Is Your Public Affairs Fit for Purpose ­- A Five-Question Health Check for the C-Suite

By Stefan Borst, Senior Partner Advocacy Strategy

The request lands in your inbox at 07:42. “Can you approve this statement for the media and policymakers before 9 a.m.? We’re getting questions.” Legal has comments. Communications has edits. Your Public Affairs lead adds a paragraph that begins with “It’s complicated…”. You have 18 minutes before your next call and now need take a decision that could affect regulators, investors, employees, and maybe your own reputation if it goes wrong. 

In most organizations, that is when Public Affairs truly enters the C-suite’s field of vision: when something is on fire. The rest of the time, Public Affairs is often judged by a single, dangerous sentence: “I think we’re doing fine.” No major scandals. No angry minister on the phone. A handful of conferences and stakeholder meetings. Some newsletters. A contact list in Brussels, Berlin, Washington, or the capital that matters to your business.

Fine.

Except “fine” in Public Affairs is often code for: we haven’t yet discovered what’s broken. It is what I call “the Comfort Trap”. Executives scrutinize operations, finance, sales, and HR with dashboards, KPIs, benchmarks, and strategy reviews. Public Affairs rarely gets the same treatment. I keep reiterating that policy is the last unmanaged corporate risk. 

Why?

Because it lives in a blurry space: part risk management, part reputational insurance, part relationship building, part strategy. It’s hard to measure and even harder to compare to other corporate functions. So leaders often revert to sentences like:

“We know people in the ministry.”

“We’ve never had a big issue with regulators.”

“Our agency is well connected.”

But the environment around you has likely changed faster than your PA setup. Regulation is moving from narrow, technical rules to broad, value-driven debates (climate, tech governance, AI, supply chain resilience, social justice). Stakeholders are more networked and visible: NGOs, journalists, employees, local communities, and activist investors all watch what you say and do in the political arena. Policymakers are under pressure to show who influenced what - and how.

In that world, Public Affairs is no longer a backstage lobbying function. It’s part of how you negotiate your license to operate every single day. The good news is you don’t need a 60-page maturity model to figure out whether your PA function is fit for purpose. You can start with five deceptively simple questions (or Advocacy Strategies’ organizational audit). You can use these questions with your PA lead, your ExCo, or your board. They are not about scoring a department. They’re about surfacing blind spots early - before the next crisis, inquiry, or regulatory shock does it for you.

1. Who are the three external stakeholders that could derail our strategy - and when did I last hear from them, not about them?

Every company claims to have a stakeholder map. Many of those maps are static, PowerPoint-heavy, and out of date the moment they are presented. The sharper test is this:

• Can your PA team name, without hesitation, the three external actors who could seriously constrain or reshape your strategy over the next 2–3 years? Think: key regulators or ministries, competition authorities, activist investors, influential NGOs, local communities in critical locations, standard-setting bodies.)

  
  

• And do you have some form of direct relationship with at least one of them?

  
  

If your only contact is via second-hand reports, consultant memos, or media coverage, you are managing influence by remote control. It’s like flying through a storm based solely on what other pilots say over the radio.

A mature PA setup will:

• Maintain a dynamic view of who really matters - and why.

• Put the quality of relationship above length of contact list.

• Create structured opportunities for leadership to hear uncomfortable truths directly, not via filters.

  
  

If you can’t remember the last time you had a frank, agenda-light conversation with someone who can say “no” to your strategy, that’s your first warning light.

2. Do we only show up when we’re under attack - or also when we have something constructive to offer?

Many organizations treat Public Affairs as a crisis response function. It is called upon when a reputational fire breaks out, a draft law appears that threatens the business model or a critical article triggers political questions. Then, suddenly, PA becomes very visible. Outside those moments, the organization is largely absent from the debates that will later shape its operating environment. Policymakers and stakeholders mainly encounter the company when it is defending something - a plant, a tax treatment, a product line, an acquisition.

That pattern erodes legitimacy over time. If you only speak when your self-interest is at stake, don’t be surprised if your motives are discounted. Political capital needs to be built before it can be spent. 

A healthier pattern is different: you also show up when the pressure is low and the stakes are shared. For example, by contributing data and experience to early-stage policy thinking, participating in multi-stakeholder dialogues where outcomes are not fully predictable or taking visible positions on standards, ethics, or safeguards in your sector - even when those may constrain you in the short term.

The question for the C-suite is simple: Are we perceived primarily as a problem to be contained, or as a partner to be consulted? If your PA activity is 90% defensive and 10% constructive, your license to operate will become more fragile, not less.

3. Is Public Affairs involved before or after major strategic decisions?

Think about your last big strategic moves: A significant investment in a plant, technology, or market. A major restructuring or closure. A bold product launch or pricing shift. A new business model that pushes into regulated space. When did PA come into the conversation? At the very end, to “sense check” the communications plan and prepare talking points? When the first political pushback appeared? Or at the very beginning, when options were still open and assumptions could still be questioned?

If Public Affairs is routinely brought in late, its role is reduced to damage control and narrative polishing. At that point, many of the real choices have already been made - and the political risk has been baked in. Only when PA is involved early, it can:

• Flag where a seemingly rational commercial decision collides with political or societal red lines.

• Suggest sequencing: what to do before, during, and after a move to secure acceptance.

• Identify potential allies and critics in advance, instead of discovering them on the front page.

• Help frame the “public interest” story behind the strategy - which matters to regulators, employees, and communities.

Public Affairs should not have veto power over strategy. But if it never has a chance to influence options, you are leaving value - and resilience - on the table.

4. Can Public Affairs explain our top three political risks on one page?

Public Affairs teams love context. They are immersed in legislation, debates, consultation papers, and geopolitical chatter. Plus – many are not the best communicators. The result is often a flood of information and a drought of clarity.

Ask for a concise, one-page view: “What are the three political or regulatory developments that could most profoundly affect our business in the next 3–5 years - and what are our options?” On a single page, you should see:

• The issue (what it is, and why it matters).

• The likely scenarios (what happens if the debate goes in direction A, B, or C).

• Your exposure (how each scenario hits different parts of your business).

• Your posture (where you stand today: passive, reactive, engaged, or shaping).

• The few decisions leadership needs to make now vs. later.

If PA cannot produce that level of synthesis, two things are probably true: They are too focused on past events (“what happened”) rather than forward-looking dynamics (“what’s emerging”) or they see their role as informing, not enabling decisions.

The discipline of a one-page political risk view forces prioritization. It separates the “interesting” from the “important”. It gives you a tool to discuss risk and opportunity at ExCo and board level without drowning in detail. If every PA update leaves you feeling more informed but no clearer, that’s a sign to raise the bar.

5. Do our public positions align with our internal values and incentives?

This is where Public Affairs, HR, Communications, and ESG collide. On paper, your company has a clear purpose and a set of values. You may have made public commitments on climate, diversity, human rights, or technology ethics. Your employees and future leaders read those.

They may also read:

• Position papers from your trade association.

• Statements in parliamentary hearings.

• Lobbying positions taken in Brussels, Washington, or national capitals.

• Public comments on regulations that affect your business.

If these don’t match - or worse, if they contradict each other - trust erodes internally and externally.

Examples:

• A company that speaks loudly about climate ambition while quietly opposing ambitious emissions rules through its trade body.

• A business that promotes inclusion and equal opportunity while backing legislation that restricts certain groups.

• An organization that markets digital responsibility while lobbying against basic safeguards in AI, data, or safety regulation.

This misalignment is no longer a niche concern. Employees talk about it. Journalists investigate it. Investors ask about it. Regulators notice it when they assess credibility.

A mature PA function will map where the company’s advocacy and alliances may be out of sync with its stated purpose and values. It will be able to work with HR and Communications to address those tensions honestly and help leadership make deliberate choices about where to lead, where to follow, and where to change course.

The uncomfortable but essential question is: “Could I explain our current lobbying agenda and political alliances to a smart, values-driven graduate and still feel proud of the organization I lead?” If the answer is “not really”, you have a deeper strategic issue than a handful of legislative files.

Share these five questions with your Public Affairs lead and ask for an honest, written self-assessment. Dedicate 45 minutes at your next ExCo meeting to discuss the answers, and where you see risks or blind spots. Pick one area to improve over the next 6–12 months - for example, bringing PA into strategy earlier, or demanding a clear one-page view of political risk.

Crucially, frame this as an upgrade of the function:

• From rear-view mirror to radar.

• From fire brigade to early warning system.

• From backstage lobbying to stewarding your license to operate.

In a world where geopolitical shifts, regulation, and societal expectations can reshape business models overnight, Public Affairs is no longer a nice-to-have interface with policymakers. It is part of how you protect your reputation, your strategic options, and your own peace of mind in that 07:42 email moment.

The question is not whether you have a PA function. The question is whether it is truly fit for purpose.