The post A Global Conversation Inspires Us to Create the New Safe, Inclusive and Equitable Workplace appeared first on Tunheim.

The post A Time of Reckoning appeared first on Tunheim.

The post A Path Forward appeared first on Tunheim.

The post Podcast: 2 Key Things Every US Brand Should Consider Under the New USMCA Trade Deal appeared first on Tunheim.

The post Not Your Grandfather’s Workforce appeared first on Tunheim.

Nominations for the award were accepted from mid-December through mid-February. After receiving more than 70 nominations, the editorial team selected 10 honorees. The honorees will be featured in the September 22^nd Weekly Edition of the Biz Journal and celebrated at an awards event on September 14^th.

 “[Kathy] is a true business visionary who pushes everyone around her to do better, every day. She is the go-to advisor when times are difficult, a constant leader in times of change and a professional that dedicates her time, ideas and resources to better the communities in which she lives and operates in around the globe.” – Lindsay Treichel, nominator

The post Kathy Tunheim Named A 2017 Most Admired CEO appeared first on Tunheim.

Sleep Number began its search for a communications agency earlier last year in an effort to put greater emphasis on its brand story – particularly how the company’s innovations can markedly improve sleep quality. After an extensive search, Tunheim was chosen for its all-encompassing approach that combined strategic insights with its ability to translate those insights into fresh and impactful results.

“Tunheim’s extensive retail experience, creativity and media relations expertise are a good fit for our needs,” said Melissa Barra, Chief Strategy and Customer Relationship Officer for Select Comfort.

Known for working with clients interested in “Rethinking,” Tunheim has deep expertise in a broad set of industries and specializes in helping clients navigate complex change, most especially helping them rethink how they must work to be understood by their stakeholders.

“We are thrilled and honored to partner with Sleep Number and are looking forward to contributing to their success,” said Kathy Tunheim, President and CEO of Tunheim. “At Tunheim, we are eager to team up with organizations looking to disrupt their category in new ways, which is why we feel this is an ideal match.”

With growing awareness of the important role that sleep plays in health, performance and overall wellbeing, Sleep Number is working with Tunheim to raise visibility of Sleep Number’s broad range of products that deliver on the promise of quality sleep.

IPREX partners participating in the winning proposal included: Crossroads, Eisbrenner, French ǀ West ǀ Vaughan, Hanser & Associates, Makovsky, and Walt & Company.

The post Tunheim Named Public Relations Agency of Record for Select Comfort Corp appeared first on Tunheim.

Around five years ago, we knew, and realized these things to be true:

• Our culture was mired in a system that rewarded people with titles and office space;
• We were frustrated with our position in the marketplace;
• Our service offering was not as highly valued as [we] thought it should be; and
• Clients hated the pricing model our industry was clinging to

It was time to ‘rethink’ our culture, business model, and service offering.

On the business front, we were in a challenging spot in terms of our positioning: seen as a ‘traditional’ PR firm, a service offering that was interpreted as a team to ‘execute,’ rather than provide high-level strategy, and pricing compensated by the hour versus value.

Faced with this harsh reality, and in-the-midst of the Great Recession, our leadership committed to transforming our business. And while transformation in this new disruptive era will never be complete, we are proud to share we have made great progress.

Hey, Coach
Rethinking the supervisor model, we realized it was a reactive system that relied too much on expecting our team members to figure out on their own how to thrive in the business and be rewarded for excelling. We scrapped supervisors and performance reviews and moved to a coaching model. Instead of only looking back and searching for faults, we pivoted and agreed to look forward with our team members. Forcing ourselves to rethink a system that was once a dreaded annual ritual has turned into an ongoing, year-long conversation that inspires all of us to continuously improve.

Off with office space
Perhaps, nothing is more emotional in the professional world than office space.  We had a real estate problem. Four years ago, Tunheim was a collection of offices that circled the rim of windows around our office. We literally took a sledgehammer to it. It wasn’t about new colors and new furniture (we did that, too); rather, we focused on building new space to deepen collaboration, cause incidental conversations and greater sharing of insight and thoughts. We moved from a very quiet floor full of single offices and corner suites to a more open plan designed to ignite greater collaboration.

Back to the Future
As for our service offering, rethinking took us back to the future. Nearly 30 years ago, Tunheim opened our doors as a strategic communications consultancy. Our very first assignment as a company was to reimagine and redesign a corporate communications function for a Fortune 100 company. Initial clients included big organizations navigating difficult change. Over time we morphed into a national consumer and B2B public relations agency, then we amassed great talent focused on public affairs issues. But as the level of disruption grew to dominate business, and the pace of change threatened our clients’ ability to keep-up with it – we realized it was time to pivot back to our sweet spot – consulting.

Over the last five years our talent and growth has shifted to be more focused on consulting and less on traditional public relations. Our total revenue for 2016 increased by 11 percent over 2015. We’ve grown incrementally over the last few years without any acquisitions; rather, our focus has been on client intimacy and creating a workplace where our employees want to work and feel challenged.

We invest heavily in external development and professional organizations to ensure our talent has access to development opportunities. Our membership in IPREX gives our team access to talented professionals working in 115 offices around the world. We send staff at all levels to meetings around the globe with these colleagues, host and participate in webinars and training opportunities, and have access to our partners for insights and recommendations based on our client needs.

As we look at our business today, we still have clients in consumer endeavors; we have large B2B multinationals; we are still involved in complex public affairs and community issues, and we have a thriving business in sports and immense events like Ryder Cup, Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four and in 2023, the World’s Fair.

But, our role today is different.

We are strategic partners to our clients. We are dedicated to what we call ‘The Business of Rethinking.’ Internally for us, and externally for our clients, it can be very messy stuff. But the journey is extremely rewarding.

The post Tunheim Named ‘2017 Best in Business – Small Employer’ by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce appeared first on Tunheim.

Take a moment and ask yourself, “What are you Rethinking this year?”

Think change is happening too fast?

Consider this: The pace of change will never be slower than it was in 2016.

Change is a guarantee in life. And yet, as humans we inherently do not like change.

2017 is the year we should rethink how to navigate change.

Why we resist it,

How it impacts our psyche

And why some moments make us fearful or uncomfortable.

In 2017, Tunheim encourages Rethinking that very human reaction

and change the way we deal with change.

Grab the reins in the age of acceleration.

How do we do this?

We start by not allowing ourselves to be shaped by choices outside of our control.

Solidify it by rejecting complacency, and Rethinking life by intentionally choosing to “compose it” and allow ourselves to be invigorated by change.

To remember, “you can’t get to a new destination without losing sight of the shore behind you.”

In 2017, here is your gentle nudge to rethink change by expecting it to occur. We encourage you to run toward change rather than waiting for it to come to you.

That’s what we’re doing.

So what do you think?

Here’s to Rethinking in 2017.

Happy New Year from your friends at Tunheim.

The post Rethinking in 2017: Change is Happening appeared first on Tunheim.

I bet many folks sighed in relief when the Twin Cities Marathon concluded Sunday without any significant disruption. It was a far cry from the feelings earlier in the week when the St. Paul chapter of Black Lives Matter communicated its intentions to disrupt the marathon in protest of the injustices that African Americans have endured locally and nationally.

The threat of disruption to the marathon created quite a stir, garnering all kinds of news coverage and a frenzy of social media posts ranging from legitimate safety concerns, to racist rants, to confused supporters of the movement who couldn’t understand the group’s strategy.

So what have we learned from this potential powder keg of a situation?

When individuals and groups feel marginalized or ignored, they face a choice: to allow the marginalization to continue, or not. If it is just a misunderstanding, perhaps a discussion can clear the air. But Black Lives Matter is giving voice to a conscious choice being made by thousands of citizens: the status quo is not acceptable, and they insist that their voices be part of shaping the future. It is a nonviolent effort to convey urgency.

From my 20-plus years as a communications professional in the public and private sectors, I know that individuals and groups must feel respected, heard and understood before progress can be made. So if we as a society really intend to close the disparities gaps — for the benefit of individuals and our overall economic vitality — then we need to ensure that we are hearing each other.

Community leaders, business executives and elected officials need to learn from these communication/engagement issues. Why? Because even if they aren’t on the picket lines or participating in a demonstration, your employees and other key stakeholders are being affected by this movement. And they are counting on their leaders to incorporate new voices into the decision-making process for the future.

What can you do?

1. You must find the time to listen and dialogue with individuals and groups who feel ignored.

It won’t always be a fun conversation and it could slow down the decision-making process, but more times than not, it will save a decision-maker time and resources. But more important, it will enrich the decision-making process by involving diverse voices that aren’t typically invited into the boardroom or CEO’s office.

A great way for an elected official, civic leader, educator or business executive to prove that they really want to hear different perspectives is to start inviting people of color to the decision-making table at the beginning of the process. Let’s stop waiting for the next protest and start changing the conversations (and any discriminatory policies and practices) now.

2. Be courageous enough to shift directions and compromise when necessary.

Effective leaders should take advantage of the opportunity to receive honest, unfiltered feedback and input. Ask the tough, maybe “embarrassing” questions and don’t assume that you understand what different individuals and groups are thinking and feeling. Give them the opportunity to tell you and put value on the perspective they bring.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman should be commended for rearranging his schedule to meet face-to-face with representatives of Black Lives Matters. In hindsight, a meeting earlier in the process could have lowered anxiety levels sooner and thwarted the media onslaught, yet Mayor Coleman had the sense to realize a very vocal group of his stakeholders were feeling disrespected and misunderstood. He gave them his time and attention and everyone benefited from it.

3. Expect – and respect – disruption: it is a reminder of the pace of change around you.

No institutions in our society can expect to navigate the changes in our communities without confronting tremendous challenges. And no leader should be surprised to learn from time to time that their organization didn’t adequately anticipate the consequences of meeting some of those challenges. It is, in fact, a sign of respect and significance that citizens expect their institutions to help lead the community in times of fast change. As the demographics and expectations of our communities evolve, we want our institutions – companies, elected leaders, civic organizations — to reflect all of us. 

Let’s see what happens next. Black Lives Matters is not going away. Some say the group is just getting started. I think this is a perfect time for leaders to lead, and give individuals and groups that have been silent for far too long the opportunity to be heard, understood and valued contributors.

Photo credit: CC BY 2.0 MLT2005 | flickr 

The post Black Lives Matter: How the Movement Translates to the Boardroom appeared first on Tunheim.