Company Leaders Should Start Planning for New Era of Employee Activism

Smart corporate executives have a new internal communications challenge they need to get on their radar. Like the college students this spring that shut down college campuses because they wanted a voice in the war in Gaza, American workers increasingly say they want to be able to voice their opinions at work.

The Harvard Business Review has been waving the flag about this new trend of Employee Activism and urging America’s executives to start preparing for it. So we partnered with Harris Insights and Analytics to ask America’s workers just how strongly they feel about sharing their political and cultural expression in the workplace.

Companies that prepare and manage culture like they manage crises can avoid disruption and poor performance that comes from low morale and turnover. Here are three of the first steps companies can take to start down the road in preparing for the new era of employee activism:

1. Create a Process for Culture That is Similar to Process for Crisis

It’s commonplace to have crisis planning and simulations. Companies need the same process and discipline to plan for culture.

1. Create a Culture Committee or Board

Create a culture committee or  board that is inclusive and can build a big tent for discussion. And let this committee determine the issues that are most important to your organization. It can’t be every issue, just the ones that matter most.

1. Create a Platform for Expression, Not Disruption

Give employees a platform and a voice. You should not be surprised by how your employees feel. Company culture doesn’t start from the top. It ends there. 

Read more about what we learned in our national survey of American workers and how we can help executives prepare for a new era of Employee Activism in our follow-up blog, HERE.