Employees & Public Affairs: Opportunity or Threat? The Internal Side of Public Affairs (61)

By Alan Hardacre, PhD

Co-Founder Advocacy Academy, Advocacy Strategy

Public Affairs tends to focus externally on policymakers, regulators, and critical stakeholders. Internally we then tend to focus on alignment and buy-in (notably from senior leaders). All of this is best practice – but it overlooks one of the most potentially interesting stakeholder groups inside our organizations: employees. Ever since I first attended an @Publicaffairscouncil conference in the US I have been interested in how US employee engagement practices could be taken into global companies and Public Affairs work. I also think that in an age of ubiquitous social media, instant publishing, generative AI, and shifting expectations about corporate voice, employees can either accelerate your Public Affairs objectives… or unintentionally derail them. 

Right now most organizations are not managing this strategically. So is employee engagement a real opportunity or a distraction for Public Affairs? In reality, it’s both. And the difference depends entirely on whether you have a plan suited and tailored to your organisation.

The Risks: Why Employees Can Undermine Public Affairs

Employees are increasingly public actors — online, offline, and with tools that amplify their reach. Here are some the potential risks:

1. Uncontrolled Social Media Activity

Employees regularly post opinions about politics, regulation, competitors, activism, ESG topics, or public issues linked to your business. Even well-intentioned posts can:

• Misrepresent corporate positions

• Trigger political attention

• Fuel activist narratives

• Distract or contradict Public Affairs messaging

• Violate disclosure or compliance rules

In an environment where policymakers do monitor social sentiment, one employee post can become a political talking point overnight. Do your employees have guidelines? Support? 

2. AI-Generated Content Risks

Employees now have the ability to produce highly credible text, images, or “analysis” using AI — often without understanding accuracy, bias, or confidentiality risks. In short many employees can feel empowered to become Public Affairs professionals with their AI support. This creates several concerns, including:

• Publishing inaccurate or sensitive information generated by AI

• Sharing non-approved language that appears authoritative

• Using AI tools in ways that violate internal IT or data policies

• “Freelance policy positions” created by employees but attributed externally to the company

Many Public Affairs professionals are still figuring out how to integrate AI within their organisations – and this is just another aspect of that challenge.

3. Internal Opinion Becomes External Pressure

Employees are increasingly becoming political actors inside their own organisations. Internal pushback on political positions, regulatory issues, or stakeholder choices can:

• Delay decision-making

• Force leadership into reactive positions

• Create reputational inconsistencies

• Fuel external narratives about corporate “division”

  
  

4. Leakage of Sensitive Information

Probably the oldest risk — but now happening faster and more publicly. Early policy drafts, stakeholder maps, internal risk assessments, and PA strategy slides can surface in the open through:

• Accidental sharing

• Intentional advocacy

• Screenshot culture

• AI-enhanced extraction

These risks alone are, in my opinion, sufficient for this issue to be taken seriously and to warrant some investment of time – if nothing else in some guidelines and policies. But beyond managing the risk there are some real opportunities if you want to go further because when organized and aligned, employees can massively amplify Public Affairs objectives.

1. Employees as Ambassadors

Employees are often the most authentic voices your organization has. When properly briefed, they can help:

• Humanize your policy positions

• Build organic political goodwill

• Support community engagement

• Strengthen your license to operate

• Amplify your messaging

Employee storytelling often resonates more than corporate messaging. Of course this needs organisation and coordination but the potential opportunity could make it worth the investment.

2. Echo Messaging for Policy Campaigns

Employees can become part of your campaign narrative:

• Reposting thought leadership

• Sharing approved content or public consultation messages

• Acting as subject-matter advocates

• Supporting dedicated campaigns

This multiplies your visibility in ways paid outreach cannot.

3. Building Internal Support for Public Affairs

Perhaps the most overlooked opportunity is this one….a well-informed employee base is an internal Public Affairs superpower. Employee engagement helps PA:

• Increase organizational understanding

• Build allies across functions

• Strengthen recognition of PA’s value (a recurring theme in my posts) 

• Improve internal alignment on political risk

• Ensure P&L owners understand the external environment

The stronger your internal network, the more effective your external advocacy.

4. Early Warning System & Stakeholder Opportunities

Employees often see emerging issues long before leadership does. I have also experienced the power of internal stakeholder identification-mapping sessions where we discover employees with strong connections to key external policymakers or influencers. With some good internal organisation and preparation you can work with employees to be:

• Effective policy radars

• Reputation and issue sensors

• Local intelligence gatherers

• Stakeholder engagement owners (above and beyond that of the Public Affairs team)

  
  

How to Tackle this in an easy way

Here is a structure that PA leaders can put in place immediately:

1. Establish an Internal PA Engagement Strategy

Treat employees as a strategic audience. Define:

• What they need to know

• What they should not do

• What you want them to amplify or do

• How Public Affairs will support them

• Expectations (for everyone)

2. Build Some Guardrails

Create simple and modern guidelines for:

• Social media

• Use of AI

• Speaking about policy issues

• Handling political questions

• Sharing internal information

The key here is clarity without policing.

3. Create an Internal Public Affairs HUB for Employees

Give employees access to:

• Your policy priorities

• Key legislative context

• What’s at stake

• Your organization’s positions / messages / speaking points

If you don’t give them the narrative, they will invent their own.

4. Develop an Employee-Focused PA Toolkit

This should include:

• Approved messages

• Plug-and-play content

• Guidance on what to share

• Short explainers (“Why this policy matters to us”)

• AI-safe instructions on how employees can use generative tools responsibly

5. Turn Engagement into a Two-Way Dialogue

Now we are quite high on the investment scale – but to really capitalize on everything you are doing with employees you can consider hosting things like:

• Townhalls on policy issues

• Ask Public Affairs sessions

• Internal newsletters focused on external trends

• Country/state briefings

• Short internal dashboards

This also builds internal recognition for Public Affairs, another recurring challenge in many of my posts .

Final Thought

It is becoming hard (if not impossible) to not engage your employees on Public Affairs. At the start of the scale they can represent a risk beyond which they represent (untapped) potential. Ultimately, they can become an external and internal force multiplier. With structure, guidance, and engagement, employees become:

• Authentic ambassadors

• Social proof multipliers

• Internal champions

• Strategic sensors

• Critical to unlocking new engagement opportunities

What is your plan to engage your employees?