Principled Influence: A Guide to Strengthening Public Affairs Practices in Polarized Environments

Applying Corporate Political Responsibility Governance to Public Affairs Decision-making 

Summary

Principled InfluenceA Guide to Strengthening Public Affairs Practices in Polarized Environments (v1.0is designed to help management teams take concrete steps to strengthen the governance of their external affairs in turbulent times by conducting a Public Affairs Governance Review. It Guide offers a flexible, self-paced process for reviewing your company’s current Public Affairs policies, decision-making and activities to identify key points to capture in your Public Affairs Engagement Policy, strengths you can reinforce and concrete areas for improvement.

Our approach is based on the concept of “Corporate Political Responsibility” (CPR) Governance – an emerging set of best practices for principled governance of Public Affairs activities designed to help companies achieve five benefits in high-stakes political environments: 

  • Mitigate Enterprise Risk
  • Enable Long-term Value
  • Build Strong Stakeholder Relationships and Reputation
  • Support Stable, Healthy Systems
  • Fulfill Fiduciary Obligations and Business Purpose

This initial “v1.0” version of the Guide will evolve over time, including more case studies and examples. We hope you will help us make it more useful it by sharing your comments and experiences. (At the end, you will find ways to get help and to connect.)1

The Guide v1.0 is planned for release by October 31. Please submit a Contact Form to receive a copy when it is ready.

Who Can Benefit from a Public Affairs Governance Review?

This Guide is designed primarily for Management Teams, but may also be useful to Investors, Directors, Advisors and/or Associations:

  • Senior leaders responsible for external engagements or managing risk (Public Affairs, Communications, Legal, Risk Management, Compliance, etc) may want to initiate a review to pressure-test current policies and build capacity
  • Senior leaders with visibility to strategic risks and opportunities (Government Relations, Sustainability, Human Resources, etc) may want to propose a review
  • Investors and directors may want to request a review to understand oversight policies and how decisions are made (See specific questions for Investors.)
  • Advisors and associations may want to recommend a review as a way to think proactively about scenarios
  • Firms seeking certifications or ratings (B Corp, Zicklin Index, GRI 415, etc) may use a review to upgrade their policies

How to Use this Guide

We have designed this Guide to be used by a cross-functional Review Team with members from Public Affairs, Risk Management, Operations, Talent Management, Legal, Compliance, Communications, and Government Relations functions. We invite you to tailor it as relevant for your firm.

  • Once you receive the Guide, start by reviewing the Introduction for background on why a Public Affairs Governance Review may be useful for your company at this time. Then, reflect on your goals and decide on the scope your review. You might opt for a broad review of your policies in light of new political risks and opportunities, or you might target a specific jurisdiction, issue or engagement activity.
  • Dive into Step One, which helps you identify a cross-functional Review Team and gather the data you will need to conduct your review.
  • Continue to Step Two, which walks you through a detailed assessment of your current policies and practices, for each aspect of CPR Governance – including helpful Resources and Examples throughout.
  • Finally, in Step Three, identify a few targeted actions, plan next steps and identify owners. First, outline the key points you want to incorporate into your Public Affairs Engagement Policy. Then, prioritize your strengths and how you will reinforce them. Finally, align on your top 1-3 areas to improve and how you might approach those. 

After conducting your review, your team will have aligned on three practical outputs:

  • Key Points to Incorporate into your Public Affairs Engagement Policy
  • Your Top Company Strengths to Reinforce
  • Your Top Priority Upgrades to Adopt

To help your Review Team make the most progress, we’ve included several ways to get help and to share your insights.  We also hope you will help us make this Guide more useful it by sharing your comments and experiences. (At the end of this Guide, you will find ways to connect.)

Would a Public Affairs Governance Review Be Useful for your Firm Now?

As a manager, board member or investor, how confident are you that:

  • Your company can articulate a clear rationale for its decisions regarding affairs in the public sphere?
  • Your firm can respond to board or investor questions about Public Affairs decision-making?
  • Your company’s Public Affairs decision-making is aligned across jurisdictions, issues or activities?
  • Your company’s Public Affairs decision-making reflects with your fiduciary obligations, your strategy, your core commitments, and your latest understanding of political risk?
  • The right people are involved in public affairs decisions and tradeoffs are addressed explicitly?

If you identify gaps in any of these areas, you may want to conduct at least a targeted review of your Public Affairs Engagement Policy(ies), decision-making frameworks and activities. 

The Guide v1.0 is planned for release by October 31. Please submit a Contact Form to receive a copy when it is ready.


1 The content draws on our experiences with the Erb Institute’s Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce and the emerging field of Democracy-aligned Investing, as well as input from numerous colleagues and executives concerned about this topic (see Acknowledgements for a partial list.)

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