives, and it's hard to really believe that as we approach two years, Eileen, that I mean, it starts off and there's so much we don't know. Now that we're a little bit into a rhythm in terms of a lot of people are doing the vaccines, the boosters, not everybody, of course, and people are starting to return to the office. They're thinking about it.
I just think that as a communications piece this is going to be a real thing for H.R. leaders and everybody else all the time. So you may have ebbs and flows. You may have figured this one out. Omicron, there's a lot unknown about it, but I think the way you phrased it was right that it appears to be a little bit more mild. But there's going to be one like I said earlier in four to six months, that's going to be more severe. How do we deal with it? And are these vaccines and boosters going to be effective against it? Just a whole litany of things. So I think certainly in the near future, this is going to be our reality and we need to be ready for it.
However what we learned after we shut down the world the first, like three months when this happened, is we cannot afford to shut down the world. As people, we can't afford to shut down the world. And as you know, businesses and governments and things of that nature, we can't just all go home again for a period of time. I don't think that's going to happen. So what do you do to address it? I think you made some great points earlier. The masks, the vaccine, that sort of thing.
Eileen Rochford [00:05:33] No doubt about it. We're here to stay right. Shutting down definitely doesn't look like it's something that would have to happen any time again, hopefully. But I think science caught up a little bit and gave us that grace. As long as we are able to continue to encourage large percentages of the population to get those boosters we can stay open and do all those things.
I think that the biggest key for me as a leader is that I can't get lazy and depend on old information because if things change, then that impacts regulations. It impacts laws, things that would lead to fines, and such. Any aspect of the repercussions. I have to stay on top of that and obviously, every other leader needs to. It's certainly in their best interest to do that. But it's a lot of information. It's like having another job, on top of your other job. So it's a state of being that leaders have adjusted to. But we got to stay in the mode of learning and sharing information and adapting for a while. So that's a big shift I think that's come out of this thing that people are really getting used to.
Rob Johnson [00:06:58] I think you would agree, though, to the point I made earlier about H.R. This is going to be on the plates of our HR leaders everywhere for a long time. There's never going to be a time where you can, let your guard down and say, "Oh, it's OK, we've got this thing figured out," because there's always going to be something else. There's going to be a learning curve and there's going to be best practices and that sort of thing.
I think that it's interesting. I was at a Sebastian Maniscalco concert last night at the United Center. I've been to a Blackhawks game and I know you've been to places here, there. They require proof of vaccination. And I'm not going to get into personal liberties here because if you chose not to do that, that is your absolute right to do that. So I don't want people to think that we're sitting here, you know, going to have some humongous political discussion about this. What I will say about having proof of vaccination and that sort of thing is it is your right not to do it, but it's also the right of private enterprise. It gets a little dicier with government entities. But for private enterprise, whatever it is, you should have to show proof that you're vaccinated before you can go in a place because it's all about keeping people healthy. It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat, whatever, it's all about health, it's all about science. And that's the way that I view it, because I know people love talking about the political machinations of this. I really like to focus on what's right in front of me in terms of keeping myself, my family, and others around me safe.
Eileen Rochford [00:08:41] Yeah, a good way to look at it.
Rob Johnson [00:08:44] So we also want to talk about another issue here, which is something that just came down last week and it was the Jussie Smollett guilty verdict. This story has captivated everybody, and it started in my last days in the news business, and I was just so fascinated by it because it became pretty clear, pretty early on that this story he was weaving about this racist and homophobic attack in 2019 was not true, so he was convicted last week of five of six counts of disorderly conduct. He took the witness stand in his own defense, which is pretty rare for someone to do, especially when you're weaving this tale that the jury didn't buy at all. And of course, that might raise the question. Might they add additional charges of perjury since he got up there? And if they didn't buy it, they're going to say he perjured himself. Of course, this came after the Cook County state's attorney, Kim Fox, dropped all the charges against him initially, and they had to have a special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, try the case. We have alot to unpack here, Eileen.
The shortcomings of law enforcement as it relates to the state's attorney's office, the improbable story, Smollett told. And then he doubled down on it. And can you triple down on something? I'm not even sure if that's a thing, but it's like, I'm going to keep telling this story. I'm going to talk it into existence. And the jury didn't buy it. And quite frankly, almost everybody else didn't buy it, either.
Eileen Rochford [00:10:24] It's fascinating to me because obviously, the sway that he held was because of his celebrity status. And anyone else, I would think in our judicial system who brought charges of this nature probably wouldn't have been given nearly the attention, initially that he was given. But he was and. Huge amounts of time and resources we saw from the bill that he was presented with from the city of Chicago. Not something to laugh at. I almost laughed out of shock when I saw the price tag that was attached to all of the people hours that went into the investigation and everything else that's involved. It's incredible how much research was dedicated. So all around. It's terrible that the city was dragged through this situation by one person. And, those who colluded with them, it's terrible.
I feel like a ball was dropped more than one in many places, and perhaps this could have been avoided just because it is so preposterous. The story that he told and there was so much conflicting information that, really raised questions across the board, right? But it kept happening in the city, kept bungling the communications side of it over and over. So it's a bad thing to have gone through.
Rob Johnson [00:11:58] I think you make a correct comment there in terms of, you know, the city was dragged through this. It was really awful. And yet the way that it was communicated from everybody and we can't just hold the city responsible, but you have to hold the state's attorney's office responsible. I'm going to recuse myself, but I'm not because I'm going to apparently do a favor to some of the Obamas, you know, people and that's what we're going to do. And it was just a disaster from the get-go. So to have somebody tell this preposterous story, to have wasted the resources that you were referring to, and then to just sit there and say it over and over and over again, even as the evidence was coming in fast and furious to the contrary.
So there's all this evidence that says that's not even close to what happened. And yet this guy sticks with the story and then he has people going to bat for him. And then they dropped the charges. I mean, it's just an embarrassment. And you know, when you've been called out and when you've been found out to be not telling the truth, most people would quietly try to come up with a resolution, but not this guy. Oh, we're going to trial. We're going to explain our story. The great thing about having months and months and a couple of years is, you know what the evidence is, you know that you know what it shows. And then you try to figure out a way to explain around it. OK, here's the evidence that's not in dispute. Let me figure out a story to tell that will align with that. Well, they didn't do that. And he ends up getting convicted on five or six counts.
Eileen Rochford [00:13:58] At the end of the day, you have to wonder why someone would believe so fervently that their story is true and I'm no expert, but it just seems to me like there has to be an aspect of mental illness involved for that to happen. There's no other logical explanation for it, frankly. And if that's the case, then those who are around him, whether they're providing legal services or otherwise to intercede and say, Hey, we're not going to take this forward because this really has more to do with some things that you need to get treated and cared for to not do that. To me, that's unconscionable. The whole we're just going to pursue it because there's money in it or we're too far down the path now. It's like, where is the reason in all of this? Sometimes I ask myself a lot, actually, where's the reason it seems to have just left the building.
Rob Johnson [00:14:50] I think you make a great point about the people around you. So you weave this fabricated tale. But then you have all these enablers that allow you. Like, don't you have legal representation or other representation that says, Hey, OK, you know, listen, this is an embarrassment. It's not going to go our way. Even if somehow you think you're right, somehow in your world, do you think you're right? You take the witness stand. There are so many things that occurred that look like almost the tail was wagging the dog on this one. You know what I mean? Like, shouldn't there have been people who say, Hey, enough's enough, or hey, putting you on the stand to weave this really far-fetched tale for a period of time is probably not a good idea. And yet all of those things happened. There appeared to never have been somebody in the room who said, Enough's enough or nope, we're not going to do this. And so not only is it the fantasy you're weaving, but you have all these other people that are sort of complicit with it.
Eileen Rochford [00:16:08] Yeah, and we've been seeing a lot of that over the past four, six, eight years at an increasing level, just the lack of reason.
Rob Johnson [00:16:18] Yeah, I think the other thing about this that's interesting is it was just fascinating. I said this story began during my last days in the TV business and I just couldn't take my eyes off it. It's one of those stories that when you start hearing this initial story, you're like, That's horrible. Then you're like, this doesn't really add up, that does it. And then within days, there is a much different story being told. And it just brings in so many different elements of politics, of homophobia, of racism, of quasi-celebrity. I mean, this guy wasn't like an A-lister, you know? It's like, Yeah, I'm walking the streets at 2:00 in the morning and they're like, Hey, are you from Empire? Yeah, people aren't stopping you on the street. Maybe a couple of people are.
Eileen Rochford [00:17:17] I think it's a mental illness. You know, to have that type of world revolves around me and lens. It just points to something else altogether. But the last thing I want to say about this is what made me deeply angry about the entire situation was the attention that the issue was given. In contrast, to the countless number of incidents of violence against people from the LGBTQ plus community, people of color that do not get the attention that they should. And that's what really pissed me off about this entire thing,
Rob Johnson [00:17:57] because those issues that you're raising here, Eileen, are real. There are people in that community that are under siege. A lot of times I'm not saying all of them. I'm not saying all the time. But there are legitimate claims that people can make and they don't get the coverage, as you mentioned. And then when they are going to get the coverage now, people are going to be like, Yeah, but remember, remember Jussie Smollett? That was a bunch of B.S., you know, that shouldn't minimize the actual violence, the actual problems that are going on related to that. And I can see why it would make you so angry because, for me, it's like, you know, you cry wolf and then everybody goes, Well, it must all be fabricated, which is not the case.
Eileen Rochford [00:18:49] He did immense amounts of damage. It's just like I've said, I love this word unconscionable.
Rob Johnson [00:18:55] But it is.
Eileen Rochford [00:18:56] The people who were involved in it, it's not just his situation this was perpetuated and protracted by many in positions who could have stopped it.
Rob Johnson [00:19:08] I agree. I agree. Well, there's another issue. I love that we're getting to do this because, you know, normally, Eileen, we we take a topic and we really dive into it and talk about it. But I know the reason that we wanted to go in this direction is because there was a lot of things that we wanted to say on a communications front as it related to some of these issues. So it's kind of fun to every so often maybe to take several issues and just kind of kick them around and talk about them and discuss them. And so that's what we're doing here today. Another huge topic. Aside from looting, which is happening in big cities all over the country where people are going in stores and looting, you know, high-end stores in their merchandise and things like that. But in Chicago, that's going on. But there's also a real serious crime problem going on. What does a city like Chicago do when you have all of this violence in areas? And I'm not saying, Oh, it's more important cause it's happening on Michigan Avenue or State Street, as opposed to some of the areas of town that are a little bit more dangerous in general. But I mean, you can talk about going to say River North and there are carjackings, people being robbed, people being assaulted. This stuff is happening in the middle of the day. After dark is always dicey. This is a lot of this happening in the middle of the day. The problem is violence is overtaking so many parts of the city. People don't feel safe. Finally, it seems like the city is taking this seriously and is canceled days off of vacation time for police officers and are flooding the areas under attack with resources. So it appears, OK, we're going to start, attending to this. But the issue has really gotten out of control, and the city, in my estimation, has done a very poor job of making people feel safe. And we're talking about it from the communications prism, as we mentioned before. But if you're just saying, Hey, we're not taking this seriously, then you are communicating your message. But I think it's the wrong message.
Eileen Rochford [00:21:33] This is one area where I just struggle to sort out what's right, what's wrong, what to do next. I'm not an expert on law enforcement or crime prevention at all. So I won't even pretend to be. But I can say from just from my experience as a citizen of the city of Chicago, the messages that I'm getting about from whatever department, you know, you name it, anybody that touches these issues it's like they're only going partway to giving the kind of information that would actually potentially make me feel better about the situation. It's not always just adding of resources. There are lots of things that you can do to light up areas to change traffic flows, add more cameras, just letting citizens know these are the things we're doing to make improvements right here in the now. Alongside the long-term things that we all know, violence, interruption, crime prevention type programs that are not necessarily more related to our social workers and adding community programming things that have a longer-term play attached to them. And they're all things that as a citizen, I'm fully in favor of. But at the same time, there also have to be steps taken in the proper communications given to citizens about what's being done now so that we can go about our daily lives and never worry-free, but certainly feeling better than I feel right now. As a citizen of Chicago,
Rob Johnson [00:23:15] I had a recent experience at a Big City event for the Chicago business community, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot was the guest speaker and got up there and talked for 20 minutes and talked about a lot of things and never mentioned crime once. Now, from a media guy standpoint, I sort of get that. I talk for 20 minutes. If I bring it up for 10 seconds, guess what they're going to talk about? guess what soundbite they're going to use? So I understand that in a certain regard. But the other thing is to be in front of a room of 600 business leaders and to not talk about the elephant in the room, which is this absolutely skyrocketing crime problem. I think from a messaging standpoint, from a communication standpoint, I think it's a tremendous missed opportunity for the mayor. Even if you're talking about shared experience, even if you're talking about, Hey, this is in the city we all love and this and that. No talk about that at all. And I just felt like she left there and just missed a huge opportunity to garner some credibility with people in the business community.
Eileen Rochford [00:24:42] Yeah, the shared experience guidance is spot on. We talked about that in our episode about knowing your audience.
Rob Johnson [00:24:52] and you and you had that experience in your neighborhood.
Eileen Rochford [00:24:54] Exactly. Now, even connecting with your constituents on a personal level can do so much to open up their minds to the other things that you have to say. But when you don't touch on an issue that's so raw and real. People shut themselves off to anything else that you have to say. So, I think leaders just really need to remember that you can't avoid issues, strictly because you don't want to be quoted in the media for having said them. Is that the right thing to do? Hell, no, that's not the right thing to do. Leaders need to find the way to say and do the right things, not just the things that are going to keep them out of trouble. That's just not OK. You won't last long as a leader if that's what you do.
Rob Johnson [00:25:42] it's true. And when the speech was over, I turn to my wife because it was this place that the mayor was talking about was not a place I recognized at all. And I said to my wife, Stacy, I said, whatever city she's talking about, I totally want to move there because it was this grand place. I was like, Oh my gosh, I totally want to move there. And then I'm like, Oh my gosh, I do live there. But it's not exactly as it's being portrayed again. Shared experience, and credibility. Your speech is over, you've left the room, but like, are people just going to tune you out as you move forward because you're just not, I'm not saying she's unwilling. I don't want to put words in the mayor's mouth. And I don't want to get and I don't want to again make this some sort of political thing. All I can say is it's a public safety issue. And I think it's something that we're all very concerned about, no matter where you live.
Eileen Rochford [00:26:48] Yeah. And I expect that of every mayor and I just don't care who's in office. So there's nothing to do with the actual person. It's just the position.
Rob Johnson [00:27:00] I think you're right. So that's this is all pretty heavy stuff, right? But we also have something interesting that we want to unleash today as well, right, Eileen?
Eileen Rochford [00:27:12] Yes, we do. And so our next topic is kind of exciting and fun. We're going to talk about Newsweek magazine's first-ever list of the 100 most loved workplaces that was released just about a month or so a month and a half ago. It was back in October, I think was toward the end. So this is a really interesting thing that we just want to explore a bit because it says a lot about what's changing in the workplace and we like to stay on top of that here on Can you hear me? So here's just a bit of background and what the list is. So first of all, it was done in partnership with the Best Practices Institute, and I did mention already that it is the first of its kind that Newsweek has compiled. So from what I understand, the intention is to continue this on an annual basis. But this was the very first one, and to make the cut companies, they had to meet certain criteria. For instance, things like collaboration and teamwork. Is that important at the organization or does the company follow, as they put it in their article? The news reports say this is great the Hunger Games management model.
Rob Johnson [00:28:23] And when they say that, you know, immediately like, OK, I get that, I totally get that,
Eileen Rochford [00:28:27] Oh, that's dark. Yeah, I wouldn't work there. No. Then they also dance to things like in your organization or other opportunities for advancement or jobs is a dead end. Is the company a good citizen or does it kind of just, you know, talk the talk, but not walk the walk, right? Some of the companies, as they also said in the article, they may have slipped in the past and done some things that weren't so great, but how did they handle that? What did they do to overcome? What matters to the folks who figured out this list at the end? At the end of the day, as they put it, what is the strength of leadership and determination to do the right thing? They asked all of this of the employees directly in a survey. I also want to just add a few more points here. You often see these like best places to work list, right? And those have everything to do with the benefits package and, perks and flexibility and stuff like that. And this list is sort of a little bit about that. It seems like from the description, but they went a lot deeper and measured in all these different ways, how employees feel about their employer actual feelings. So according to the Best Practices Institute, they also work, by the way, with the University of Pittsburgh to conduct this research. The tool evaluated high emotional connection or love.
Rob Johnson [00:30:01] or love?
Eileen Rochford [00:30:02] for their workplaces of employment. I mean, I've never even heard this before, and it's great. But the reason why they did this is because they say that emotional connection is directly related to the success of a company. So if you love the place you work, you're more likely to run through those proverbial walls to do great work. And also, this is relevant if you're interested in finding a company where your career and values are aligned. So using a list like this, you know to read about what are the values of these organizations and do they really line up in the minds of the people who already work there? For example, it's also useful, I think, for executives who might want to do a better job and create a happier and more productive workforce in their own companies to check out the write-ups on Newsweek's which again, we're going to put this in the show notes. But to go through all this and really learn from it, I learned so much. I was surprised by so many things, so I'm really excited to dig into this with you, Rob.
Rob Johnson [00:31:04] Now it's really interesting. And we also want to point out these top 100 companies aren't just behemoths. They're small. They're medium to large companies. The smallest is Vujix. That's an augmented reality and consumer electronics company out of Rochester, New York. It has just 90 employees, and it shows up number 91 on the list. So why is that happening? Employees are excited about their growing augmented reality company in north-central New York, and it's easy to see why there is a patent incentive program and stock options, so you don't have to be some big company to be on this list. But if you are a big company like, say, Home Depot, which has four hundred and fifteen thousand employees headquartered in Atlanta, it is number 44 on the list. Home Depot big old Home Depot The reasoning employees, thanks to the former CEO Frank Blake, who revived the company, had bought into this vision of a retailer that has close ties to the community it serves. So yes, Home Depots are everywhere. But what they focus on is, Hey, I'm in this community here, and we're very involved in that community, even though they are a humongous chain and the workers bleed orange. So even though it is enormous. And has the most employees on this list, they have connected to the communities they are located in local, local, local. So they took this big national and international brand and they have localized it. That is a very smart thing to do. I would think.
Eileen Rochford [00:32:38] Oh, that's brilliant. I just love it. Diversity is also a big deal of many of these companies as well, which is important to customers as well as employees, according to Louis Carter, who is the head of the Best Practices Institute. Number 73 Denny's the restaurant chain says around 55 percent of its restaurants are owned by minorities. 40 percent of its board are women. 56 percent of the directors are minorities. That is the kind of diversity so many companies, big and small are striving for these days, and I was really happy to learn that about Denny's because I didn't understand that. And that's a big thing to me, too. That's fantastic.
Rob Johnson [00:33:17] I mean, in a general sense, you just don't understand that about them. And then once you read about this and you're like, Oh my gosh, they're really making an effort from a diversity front and they can give you these numbers and these analytics to back it up. So for a little perspective on both ends of the spectrum, the number one company on the list is Spotify. Headline with them frequently discusses the company's values and mission on its Passion tour, which is a huge loyalty builder. It also allows six months of paid parental leave and 100 on the list is Pendo. That's a computer software company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They offer things like free professional counseling for employees looking to move up the ladder. Pendo also has employee-friendly incentives like an open paid time off policy, help with paid parking, and wait for it? In-office beer on tap. Are you kidding me?
Eileen Rochford [00:34:13] That's hilarious.
Rob Johnson [00:34:15] That is funny.
Eileen Rochford [00:34:16] I remember like 20 years ago, I worked in a place that had that for like a month until it was taken away.
Rob Johnson [00:34:27] Hey, great idea. Until it's not!
Eileen Rochford [00:34:32] Yeah, that's great. I'm glad they're finding a middle ground with it.
Rob Johnson [00:34:34] Yes, we hope so.
Eileen Rochford [00:34:36] It's fantastic for them. I'll just mention that we actually have at the Harbinger Group, a client that made it onto this list, and deservedly so. First Command Financial Services out of Fort Worth, Texas landed at number 19 on this list. We were so proud of them, and I'll just highlight one thing that I think is spectacular. Well, two there. This is unusual, you know, to be an ESOP, an employee stock ownership plan company. That's still pretty unusual in this day and age and certainly for a company of their size. And I think that that has at least from what you can read in the write up a lot to do with employees happiness, but certainly not everything. They're really happy with their leadership and lots of other aspects of working there. One thing that's pretty unique about them is one of their core values is love. And yeah, it's fascinating love. And they only have their very short list of core values, so love is right there in the center, and they define love as putting others' needs before their own. So they're a very mission-driven organization at its core so it permeates throughout the DNA of the company. And, you know, I've worked as a partner of theirs for gosh, we're going on 15 years. I believe it's been like a joy and an honor every day. I can see why people are happy there because they treat us as an outside partner with total respect every minute of every day, every interaction we've ever had with them. And I can say, you know, for a long time in this industry that really, I wouldn't say it's rare, but it's certainly not something that you see without fail from your clients. But I have always seen that from First Command. So just as an outsider. I love working for them and I can see how well they treat each other as colleagues. So that's my observation about our client.
Rob Johnson [00:36:42] Well, and also we haven't talked about it on this program, but you've taught you and I talk a lot about the way Mark the CEO does business and some of the little things that he does that really make a difference. And so to see them show up on this list after you and I have had multiple conversations about some of the things that he's incorporating that are successful at First Command.
Eileen Rochford [00:37:07] Yeah. And I'll put in the show notes he had a great interview on the podcast, the Corporate Competitor, where he talked at length about, not only his approach to leadership but experiences at First Command and their core values. So I'll drop it in the show notes as well.
Rob Johnson [00:37:26] Listen to so let's talk about Decker's that's ranked number six. It's an apparel maker and it constantly encourages employees. A lot of times employees like all, nobody's listening to my idea. While they're listening to your idea and they ask people to submit ideas. Some may result in direct investment by the company. Decker's employees up and down the corporate food chain can join teams that pitch those ideas directly to top executives, including the CEO. So can you imagine Hey, give us your ideas and people go, Yeah, right? And then and you give an idea, and then they actually take you up on it that that makes you realize that people are paying attention and it makes you feel empowered as an employee.
Eileen Rochford [00:38:06] and validated, right? Oh, that's so, so important to just happiness for human beings. That's fantastic. And that's I've not heard of a company that does it that way.
Rob Johnson [00:38:19] That's really interesting.
Eileen Rochford [00:38:20] Well, the next one and then maybe our last that we'll talk about for most workplaces is number 30 Patagonia. So they're headquartered out of Ventura, California. And it's really interesting because it's a study in the practice of what you preach method of leadership. Everybody should have heard it's a textbook case study by now of how Patagonia has become Patagonia and how they operate. But recently, here's an example just to underscore how they truly walk the talk. They yanked merchandise out of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, their biggest customer in that ski resort town. And you might ask, why would they do something like that? Well, one of Jackson Hole Resorts owners hosted an event with Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Most people are familiar with her of radical lightning rod of the GOP, and obviously, some of the things that Marjorie Taylor Greene has said and been involved with go against the core values of Patagonia, and they wanted to make it clear that they won't be aligned with people who go against their core values is that the easiest way to put it, but the Patagonia spokeswoman, I won't put words in her mouth. Let's just hear what they said, we join with the local community that is using its voice in protest. But there's more, despite their objection to the fundraiser for Green Patagonia. Really, they encourage peaceful protest. In fact, the company will cover the bail for you and your spouse are arrested at a protest event. It's something I've never heard.
Rob Johnson [00:40:03] I've never heard that either do. But how nice is it is for you and your spouse? It's not just for you. It's like, Hey if you're if your wife or husband comes along, we'll take care of it too. So we just wanted to shine the light on some of these companies and we wanted to show you some big ones, some small with some you've heard of, some you haven't heard of, and some you've heard of, and you may not know why they would make a list such as this. So I hope that you all found that interesting. And since this is our last can you hear me episode of 2021, we want you to take stock for a minute here. We began the show this year, so that's tremendous, I think, accomplishment, Eileen. You would agree and I'm very proud of the work we're doing. We want to talk for a second about what we're grateful for in 2021 and looking forward to in 2022. Why don't you start off?
Eileen Rochford [00:40:49] Oh gosh, it's so hard to pick. I just wanted to think of a few, but in 2021 was an extraordinarily challenging year. I'm grateful for the health of my family first and foremost. And now that that's been preserved and I'm definitely grateful for every company at my firm that we have the honor to work with and continue to work with and are the new clients that we've started to work with as well, but also the people of my firm. We've all had a lot of challenges this year. It's been a very difficult year. I think for many, I think the whole world, but just in my little microcosm, personal and professional, we've had a lot of ups and downs and the folks I work with you included Rob, have stuck by us and gone the extra mile helped each other out, made sure nobody was left behind. And we're coming through it. So super grateful for all that. And I'll just say one more thing. I am so grateful for this show. I'm really loving the work that you and I are doing together and loving working with you. This is a highlight of 2021 for me, no doubt about it.
Rob Johnson [00:42:10] I'm gonna steal some of that now that you started off and I'm going to finish up. Obviously, you know the health of your family, the health of my family. These are all things you're worried about. You want to make sure everybody's OK. I think that goes without saying, even though we both said it. But business-wise, I'm really excited that, you know, I left television and pivoted into communications consulting and did it right before COVID. And so, you know, during COVID, that was tough, but it was tough on everybody. It's not like just me, but it was tough on everybody. I'm really grateful that things are really starting to, you know, take root and grow. And I'm very excited about that and I'm grateful for all the opportunities that I've had to work with you. I've been thinking I'd love to do a podcast. I love creating content. And then finally, you and I start kicking around this idea, and here we are. And so I'm grateful for the work we're doing here. I really enjoy it, and I really think it's a great outlet. And I think that the feedback that we're getting from listeners out there, we're so humbled by it. But I feel like this is something that we can certainly as we move into 2022, we can hopefully continue the momentum, grow it, evolve it, do that sort of thing. And I'm excited about what things are looking like, you know, for 2022, business-wise as well to continue to grow the business, to have some opportunities for us to continue to work together. I know we're working on a few things on that front. So I'm really excited. I'm really proud of the people that I've worked with yourself at the top of the list who are dynamic and who are pulling in the right direction and who are supportive and that sort of thing. So that's what I'm thankful for.
Eileen Rochford [00:43:59] That's great and I'm really looking forward to 2022 and a lot of levels, but this might sound weird, but I have started to really enjoy work again, and that had gone away. I think it won't mean for a lot of people and different, you know, it became a grind. We were just banging things out and there was a lot of isolation associated with 2020 and things. But yeah, like in the last four or five months, I've increasingly found joy again in work. So really, looking forward to taking that through in 2022 and just trying new things like, don't be afraid, is my theme for 2022. Don't be afraid.
Rob Johnson [00:44:53] Step outside the box and do it, I agree. Well, I'm glad that you're enjoying the work again and you're taking pleasure in that because it has been a long, difficult road for a lot of people. And if we can offer inspiration or little tidbits of wisdom here or there and it's useful, then we're doing our job.
Eileen Rochford [00:45:15] That's right. Well, I guess that will conclude our last episode of 2021 of Can you hear me? I'm Eileen Rochford of The Harbinger Group. We thank you all for listening to our podcast, helping us grow our audience, and we hope you're being entertained and learning a few things along the way.
Rob Johnson [00:45:33] That's right, and I'm Rob Johnson, president of Rob Johnson Communications. We hope you have a fantastic holiday season where you can take stock, you can recharge, and we hope you'll join us next time in the new year. In the meantime, you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more. And happy holidays Eileen.
Eileen Rochford [00:45:52] And to you, Rob, and to all of our listeners.