The problem: When firms undergo significant change, the effort needed to align the brand, communication, and culture across new teams is often underestimated.

The impact: Employees begin to feel disrespected and less connected to the mission. The close-knit atmosphere fractures, leading to disengagement and high turnover.

Couple the identity crisis and communication challenges with other common growing pains like a deficiency in cohesive processes and systems, and inefficiencies mount, leading to burnout and higher operating costs.

There is no quick or easy fix but you can keep a good company growing with a few key areas of focus – and helping good businesses grow is why we launched Fortify Advisory.

Prioritize the Brand so it can Serve as the North Star

Building and defining a strong, authentic brand is part of the solution to this internal crisis. It serves as the north star that builds up both teams and culture during periods of rapid change. The brand defines the firm’s purpose, values, and mission. This “why” gives every employee, new or old, a clear, aspirational identity to align with, helping to preserve the organizational soul as the headcount explodes.

Strategic Departmental Alignment

Every core department must operate from a single, shared business strategy and mission. When these departments align, they replace chaotic, fragmented processes with unified systems and clear guidelines. For instance, the Finance team provides real-time utilization data that the Practice Areas (the lifeblood of any professional services firm) can use to proactively balance workloads, preventing the burnout that makes people feel disrespected. IT provides scalable, user-friendly tools that streamline work, removing the friction that breeds frustration.

The Critical CEO-HR-Marketing Partnership at Professional Services Firms

In professional services, the collaboration between the CEO, Human Resources (HR) and Marketing is arguably the most vital. The CEO is the visionary, defining the firm’s mission and core values. HR shapes the desired culture and employee value proposition (EVP) —what it’s like to work there. Marketing then leverages its expertise in branding, storytelling, and communication to effectively articulate the mission, vision and core values, alongside the EVP both internally and externally, creating a compelling Employer Brand that attracts the right talent and constantly reinforces the firm’s “soul” to current staff. This partnership ensures that what is promised to a client (the external brand) is consistently delivered by an engaged employee (the internal culture).

A strong brand narrative provides a consistent language for internal communications as well. It reinforces what the firm stands for, and becomes a powerful source of pride when the brand is high-value and authentic. A strong brand narrative communicates to every team member that they are part of something significant, directly countering the feeling of being disrespected and validating their contribution. A strong brand transforms the internal experience by giving every employee a clear sense of belonging and a clear purpose, ensuring that the firm grows with its people, not at the expense of them.

Why We Launched Fortify Advisory

For 20+ years, we stood on the front lines of marketing and business development for fast-growing businesses and we know what it takes to achieve and sustain growth. We want to share our insights and playbook to help transform good businesses into great ones.

Fortify – the word’s meaning is our entire business model: to strengthen and add quality, making a good thing even better. A person with fortitude can endure with strength and stability. With a shot of spirits (usually brandy), wine is fortified, transformed into the ingredients of a craft cocktail.

Our mission is to empower professional services firms facing change with strategic marketing and business development solutions that

• build trust
• enhance reputation
• secure a competitive advantage in a global market

At Fortify Advisory, we strengthen your team and your go-to market strategy while adding the critical ingredients needed to turn a good business into a great one.

Our services include branding, website, content, and PR – and we specialize in helping professional services companies capitalize on change – whether it’s preparing for rapid growth, recovering from a recessionary cycle, or positioning for a merger or acquisition.

Our clients choose us for our global team of creative strategists who leverage AI-automations, and are driven to build long-term value.

If you are looking for a marketing consultancy who can help you move beyond simply adapting to change, to fortifying your business and brand and embracing the evolution with success, contact Fortify Advisory.