The world’s most prominent public relations executive, Richard Edelman, this week spoke out against the trend of removing DE&I and ESG from corporate strategies.
He reinforced the view that diversity and inclusion are bottom-line benefits that help get consumers to buy more products, make employees happier, and improve the performance of businesses and organizations. did.
“We support DE&I in every conversation we have with our customers,” said Edelman, who spoke at the Women of Color Connecting Summit virtually on Tuesday. And in a typical week with senior executives from the CEO down, there are many confirmed workaholics.
Richard Edelman: Repealing DE&I is ‘nonsense’
That’s a noble sentiment, and I agree with it, by the way.
But in reality, DE&I efforts have waned in the years since George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, making it much more difficult for brands and companies to meet this challenge.
DE&I has faced intense scrutiny from politicians and anti-woke activists, especially after the Supreme Court struck down college affirmative action programs last year. Tech giants like Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Alphabet, owner of Google, invested significant money and resources into diversity efforts in the wake of Floyd’s death before cutting back last year.
DE&I efforts are also under pressure in the communications and marketing space, with the economic downturn in 2023 beginning to erode the role of executives charged with leading the agenda.
All of these trends are exacerbated in the hyperbolic and frenzied atmosphere of the 2024 election year, where almost everything has some political overtone.
Issues will arise that will impact different businesses in different ways, such as energy companies developing green solutions while maintaining electricity demand through traditional power sources. The Washington Post reported for the first time today that America is running out of energy due to high demand for electricity.
There are likely to be issues with political overtones that are central to corporate operations, such as automakers and electric vehicles, and that require comment. There will also be broader, but less relevant, issues that it would be wise to refrain from commenting on.
But in an environment where businesses are trusted more than governments and young consumers demand accountability from brands and employers on social issues, every company has to make a difference to their customers, employees, and the world around them that affects them. We have an obligation to maintain a genuine and consistent nonpartisan stance. other parties involved.
After negative experiences last year with brands like Bud Light, which promoted Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which promoted LGTBQ, business leaders are pushing back against social issue-centered activations. I’m becoming more cautious.
But the latest quarterly survey of corporate CEOs released this week by industry group Business Roundtable shows they are more bullish on the economy than they have been in more than two years.
This cautious optimism will help underpin forward-looking strategies over the next 12 months, making business leaders more receptive to Richard Edelman’s exhortations to do the right thing by sticking to ESG and DE&I initiatives. must.