The Challenge: Balancing Growth, Culture, and Performance
Emmis Communications, a small entrepreneurial radio company, was transforming into a major international media corporation. This rapid growth presented a significant challenge: how to implement a more defined corporate structure and strategy while preserving and extending the unique, positive employer-of-choice reputation it had already earned. The company needed to assimilate newly acquired businesses and proactively instill the "Emmisizing" culture across the entire organization.
Under the leadership of its visionary founder and CEO, Jeff Smulyan, Emmis undertook a systematic process to define its strategies, structure, and culture to drive business results.
"I was certain that we could build a company that would stand for something different... I thought Emmis could create a different atmosphere.” - Jeff Smulyan, CEO, Emmis Communications
The Approach: A System-Wide Change Initiative
In partnership with Results Based Leadership, Emmis implemented a collaborative and cascading process focused on focus, education, communication, and performance accountability. The goal was to create and implement a distinctive firm brand and foster a unique employer-of-choice culture while driving performance, accountability, and innovation.
The initiative leveraged a variety of change management techniques, including:
- Executive strategic planning and alignment
- Leadership-development programs
- Performance-management systems
- Employee-commitment strategies
- Targeted organizational communications
- Special events and recognition
Defining the Emmis Culture
The Emmis culture is built on the belief that to succeed, a company must take risks, treat its people well, and provide them with the tools they need to win.
"I believed we could create great radio while treating employees well and letting them profit from our successes. I believed we could draw great ideas from every person in the company, not just the ones at the top... I believed – and this might be the most important thing – that we could have fun and still make a difference." - Jeff Smulyan
This philosophy is formally captured in the "Emmis 11 Commandments," a set of principles authored by the CEO to guide the organization.
Key Results and Lessons Learned
From fiscal year 1998 to 2003, Emmis's annual net revenues grew from $140 million to over $562 million, and its employee base expanded from under 500 to over 3,100. The change management process was critical to successfully navigating this expansion.
The lessons learned at Emmis Communications are particularly valuable for any organization undergoing a major change initiative that affects its brand, culture, and performance. Companies experiencing rapid growth, looking to build an employer-of-choice reputation, or evolving from a small to a mid-sized entity can find useful insights in this case.