GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2021 - 6

a message from GRCA CEO & President

The Art of
Effective Advocacy
By Jim Gerlach, President & CEO, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance

ately, the public policy arena has been
rough to navigate. The ebb and flow of
political rhetoric has made many topics
feel like " hot potatoes, " but business leaders
should not fall into the trap of confusing
politics with advocacy. Advocacy is the act of
communicating how legislation or a policy
will affect you. The art of effective advocacy
for the business community includes engaging
not only with elected officials, but also your
employees on policies in a non-partisan
manner.

One of GRCA's 2021 goals is to increase
the Berks business community's voice in the
state and federal legislative process. To meet
this goal, our organization held interactive
webinars with board members and members
of the Business & Community Advocacy
Council on " Why and How to Engage
Legislators " and " Why and How to Engage
Employees on Issues. " Recordings of these
sessions, the slides used and the studies
referenced have been added to the Action
Center on the GRCA website for your
edification.
Some key points from these sessions are
things every business leader needs to keep
in mind. When approaching legislators, it's
important to remember:
* Legislators are not experts on the
thousands of policy issues that come
before them. They need to be educated
by people who understand issues from the
" real world " perspective.
* Your engagement is important since
legislators care most about opinions of
people who live, work and vote in their
district/state.
* The most effective lobbyist is his/her
constituent.
When communicating with legislators,
any and all types of communication is
good, but personal visits from or with
constituents is consistently the most effective.
6 COMMERCE QUARTERLY SPRING 2021

Communication is more effective if it is
amplified by multiple constituents, which
is why you need to be sharing non-partisan
policy information with your employees who
can also reach out and educate their elected
officials. When approaching a meeting with
a legislator, follow the five BE's: BE prepared,
BE on time, BE flexible, create a good leave
BEhind, and BE realistic. You and your
elected official may never agree on politics,
but you can find common ground on other
issues, including getting their help with state
or federal agencies just by making the effort to
connect, educate and advocate.
When it comes to communicating with
employees, sadly far too many employers
choose not to. In a 2018 post-election survey
conducted by BIPAC and Moore Information,
a majority of employees want their employer
to be active in public policy formation that
is favorable to their industry and economic
success. Where employers did contact their
employees about policy issues, a large majority
of employees agreed with the employer's
approach to policy, but only a small minority
of employees received issue and election
information from their employers in 2018.
For those employees who did receive issue and
election information, many took action and
voted.

This kind of E2E interaction is extremely
important for any business. There are a few
things to consider as you establish or improve
this process within your company:
* Communications should be strictly nonpartisan and should never come across as
telling employees what or how to think.
* Policy communications should be on a
regular basis as part of overall employee
communications program.
* Don't hesitate to ask them to consider
" taking action " on the information.
* Provide graphics and one-pagers that
explain the issues, so the information is
easy to digest.
* Consider holding employee " town halls "
in the workplace (pizza lunches, issue
forums, etc.) that allow for a fuller policy
discussion and Q&A.
* Provide a spot on the company website
that contains policy information that
employees can access at their leisure.
* Give them options: infographics, articles,
videos, or the ability to do some research
on their own.
* Whenever posting or communicating
information, make sure there is a specific
point of contact the employee can follow
up with if he/she has questions.

In a 2019 follow-up study by BIPAC
and Moore, they found that employees
Engaging your elected officials and
who received policy, election and candidate
information consistently rated their company employees doesn't have to be hard, but to be
higher as a good place to work for themselves effective, you need to be thoughtful, courteous
and would recommend that workplace to and consistent in your approach. The benefits
friends and family than those who did not to both your business and your employees
receive that kind of information. They also cannot be overstated. Business leaders should
believe their employer treats them with not shy away from advocating pro-business
respect and that the company is honest and positions out of fear of someone disagreeing.
straightforward with them. They trust their These positions ensure your business remains
employer's insight into policies affecting operational and successful, providing hightheir jobs, thus fostering a stronger employer- paying, family-sustaining jobs for your
employee relationship (E2E), and they consider employees, and supplying the necessary goods
themselves more informed citizens and voters. and services that support the community and
the world.

GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2021