What's on Your (Physical) Wall?

What’s on your wall? No, not your Facebook wall. Your company’s walls. In hallways, in lunchrooms, on the manufacturing floor?

These walls tell the story of your organization, communicate your culture, record your history, and inspire your teams. So why do most communicators ignore them?

Sure, you were called in last year when the main lobby needed a makeover. Or when a board member visited and wanted the entry hallway to have more pep (a true story). But what about the yards – if not miles – of other walls across the company?

In most cases, you’ve placed control of those halls into the hands of the people who occupy the cubicles and offices nearby. Empowerment is good, but a complete handover is not. The later manifests itself in tired, faded wall hangings that – especially as turnover occurs – don’t reflect the organization today (or showcase the “unique” tastes of the past inhabitants).

In the case of that board member request, the charge came to the communications group to “revitalize” the hallways. A few weeks later, those halls were brightened, a company historical timeline built ad installed, and plasma screens hung to display corporate news.

Problem solved, right? Wrong.

As the communications team counseled prior to the start of the project, the hallways reflect the culture of the organization – that drab, defeated feeling was not the paint scheme at work, but overall employee morale and satisfaction. Sure, a physical pick-me-up can help begin to turn the tide, but not without a more transformative culture shift. The “revitalization” was essentially a veneer, not a solution to the underlying issue.

So who gets it right? Southwest Airlines. I’ve spent the past day at its headquarters in Dallas, having been invited to speak at a Ragan Communications conference. Adorning every wall surface are testaments to the culture the company has built over the past four decades – framed Southwest t-shirts, thank you letters from school children, photos of employees across the U.S., customer testimonials, awards, and more. It’s like gazing at tapestries as you walk the halls of the Vatican Museum – they seemingly go on forever, and the same holds true at Southwest. You’re in awe. Bingo!

These halls are curated, but not because of a corporate mandate or misguided executive. They are the spirit of the company in physical form, reconnecting employees and visitors to the entire Southwest experience. More importantly, they’re authentic.

So don’t ignore your walls. They’re begging to exhibit what makes your organization and its people unique, desperately wanting to tell a story. Your role? Help them speak.