Attention CEOs: Your Stakeholders Want to Hear from You

FTI Consulting’s 2023 CEO Leadership Redefined research offers insights into managing the risks that come with speaking up on cultural, societal and political topics.

It’s hard to read a headline without seeing growing polarization and intense scrutiny on how companies behave and engage with the communities and stakeholders they serve. As that scrutiny turns into real business risk, CEOs are asking themselves when and how they should speak up on issues that impact employees, customers and communities.

From the pandemic to climate change to Supreme Court rulings, “hot button” issues lurk around every corner, often demanding that companies take a public stand. And as the boundaries between political, social and business arenas blur, the public often turns to the private sector for direction. This complex environment has created communications challenges for CEOs and other business leaders who must decide if and how best to engage to avoid creating new risks for their organizations.

In 2021, FTI Consulting issued its first CEO Leadership Redefined research.¹ The goal was to better understand the changing demands of two of a company’s most critical stakeholders — employees and investors — on company leaders. To provide a more comprehensive view for the 2023 leadership research, FTI Consulting included a bipartisan group of D.C. policy influencers among the stakeholders.²

The key to managing the risks is to develop a carefully crafted strategy for CEO communications and engagement that considers all stakeholders. And that starts with understanding the diverse views and perspectives of the stakeholders and how they will play out in context of the company’s purpose and values. It’s a true balancing act: To meet expectations, executives must take into account both the financial needs of the business and the well-being of their employees.

What Do Stakeholders Want?

When it comes to CEOs’ engaging on political and societal issues, the 2023 CEO Leadership Redefined research showed that employees, investors and policy influencers all want CEOs to take a stance on broader issues when it makes sense to do so.³ However, respondents only want to see leaders wade into politics if the issue directly impacts their operations, with policy influencers (95%) voicing the strongest stance, followed by investors (79%) and employees (68%).⁴

Examining CEO Engagement on Political and Societal Issues, the Stakeholders Believe:

Source: “CEO Leadership Redefined – 2023,” FTI Consulting (May 17, 2023)

Meanwhile, all three groups prefer an informed CEO: Almost all policy influencers (95%) agree that a CEO should conduct ample research on consumer sentiments when considering whether to speak on a topic, while 90% of investors and 81% of employees concur.⁵

What Are the Topics?

On issues and topics that stakeholders want to see CEOs engage with, data privacy was at the top for both employees and investors.⁶ Policy influencers and investors also want CEOs to focus on supply chain disruptions and access to goods and services, as well as bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.⁷ The environmental impact of operations remained high on the list for all stakeholder groups, but policy influencers felt the strongest (nearly 8 in 10) that CEOs should speak out on this topic.⁸

What Topics CEOs Should Make Public Statements or Get Involved In

horizontal chart

Source: “CEO Leadership Redefined – 2023,” FTI Consulting (May 17, 2023)

It goes without saying that transparency and authenticity are critical qualities for CEOs. Before speaking up, leaders must make sure that actual experience at the company matches any statement or position. Actions must be defensible: Consider the intense focus on corporate reporting on issues such as ESG and DEI, for instance. Not only are boards and investors looking more closely at results, but these two issues are becoming sacrosanct to an engaged public.

Navigating the Environment

The best way to manage the business risks is to be prepared for both expected and unexpected events. A proactive approach, one in which purpose and values are established or refined to serve as a North Star, will provide a guiding strategy and drive decision-making. This proactive approach is rooted in a process developed in concert with leadership. Highlights include:

Research and due diligence
Board and leadership workshop
Development of a “social issues communications and stakeholder engagement” playbook
Implementation and continuous monitoring

With the U.S. presidential campaign season underway, CEOs will undoubtedly feel more pressure from stakeholders to speak up and take a public stand on various issues. As daunting as that may seem, a thoughtful communications plan that considers stakeholder perspectives can reduce the pressure and mitigate associated risks.

© Copyright 2023. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.

Footnotes:

1: “CEO Leadership Redefined – 2021,” FTI Consulting (Accessed: October 30, 2023)

2: “CEO Leadership Redefined – 2023,” FTI Consulting (May 17, 2023)

3: Id.

4: Id.

5: Id.

6: Id.

7: Id.

8: Id.

About The Journal

The FTI Journal publication offers deep and engaging insights to contextualize the issues that matter, and explores topics that will impact the risks your business faces and its reputation.