Balcom Agency

I can’t believe I’m writing this. Five years ago I boycotted that behemoth retailer because of its poor treatment of employees. At that time, nearly half of the children of its workers were either uninsured or on Medicaid. Numerous lawsuits around the country alleged that the company forced hourly employees to work overtime without pay.

So here’s why I have come around:

This company has smart leadership. It conducted a reputation survey and discovered – (surprise, surprise!) – it had become a corporate demon in the eyes of its customers.

The company realized it needed a complete transformation from the inside out. The company’s leading public relations executive clearly had a seat at the table. This true pr pro knew the company had to change its actual business practices, rather than simply polish its image.  Leslie Dach, Wal-Mart's head of corporate communications and a former Edelman PR executive, helped the company understand that what mom said is true: Actions speak louder than words.

Here's what Wal-Mart has done to win over its customers and stakeholders:

1.    Its leadership has championed a real commitment to the environment. For example, it launched a high-profile campaign to sell fluorescent light bulbs, conducted a solar power initiative in California, and spent gobs of money retrofitting its stores to use more renewable energy. Just today, the Wall Street Journal reported the company has unveiled a new environmental labeling program for all the products it carries. This will help shoppers see the full environment costs of making each product in a simple rating system.

2.    On the healthcare front, Wal-Mart formed a coalition with union leader Andy Stern, once one of the company’s leading critics, to explore solutions to the country’s health insurance crisis. (Hopefully the company is doing more for its employees on this front but I don’t have the facts on this.)

3.    Wal-Mart has distanced itself from other business groups and stuck its neck out to support an employer mandate for health insurance, favored by the White House. Critics say that because Wal-Mart knows such a mandate is inevitable, it is simply positioning itself ahead of other big corporations for political and competitive advantage.

Well, of course! Wal-Mart is playing to win. And it is smart to know the value of good public relations.

Good public relations does not “spin.” It helps companies look in the mirror and learn how the outside world truly perceives them.  It helps companies understand that business practices must sometime change in response to the changing values and expectations of its stakeholders.

At this stage, the company’s public relations team should be basking in a glow of accomplishment. There’s no need to “spin” because the truth is out: Wal-Mart is a company to admire.