What Does Your Company Stand For—And Why?
Where we buy items like toilet paper has become political. Here’s how to respond when your company’s values are under attack.
This piece originally appeared in Inc. Magazine.
Have you also heard of the Tesla Chainsaw Massacre? It’s the meme-tastic name being given to the catastrophic plunge of Tesla’s stock price following boycotts and protests that erupted in response to Elon Musk’s bizarre behavior, expression of far right values, and his controversial—and legally and ethically questionable—assault on the U.S. government.
This is one of many examples of corporations coming under attack right now for their perceived values. Instead of talking about products and services, the public is looking at whether or not, for example, companies are continuing their DEI practices or whether their executives are excusing genocides perpetrated by dictators. Companies that have flip-flopped or appear to have values misaligned with their customers—including Target, Amazon, Tesla, and Starlink—are experiencing boycotts. The CEO of Ben & Jerry’s is out allegedly for public comments on progressive issues.
We are in some sort of moment.
Navigating these choppy waters isn’t easy for businesses, particularly after so many leaned so hard into cultural issues over the last few years. Most businesses are risk averse. They are trying to be pragmatic. They want to stay operational amid the chaos coming out of DC. They also just want to be liked. So it’s not entirely surprising that some have made the choice to go with the DC flow.
In the short term, the companies choosing to lean into policy and practice changes being ordered by politicians will scratch an itch. However, unless a company is fully aligned with those values, this isn’t a great long-term solution.
Why? Reputations are hard to build and easy to lose. People will remember what you did and who you became in the name of political expediency.
That’s why some brands like Costco are seemingly doing better reputationally amid these minefields. In January, the company responded to a shareholder proposal filed by a conservative think tank by defending its DEI polities.
The company wrote: “Our Board has considered this proposal and believes that our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary. Our efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion remind and reinforce with everyone at our Company the importance of creating opportunities for all. We believe that these efforts enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed.”
Many consumers are rewarding this statement by shifting their spending dollars more to Costco to show support. Others, however, are shifting their spending to companies like Walmart, which has actively courted consumers who oppose DEI programs.
Where we buy items like toilet paper has become political.
Ultimately, the values question companies should be answering isn’t one about what makes the most sense right now in this very specific moment. They should be answering the questions “what do you want to be known for and why?” After all, as communications strategist and former reporter Anne Marie Squeo reminds us, values “aren’t valuable if we only adhere to them when it’s easy. Then they’re just inclinations.”
So, what’s a company to do? Get clear on who they are as a collective, what they value, and why that’s important to the business. Then, create a framework that can guide public responses to various news cycles or changes to national policies that, quite frankly, are likely to change again in the future.
Following these steps can help you on your path.
Define your core working group.
Too often, companies waste valuable time trying to figure out the basics, including who actually needs to be involved in making a decision as compared to who needs to be informed. It’s not uncommon for someone to be identified as needing to play a role and either (a) they don’t know they’re supposed to be on point and or (b) they don’t know what their specific job is in this context. That’s a problem!
That’s why a big part of the planning needs to be making sure you have the right people at the table and that they know what they’re supposed to do. Who should these people be? That’s going to depend on the individual company, but my usual partners in crime are people from public policy, legal, HR, finance, or strategy, for example.
Establish your guiding principles and considerations.
To create the most appropriate context, companies should know the issues and ethical landscape not only for their business but also their industry, partners, competitors, and that of the communities where they’re domiciled and or doing business at the minimum. Then, ground the framework in the fundamentals of what the company does and what it wants to be known for.
If an issue falls outside of something that might impact your most important stakeholders, is a statement or an action from your company impactful or additive? If not, do you need to do anything? Sometimes it’s best not to get involved, but understand what ‘staying out of it’ will cost you.
Create a framework.
I’m a fan of creating a short decision-making framework that lays out the general categories each company will deal with from an issues perspective and considerations for the business when addressing the categories. To accompany these conversation prompts, I usually recommend having drafts of external and internal engagement matrices, too.
This doesn’t need to be an exhaustive plan or list. It also should not result in a really long document. It is meant to be a focusing exercise that gives you something to work with when things do start to pop so you’re not starting from scratch.
Practice.
Do tabletop exercises. Taking the time to work through some of the bumps when you’re not actually working through an issue is a good use of time. Why? Inevitably, you’ll discover some kinks in the system that could be fixed. It’s often helpful to contract someone external to run the exercises, too.
When it’s time to speak, control the message.
Experienced companies won’t feel the need to respond to every query. Using the framework created, they should respond only to what matters most to the company and its stakeholders. This not only helps teams to communicate quickly and efficiently; it also keeps companies out of unnecessary media cycles and leads to a more consistent reputation.
If you’re not controlling the narrative, remember that someone else will. They’ll assign their interpretation of the meaning to your choice. Particularly during these tumultuous times, it’s the steady and authentic hand that will ultimately endure.
Lauren Condoluci is a communications strategist and media-relations professional who has helped companies, organizations, and individuals plan for and handle some of their most challenging moments and campaigns.
