"We often say that our best clients are clients who inspire us as much as we work so hard every day to inspire them," M Booth CEO Dale Bornstein tells Doug Simon. "The client partnership, especially with this new hybrid workforce and culture, plays a more important role than ever."

Bornstein says that M Booth is fortunate to have what she calls "lifetime relationsips" with many clients, partnerships that continue as clients move from company to company. She also stresses the importance of "open, candid, good conversations with new clients and current clients about the values that we share, the norms that we want to share, how we show up for one another."

The challenges of keeping a company's culture consistent even after a leadership change are also discussed. When Bornstein took the reins at M Booth from agency founder Margi Booth, she says that the successful transition resulted from the fact that they "share the same values" and "developed a really good relationship and friendship."

With the "great resignation" on everyone's mind, Bornstein talks about some ways to make a company a place where employees want to stay. "We took our core values and shaped our ways of showing up. We had to evolve, given today's workplace and the various factors that we are all navigating and figuring out together."

When it comes to the hybrid workplace, she says the key is "first and foremost, really listen to your people, really listen to what they need, whether it's benefits, whether it's support they need through the day."

She adds that workplace transformation has made it necessary for leaders to "rethink the old paradigms. If you have to have meetings, what do they look like? How are they more effective? How are they more practical? How are they more fun?"

Another question that needs to be asked is "how do you replicate the stuff we've lost when you go to get a cup of coffee or at the watercooler? Find ways through the day to do that, either virtually or in the office."

And keeping the lines of communication open is essential. "You've got to constantly communicate all of the signs and signals around your culture, so that people who are coming in, can quickly understand it, and people who are already there can help others be mentors, be buddies. Create time and training in your day to really make time for this."

View all of the interviews in the “PR's Top Pros Talk” series. Subscribe to get notified when new episodes are available.

Interested in taking part? Contact Doug Simon at [email protected]

D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.