Authored by Jackie Kolek, Co-President at Peppercomm
As the midterm elections approach, organizations are reassessing how they engage on public issues. The shift is notable: five years ago, companies were often expected to take visible positions on social issues, advance ambitious ESG agendas and serve as influential voices in public debate.
Now workplace expectations are evolving amid shifting political, regulatory and social dynamics. Changes in federal policy and the rollback of certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs have led organizations to reevaluate how they communicate and advance workforce and sustainability priorities. Employees, however, continue to expect transparency and authenticity from leadership, even as executives become more cautious about public engagement on social issues. At the same time, AI is raising new questions about jobs, trust, workforce readiness and organizational change
It’s no surprise that many organizations are grappling with a sense of whiplash.
This heightened sense of unease and uncertainty was a central theme during Peppercomm’s recent Midterm Mania webinar, where I had the opportunity to speak with Paul Argenti of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Alison Taylor of NYU Stern School of Business and Lightning Czabovsky of UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media about the challenges organizations are facing in the months ahead and more importantly, the actions they should be taking now.
One point was abundantly clear: the challenge for leaders is not predicting what happens after the election. It’s avoiding the temptation to change course every time stakeholder expectations or political winds shift. Our panel of leading voices in corporate communications, business ethics and leadership offered the following recommendations:
Don’t plan for one outcome
There is no shortage of political predictions right now. Some experts are forecasting a “Blue Wave” in Washington. Others believe the country remains deeply divided and that political gridlock is the more likely outcome. But the reality is that communications teams should be preparing for both.
Regardless of what happens in November, organizations are likely to face increased scrutiny from employees, investors, customers, advocacy groups and the media. Regulatory priorities may shift. Certain issues may gain prominence while others fade from the headlines.
Communications leaders should lead scenario planning efforts by identifying the issues most important to their business or institution and anticipating how different political outcomes could shape stakeholder expectations and concerns. The goal is not to predict exactly what happens next. It’s to ensure the organization has anticipated how different scenarios could affect stakeholder expectations and determine how it will respond in each case.
That starts with recognizing that no organization can afford to build its strategy around a single political scenario.
Revisit your issues map
Many organizations went through an exercise in recent years to determine which social, political and cultural issues warranted engagement. If you haven’t revisited that framework recently, now is the time.
The conversation around sustainability, AI, DEI, workforce issues and corporate responsibility has evolved significantly over the last few years. So have stakeholder expectations.
Communications leaders should be asking:
- Which issues matter most to our employees?
- Which issues are most relevant to our business?
- Where do we have credibility to engage?
- What issues are we willing to speak on—and which ones are we not?
Perhaps most importantly, can we clearly explain our rationale?
Stakeholders do not always expect agreement. They do expect consistency and transparency– and they want to understand how decisions are being made.
If you made commitments, own them
One discussion from the webinar that resonated with me focused on sustainability commitments. Many organizations made ambitious ESG and climate commitments during a very different moment. Today, some are on track to meet those goals, while others are reevaluating what is realistically achievable.
As climate issues become more prominent in the political conversation, communications leaders may find themselves facing difficult questions from employees, investors, customers and reporters.
The answer is not to quietly move on and hope no one notices. Stakeholders are generally more forgiving of missed goals if they understand what led to those misses. If priorities have changed, explain why. If progress has been slower than expected, say so. If the commitment still stands, demonstrate what progress has been made and what challenges remain.
How organizations communicate about missed goals may ultimately matter as much or more than whether those goals are achieved.
Silence is a decision
One of the most interesting discussions during the webinar centered on whether staying silent is still a viable strategy. The answer, unsurprisingly, is complicated.
Not every issue requires a public statement, and not every company should weigh in on every debate. In many cases, staying out of a conversation may be the right business decision.
The challenge is that stakeholders often take silence just as much as they interpret action. Employees, customers and investors draw conclusions from what an organization chooses not to say, particularly when an issue is closely connected to its values, workforce or business operations.
Rather than asking, “Should we comment?” communications teams should also be asking, “What message will stakeholders take away if we don’t?”
Help leaders prepare now
Many executives are understandably hesitant to make decisions in an environment that seems to change by the week and is fraught with potential backlash. Rather than waiting for certainty, communications leaders should be helping leadership teams think through potential scenarios, pressure-test assumptions and prepare for difficult stakeholder questions before they arise.
As part of that process, there are a few questions every leadership team should be discussing now:
- What will employees want to know after the election?
- How will we communicate if regulatory priorities change?
- What questions might investors, customers or reporters ask?
- Where could there be a gap between what leadership intends and how stakeholders perceive those actions?
Organizations rarely get into trouble because they lacked a perfectly crafted statement. More often, they struggle because they waited too long to have the conversation.
The months ahead will undoubtedly bring new challenges and new expectations. Organizations that take the time to prepare now will be in a much stronger position to navigate whatever comes next.
The goal isn’t to predict every possible outcome. It’s to ensure leaders have a clear framework for making decisions when conditions change.
