In today’s polarized political climate, the challenges companies face in preparing for the upcoming election season are complex. This week in Atlanta, we hosted a roundtable discussion with communications professionals across various industries to tackle these issues head-on. While nothing beyond what we’ve been sharing emerged, the dialogue highlighted the prevalent hurdles and underscored that even seasoned communicators are grappling with how best to prepare their companies and employees.
The consensus was clear: the next few weeks will be unpredictable, and companies must be nimble and prepared for rapid shifts. With stakeholder expectations continually evolving, organizations are called to balance neutrality with empathy while communicating across diverse regions and audiences.
With political climates varying greatly by region, geographic sensitivities were a recurring theme. The roundtable stressed the need for targeted communication making sure that leaders understand the unique issues employees in swing states may be facing. We also discussed the value of briefing non-U.S. executives to provide context and align with the organization's overall stance.
For many companies, determining leadership’s role in election engagement remains challenging. As employees look to leadership for guidance, it’s vital to clarify the organization’s position — whether that's support for voter rights, participation in PACs, etc. But it’s not enough to simply state policies; organizations must also embed empathy in their approach. This is often easier said than done. Consider tapping leaders who naturally show up this way or investing in training to ensure senior leaders can create a psychologically safe environment, listen empathetically and proactively guide employees through the uncertainty.
The post-election period can be just as uncertain as the lead-up, and companies should be prepared to support employees and remain agile. For example, what pulse mechanisms do you have in place? Do you have a clearly defined decision-making process for how and when to communicate internally in response to external events?
One thing that everyone agreed on? The value of early preparation and taking all the lessons learned from this current cycle into future considerations. At the end of the day, we cannot avoid the disruption that’s coming. The best we can do is to be prepared and ensure that leaders are ready to lead, listen and model the behaviors we want to see.
