OutsidePR: Best Place to Work?

We’ve been a digital-first agency for years, certainly since September 2009, which was the release date for the documentary “The September Issue.” Chronicling the 2007 fall fashion issue of Vogue Magazine, the film represents the pinnacle (the September issue in question had over 800 pages) of print magazines, an apex from which the magazine industry inexorably slid. But since our founding, and still to this day, we celebrate print journalism, and in my case, few single issues are as anticipated as Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work.

OutsidePR grew very slowly in its first decade (from 1995 to 2005), and as the agency grew, it occurred to me that I’d love to see us represented in that issue one day. It was always out of reach, since the minimum number of employees needed for consideration was fifteen. I’d stand by the mailbox each time the issue came, flip through the feature story, and read about all these businesses (and even a small handful of PR firms) who were recognized for the culture they propagated.

It chafed to get shut out of consideration every year, but as 2021 turned to 2022, I realized that we were over that minimum threshold for the very first time, and my thoughts immediately turned to Outside Magazine. I put our qualifications into their application process, and to my delight, we were notified that we were in the competition.

The process involves quite a bit of paperwork, but the heavy lift falls on our employees, all of whom had to sit down and fill out an anonymous survey that was dozens of questions long. As managers, Jess and I were strictly warned that we couldn’t influence the survey in any way, or even discuss it (of course, that would run counter to the whole idea) – all we could do was wait for the results. 

While we waited, I fretted. Would our lack of vision care spike our chances of success? What about that time during a staff meeting that I spoke poorly of a former employee who stole a client? Would that linger in peoples’ minds?

It’s a real moment of vulnerability for a business owner, but when the email that came through last fall, it vindicated all the years of careful growth, and all the years of investing in a culture that puts employees first. We made the list, in our first year of eligibility.

Two real learnings came out of it: first, all managers can do is create a workplace environment, and stick to it. The real test comes from how it’s landing for employees. In blind surveys like this – if you’re not doing something right, you’ll get pinged for it.

And that’s the second learning. We made it, but there’s plenty of work to be done – we reached the Honorable Mention roll, not the top-20. So that’s our new goal. But the ranking isn’t the real prize, it’s the learning that’s most valuable. We learned that our benefits could be better (vision care!); we learned that we need to improve the on-boarding process for new employees, and we even learned that clearly communicating our strategic vision and financial status deeply motivates and educates everyone who works here.

We know there’s work to be done at the top level here at OPR, but Jess and I are proud to be where we are, and are looking forward to continuing to foster an environment where people can thrive.