Don't Call Them "ESG," (or "sustainability") But Those Cultural Issues Are Top Corporate Risk for Election Year 2024

 Under lots of different word choices the issues in the old-line cultural wars continue. 

In fact, the Eurasia Group documents in its 2024 report that those are among top corporate risks, especially in this election year. As you know, the business of both industry and investment firms likely is conducted in both blue and red states. So, those matters not only still impinge on business but also that the force field of influence they create is expanding with fierce political campaigning. All political players are entering this election year locked and loaded. 

But businesses determined to make a profit are erasing from their messaging the term "ESG" (Environmental Social Goverance). That seems way too associated with extreme stances as well as lackuster returns on investments. A linguistic reset is going on. 

And perhaps law firms such as Paul, Weiss, management consultants like McKinsey and asset managers such as Apollo should also ditch the umbrella term "ESG," along with "sustainability." The demand for those types of services is ongoing. Actually they are probably increasing. 

For example, if we remove the language of ESG from Paul, Weiss messaging on that service, the relevance of the mission is obvious. Take a look at these excerpts from the Paul, Weiss website.

 "... [Our] Advisory Practice helps clients develop integrated [REMOVE]  strategies that safeguard corporate reputation, mitigate risk and leverage opportunity. Our multi-disciplinary team helps clients sift through and understand the ramifications of [REMOVE] initiatives and improve oversight of the fragmented ecosystem of legal, compliance, operations, public relations, audit and data/analytics functions.

"Establishing or refining [REMOVE] initiatives can lead to improved corporate culture, increased employee morale, greater customer loyalty and better relations with important stakeholders. At the same time, the heightened visibility and prominence of socially focused initiatives create new economic, legal, political and reputational risks as companies and their directors are held to commitments beyond those dictated by law."

Using the anachronistic terminology can be as much a turn-off in business development and preventing client churn as resorting to calling a slide deck "PowerPoint" or leaving a voice mail instead of texting. 

In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com) 

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