CommCore Blog and News

As the voter access controversy continues to fan out across the country, corporations, associations and nonprofits are deciding to take a position or be silent. Add the Derrick Chauvin verdict to the mix and the public scrutiny increases.

“Upstander” is a term that previously was associated with bullying and standing up for your neighbor. Now, it’s been appropriated to business communications. There are many factors in play for an organization trying to decide to go public in support of an issue or stay silent. Once that decision is reached, it becomes a communications priority to disseminate the message or prepare for being a “bystander” on the issues.

Upstander/Bystander decisions should have employee involvement; it’s not just a C-suite pronouncement.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, journalist Shalene Gupta interviewed employees on how their company reacted to the recent Atlanta shooting and Asian hate crimes. Her four recommendations are also relevant to voter access and other controversial issues facing us today:

1. Acknowledge what’s happening. The most common theme among the respondents was surprise and or disappointment at silence from leadership.
2. Be available. Not everyone on your team will have the same response: Some may want to talk about it; others may not. Just let everyone know your door is open.
3. Discuss. Offer a public forum to provide support and to talk about particular issues faced by employees; for example, one company discussed ways to make employees feel safe while commuting.
4. Commit. Share your long-term plans to combat racism at the societal level, as well as your organization’s concrete DE&I commitments.