Master Election Communications: Tips for Internal and External Communicators
Election seasons can bring significant challenges for communicators as we navigate both internal and external communications. Politics often evoke strong emotions and opinions, and balancing transparency with sensitivity is key for maintaining a unified, respectful work environment while also ensuring your company’s external messaging remains aligned with its brand values. As communicators, we have a responsibility to help our organizations navigate the murky waters of an election year. Here’s how to be prepared both internally and externally:
Internal Communications: Maintaining a Respectful Work Environment
In many workplaces your office neighbor may have differing political views than yours. A brief comment made in passing about politics can completely upend a professional meeting and even worse, erode psychological safety and trust among employees. For internal communicators it’s important that you’re being proactive about your policies and the resources available to your employees.
Start early and communicate often. Now is the time to proactively communicate about your workplace policies and remind employees about what is appropriate in your workplace. Don't wait until November to remind employees about the importance of civility and fostering a welcoming work environment. Repetition works – remind them about your policies and repeat them often.
Provide resources to help. The right tools can help employees handle communications in the workplace throughout any election period. Consider hosting a workshop focusing on strategies to help employees understand appropriate behavior and ways to navigate uncomfortable conversations. Corporate communicators can work with HR to ensure employees know where to turn for support during emotionally charged times.
Train your leaders. Along similar lines, leaders set the tone. Managers need to be prepared to handle tense situations. They need to understand how to help diffuse a situation, if need be, and how to have open and transparent dialogue about what's appropriate conduct and how to set the right example.
Anticipate that emotions may run high during election season and prepare your leaders – from the CEO to your front-line managers – to address potential conflicts or tension early. Consider sending a company-wide memo or video message or holding a town hall meeting to acknowledge the current political climate, reinforce the company’s values, and promote civility in discussions. It’s necessary for leadership visibly to champion respectful dialogue and inclusion.
External Communications: Navigating Public Perception
While we know our internal audiences are our number one audience, we can’t forget external communications. If you’re like many communicators we’ve spoken with, you’re thinking about your external communications strategy for the next several months. After all, you’re responsible for ensuring that the reputation of your organization remains intact and you do that by crafting and delivering clear, consistent messages to stakeholders, media, and the public. Can those messages and stories cut through the election noise and reach your audience? How can your organization maintain its voice during a polarized time? Should you adjust your visibility strategy to align with or avoid key moments in the election cycle? We’re sure those questions and many more are going through your end as you navigate this tricky time. Here are a few tips to be prepared:
Align with Brand Values, Not Political Agendas
When it comes to external messaging, ensure that any communication during election season aligns with your brand values, not with specific political agendas. While some companies may choose to take a stand on issues that align closely with their mission, it’s crucial to communicate these positions thoughtfully and consistently. Ensure that any statements reflect long-standing company values rather than a reaction to current political winds.
Consider Media Outreach Carefully
When you’re thinking about your media outreach and visibility strategy, consider these things:
Industry and niche media will remain focused on their core audiences. There may be some political spillover but remember that they still need great stories tailored for their audiences. Consider getting specific with their target readers.
Similarly, beat reporters in the mainstream media will continue covering their industries. They may be looking for ways to connect the political conversation to the businesses and sectors they cover, but they will not abandon their core assignments altogether during the election.
The online news world is 24/7. Get connected to digital news editors and online content directors who must fill pages and drive headlines nonstop and offer them quick-hit headlines and fast-turn story ideas.
Spend the next few months researching and pitching long-lead publications. What can you be doing today that will encourage coverage in early 2025?
Prepare for Crisis Communications
Election season can be unpredictable. Organizations can become inadvertently entangled in political discourse, whether through customer comments, social media controversies, or unexpected public attention. Ensure your crisis communication playbooks are ready, with key messages and action plans in place to address any politically charged crises that could affect your company’s reputation. And, this should go without saying, but practice, practice, practice. Don’t wait for a crisis to happen to pull out a playbook or plan and think it’s going to run smoothly. This is a muscle that needs to be worked consistently.
Best Practices for Navigating Election Communications
Whether you are an internal or external communicator, or tasked with all communications, we’ll leave you with a few best practices to help you navigate election communications.
Stay Consistent: Whether communicating internally or externally, your messaging should be consistent with your company’s established values and policies.
Listen to Stakeholders: Employees and customers may have different expectations for how your company should engage with political issues. Listen carefully to their concerns, and when in doubt, keep communication respectful, neutral, and mission driven.
Prepare for Post-Election Discussions: The aftermath of an election can be as challenging as the lead-up. Prepare to support employees and address any lingering tension that may arise in both internal and external communications.
Navigating election communications requires careful consideration, balancing the diverse views of employees and customers, while maintaining trust and integrity. By setting clear policies and being proactive, corporate communicators can help steer their organizations through the complexities of election season with professionalism and respect.