The link below, (hat tip to the Carnival of the Capitalists) speaks about the marketing power of empowered employees. As a political operative, I have found that many of the principles of marketing apply equally well when dealing with politics. In particular, I have found that empowered employees also makes for a powerful political force when a company is looking to make some sort of impact in the political arena as well as the business arena.
Allow me to set the stage. Frequently, when dealing with the government relations executives of a large corporation, I will ask if they have any grassroots political programs in place. Probably 80 percent of the time the answer is "no" or "not really" (which is the functional equivalent of no.) Other times, I will hear a description of a program that is so centrally controlled by the government relations staff that their program is nothing more than a series of relucatant employees mouthing the same words with no conviction. The resulting "program" is as ineffective as having no program.
One of the premier business political organizations, the Business-Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC) has long espoused the power of employee's being educated about political issues. "Polls show that the more employees hear from their companies about political subjects, the more they approve of and want the information – and the more inclined they are to participate in the election process." This is because companies have a ready made supply of political activists, "a group of people with a shared, personal stake in the candidates and policies that impact your jobs and industry." BIPAC's Prosperity Project aims to help business, of all sizes, get involved in politics and get their employees involved in politics.
But here is the problem that most businesses face--fear. Businesses, including my clients, fear losing control of their people and the message. They fear someone "going off the reservation" and saying something not approved of by the company. Meaning, they don't want to empower their employees to speak to and about the issues affecting the company and that person's own job. So the people who have the most to gain from helping the company--the employees--have the least power to effect a change in governmental policy or politics. But it is employees, people on the ground with a direct stake in the outcome of a policymaking effort who are a company's most important weapon in the political and business arena.
In recent years, politics has been dominated by what I call the "air war," the preparation and dissemination of broadcast messages, commercials and other similar methodologies. But even now, not enough political operatives have grasped the lesson inherent in successful armies. You simply don't win a war in the air. You have to have people on the ground, voters, who go in and seize control of issues on a personal level. Thus, a company can spend millions of dollars on television ads, but an underfunded non-profit can succeed by mobilizing people through email campaigns that cost next to nothing. If you are a company and you follow only an "air war" strategy, you may win on some issues occaisionally, but over time, your performance will be sub-par--you will lose more times than you win.
Like empowering your employees to promote your brand, companies should empower their employees to promote your company to lawmakers. By educating your employees about political issues that effect your company (and their livelihood) you create a powerful army to carry your message. That army can take on any issue of importance to your company and carry the fight to the very people who can make a difference--lawmakers. A lawmaker can ignore a TV ad, but it is hard to ignore hundreds or thousands of letters from constituents.
So the challenge for business, of all sizes, is to not only empower your employees to promote your company to customers in a business sense, but also empower your employees to promote your company to policy makers. In the end you create a regulatory and legal environment more friendly to your business and businesses in general.
Joseph's Marketing Blog: The Power of Empowerment
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