Battling for the Hearts and Minds of Our Employees

Mark 80 Square January 25 , 2010 by Mark Allen

A sawmill in the Sacramento area struggles with its employee issues. After years of safety problems, challenges with work performance, and negative attitudes, a recent decision at their corporate office sends a senior plant manager to Northern California, to turn things around. His name is Donnie Macdonald.

I met with Donnie just last week, to discuss ways to change employee attitudes and work habits. He told me these exact words, “We are battling for the hearts and minds of our employees, for the culture of our organization.” He went on to say how he had used the Marlin Employee Communications Service down South at his previous plant in Tempe, Arizona. And, he had watched first hand, as it become part of the pattern of positive change, especially when using actual photographs of his own employees. He asked me, ” Don’t you think all through history posters have played an important part in shifting culture?”

We discussed (dramatic) examples such as Stalin, Saddam Hussein, and the Elian Gonzalez turmoil in South Florida several years ago, each benefiting from the impact of thousands of colorful posters flooding the streets . Then I pondered my own (quiet) experience in France several years ago, how giant postings in the subways of Paris stuck in my brain even though I don’t know their language.

People are attracted to icons and public graphics. Some of the images below may take the reader all the way back to childhood, evoking deeply wired emotional responses. The visuals demand attention, capture imagination and have become a part of our culture.

This is a perspective on what the Marlin Company does for workplace communication. Some say Marlin creates workplace posters and workplace digital signage. I describe it as “influencing employee attitudes and work habits – by making a Company vision visual for its employees.”

Mark Allen is Regional Manager in Northern California, for The Marlin Company. Mark is a writer, a speaker and networker, helping companies engage employees to higher levels of performance.

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