Roe v. Wade and Employee Communications

Insider Comms for internal comms

🙏 If you have ideas on how internal comms can support the news around today’s Supreme Court ruling, please help each other out by leaving a note in the comments section.

• I will also update this article with ideas and resources as they become available.

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Today is a massive day in American politics and history. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark ruling that said abortion was a constitutional right.

Some acknowledgments:

• I admit that I am in a little over my head here, but I want to be of some use, however small.

• A majority of communications professionals are women. As we go about our work today, let’s not forget our humanity.

• Today is a sad day for many of our readers. Today is also a joyous day for many of our readers. Recognize that there are opinions and emotions on both sides of the decision.

You had ample warning this day was coming. I hope you’re not in reactive mode. But for those of you who are…

Tier 1 Topic

Employees want and expect leaders to say something about a decision as immense as today’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

• Indeed, employees need a voice of reason today. The coming days, weeks, and months will be filled with intense, angry arguments in the political sphere. (There very well may even be serious violence.)

During a webinar I participated in yesterday, I talked about the trend of employee and executive communications having to decide which leaders speak out about which socio-political topics. Answering a question off the top of my head, I suggested that perhaps your team could create a tiered system to help make that decision.

This idea isn’t fully formed, but it might be of help now and in the future.

• Tier 1: Major SCOTUS decisions, like today’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, massive natural disaster…anything that very widely affects a society, people, or region.

  • Example speakers: CEO, chairman of the board

• Tier 2: Significant cultural moments (e.g., Black History Month) or news events, like a mass shooting.

  • Example speakers: Heads of HR or DEI

• Tier 3: Smaller holidays or DEI or cultural celebrations

  • Example speakers: Executive sponsors of DEI groups, employee leads of employee resource groups (ERGs)

What To Do Today?

Today’s SCOTUS ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is a tier 1 topic because it upends 50 years of constitutional law, affects a majority of Americans, and has far-reaching social, political, and health implications on national and state levels…and for your organization.

Your CEO must acknowledge the news in meetings, town halls, and wherever s/he interacts with employees.

• Regardless of how your CEO feels about abortion, they should acknowledge that it is a major decision that can exact a heavy, emotional toll on employees.

• After all, a recent SCOTUSPoll shows that 62.3% of respondents opposed overturning Roe v. Wade.

Internal comms can help facilitate awareness of:

• Any benefits that assist with healthcare access, especially if your company is headquartered in one of 13 states that will ban abortion immediately. Here is where the 50 U.S. states stand on abortion.

  • Many companies have committed to covering travel expenses for employees who need to get abortions, including Starbucks, Tesla, Yelp, Airbnb, Netflix, Patagonia, Salesforce, DoorDash, and OKCupid.

  • Here is an example memo from Match.com’s CEO, Shar Dubey, who took action after Texas passed a highly restrictive abortion law.

• Employee assistance programs (EAPs) for help with mental health. After the recent massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde, Morning Consult polled employees and found that 30% of respondents wanted mental health assistance, but fewer than 10% of employees took advantage of company-sponsored programs and benefits.

• Chat rooms and safe spaces where employees can discuss the news with respect and civility.

• Any political action your company might take or support and how employees can contribute.

All of the above can be put into messages and in shared assets (e.g., PPT slides, PDFs) that can be shared at multiple levels (e.g., executive leadership, frontline managers, individual contributors) and prepared for multiple channels (e.g., all-hands, intranet, chat channels).

• Tailor your content to the audience. People managers might need more info than individual contributors.

Complement and support leadership with value storytelling, which is reporting on real people doing real work that has perceived and actual value and doing it in a way that is inclusive and doesn’t ignore what’s happening outside the company’s walls.

• Editorial series can give focus and consistency to the company’s values.

For those in charge of social media, best to pause whatever you had planned to send out today and over the coming week, lest you appear tone-deaf to the political crisis.

Not the Last

I made the case back in October 2020 that a Democrat in the White House is going to make it more difficult for companies to communicate and take action on socio-political issues (because being anti-Trump was so easy). From the inside employees will push their employers to take stances on specific policy, legislation, and Supreme Court cases.

Today will not be easy for many reasons. Preparation would have made dealing with the news that much easier. Don’t get caught flat-footed the next time something major like today’s ruling comes down.

Help each other out. We’re connecting on Slack, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

👇 Leave your comments and suggestions for how to manage today’s news.

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Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter | Mister Editorial archive | editorshaun@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Besides running Mister Editorial, I work in employee comms at Splunk. The views in this newsletter are my own.