A short guide to corporate rituals

demonstration of the importance of ritual, the coronation of King Charles III on May 6th will be hard to beat. The ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066. There will be anointing, homage-paying, oath-taking and all manner of processing. In any other circumstances this kind of behaviour would warrant a medical diagnosis. But the alchemy of tradition means that it will instead call forth a sense of continuity and the idea of shared history. Rituals are also a big part of corporate life. There is nothing to match coronation levels of weirdness, much as some chief executives might like the idea of robes and a throne. But firms have their own ceremonies and rites. Some are internal: the repetitive rhythms of performance reviews and weekly meetings, budget processes and farewell cards are all ritualistic. Others are more public, from investor days to conference calls with analysts. The pandemic spawned a host of new customs, from regular events designed to lure people into the office to dedicated times of the week devoted to concentrated work.