Employees supporting plant that upholds standards (9)
I believe the answer is:
flagstaff
'upholds standards' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'employees supporting plant' is the wordplay.
'employees' becomes 'staff' (I've seen this before).
'supporting' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'plant' becomes 'flag' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'staff' put after 'flag' is 'FLAGSTAFF'.
'that' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flagstaff that I've seen before include "Arizona community" , "Standard bearer" , "Standard-bearer" , "Ceremonial pole" , "Pole for the standard" .)