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Business is an unlikely hero: a force for good working to solve society's most pressing challenges, while boosting bottom line. This is social purpose at work. And it's a dynamic journey. Purpose 360 is a masterclass in unlocking the power of social purpose to ignite business and social impact. Host Carol Cone brings decades of social impact expertise and a 360-degree view of integrating social purpose into an organization into unfiltered conversations that illuminate today's big challenges and bigger ideas.
Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone, and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact. We're going to have a very interesting conversation, because we're going to see what the Trump administration has done for a number of months, see what's happening on a global basis, we've seen what's already happened with Justin Trudeau in Canada, and there's just so much change going on, which is why the conversation about purpose is so important. Because purpose is a deep keel for companies to remain constant, to stick to their values, to know what they stand for.
We've done a lot at research with our friends at the Harris Poll, so I reached out to my dear friend, Wendy Solomon and Charlie Spinale, both amazing researchers and analysts, and I said, "You know guys, we have got to do a study asking the electorate, not just Dems, not just Republicans, independents and people of all different segmentations, is purpose still important? Should companies get involved in social issues?" I have to say to our listeners, I was really nervous. I thought perhaps that Purpose, the time was over. That my 40-year career, it was ready to pack it up and go home.
Well, I'll give you a sneak peek before I welcome our guests. It is not about packing it up and going home, it is about being even more strategic. We were thrilled with the results that we heard back from, and we're going to jump right into those today. There's a lot. At the end of this, we're going to talk about things that you should consider for the work you're currently doing or new work that you're doing, so let's get started. Welcome to the show, my dear friend and esteemed colleague, Wendy Solomon. She's Managing Director of Reputation and Corporate Strategy at the Harris Poll, and Charlie Spinale, Director, the Harris Poll.
Wendy Solomon:
Thank you so much, it's really great to be back.
Carol Cone:
I want to give Charlie a very special nod, because he was the director of this research. Wendy helped us out with putting the questions together and the analysis, but Charlie was doing the day to day and the analysis, and he also came up with a really interesting twist at the end, where we lumped certain issues together to analyze who was supporting them, and that was a very interesting add.
Charlie Spinale:
Thank you, Carol, very excited to be here today.
Carol Cone:
You do an amazing job. Why don't you, just a little bit for our listeners, just a bit about your background? Wendy, a bit about your background, and then Charlie.
Wendy Solomon:
I lead the corporate strategy reputation part of the Harris Poll, so this has me in contact with a cross-sector set of clients. I think that's really important, particularly when you think about purpose and expectations. It's a little bit different, but it's also a little bit the same, regardless of where you are. I spent just a lot of years thinking about the expectations that various stakeholders have of company, through a social lens or reputational lens.
Carol Cone:
Charlie, a little bit about your background.
Charlie Spinale:
Yes, thank you, Carol. I work across sectors with Fortune 500 brands, really deep in quantitative, qualitative research. My main focus is on brand strategy, reputation management, and thought leadership. I'm very deep in all the great consumer research we do here at the Harris Poll, so as you can imagine, I'm very excited to be here today.
Carol Cone:
Great, thank you. We're going to talk about our specific piece of research and then we're also talk about some tangential things that are happening at the Harris Poll, but also things that I'm seeing in society. Purpose, again, our definition is, "An organization's reason for being beyond making profits that's based in humanity, and it helps business growth and societal impact." Companies, especially in these turbulent times, have got to know where they're going and they need to inspire and provide clarity for their employees. Let's talk about the methodology, about how we did this.
Charlie Spinale:
Yes, thank you, Carol. There's so much talk about inflation on immigration. Let's just first recognize the importance of those two issues. Every month, through our partnership with Harvard University, we poll voters on the most pressing issues today, inflation and immigration consistently trend on the top. For this study in particular, we wanted to look beyond those two issues, so we built a list of 23 distinct social issues, and they applied to both sides of the aisle. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of Americans. Of course, we controlled for demographic variables like age, gender, income, education, political affiliation, and we asked Americans really, what issues, if we look, again, beyond inflation and immigration, are most important to them? Unpacked further, what role do companies have to play on those issues? We'll obviously go into detail on those issues, but I think what emerged was pretty reassuring, that there are issues companies can address that are extremely relevant to both sides of the aisle.
Carol Cone:
Great, great. About our methodology, and I want to give a hat-tip to my colleague, Kristian Merenda, because we looked at Project 2025, we looked at Joe Rogan podcasts with the incoming president, with Elon Musk, with JD Vance, as well as your more traditional social issues as well as some of the more progressive social issues. In the '23, it was a very interesting mixture. It wasn't the education, hunger, and health. It was a lot more, and that's why we�re very excited about seeing where was their consensus and where was their divergence. Charlie and Wendy, what was the first major finding that we got that surprised us?
Wendy Solomon:
The notion that, from both sides of the aisle, regardless of how I personally associate, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, independent, there's a role for companies to play in the new administration when it comes to social issues. That was not a given. We asked, "Do companies have a role to play on national issues? On local issues? On the issues of impacting rural communities and cities?" Universally, across the board, there is agreement, and let me just say that word again, agreement. That's not always the case, that companies do had a role to play.
Even when we think, compared to before, looking ahead to the next administration, what role should companies play on social issues? If you think about the data from those who identify as Democratic, those traditionally-marginalized communities, people of color, Gen Z, those living in cities, they even are more likely to say that they have a larger role in the past. It's not just they have a role and it's the same, but actually, bigger before. We know that there's a third rail, CEOs... I mean, our data shows us from some other research, that speaking out and engaging is a little riskier than it was a year ago. Americans recognize that, but it's very clear that there's a call for engagement, but there's also a very clear, "You may not be able to do it exactly the way you did it before." Yeah, exactly. It's going to change.
Carol Cone:
46% of our respondents said that companies should play a larger role in social issues than before this election. Charlie, can you give us a little more detail on breaking it down by some of the segmentation?
Charlie Spinale:
Yeah. It's really interesting when we ask Americans how companies' role in addressing social issues should change under the incoming Trump administration. There's really three core buckets of American, and I think that demonstrates a divided public. You have 30%, about a third, who say, "Smaller role or stop altogether." You have 23% who are saying, "Stay the same," and then nearly half, that 46%, who say, "Larger role." I think what's really interesting here, though, we did an additional analyses on these, regardless of what bucket Americans fall into there, a majority of Americans in each of those buckets say that they want companies to focus on issues that are relevant to their business operations, products, and services. I think that aspect of it is really interesting, there's some division there in terms of... I mean, a third still do believe that companies can speak out beyond those issues that are just relevant to their business operations, but if you look at those three buckets, that focus on areas that are core to your business are just so important.
Carol Cone:
It's interesting that 74% of Republicans said companies should only support issues relevant to their business operations, and I feel that is a core recommendation to our listeners, which is stay involved in social issues, but what can you do that makes sense for your company or your brand that it's logical, that you're not reaching for something because it's the cause of the day or it's a shiny red object? There's a lot, for example, in healthcare. It's interesting, we have a lot of clients in healthcare now and they have a very specific niche, and they want to go deeper and either provide products or services or innovation in a social issue that's related to their business. I thought that was very interesting versus the Democrats, to your point, Charlie, it's 57% Democrats. I'd also like to just give a detail on taking a larger role, because yes, Democrats did have a larger response to that, it was 61%.
Gen Z, 58%. Hispanics, 52%. Black Americans, 51%, and even Republicans, because everybody's saying, "They're going to say 'Stop.'" Not at all. One third of Republicans said that companies should take a larger role in social issues. I thought that that was really fascinating. "Play a larger role," play it closer to what you do as an organization. We also said, "Where should a company invest?" There was one thing that came to the top that was very clear, I got to throw it over to you, Charlie. 83% said, "What should companies do first in terms of which social issues to support?"
Charlie Spinale:
Yes. 83% want companies to prioritize workforce concerns, and I don't think this was surprising, given the ongoing challenges we see in the labor market today. I think, obviously, workplace expectations obviously have changed in an insane amount since COVID. I mean, just this week, we're seeing very large companies with new return-to-office policies that people may not be very happy with. We're seeing rising focus on mental health, work-life balance. We're seeing layoffs, but also paired with demand for better compensation and benefits. I mean, it's complex. I think, also, we're in this moment where work and personal values I think are deeply intertwined. I mean, employees aren't just clocking in and out, they're bringing their whole selves to work and their points of view, and they want to see their employers stand with them on certain issues. I think I view that 83% who want companies to focus on workplace concerns as a call to action and an opportunity for businesses to lead in a way that feels human, that connects with their people.
Wendy Solomon:
It's also an external challenge. We think about this as, "How do we relate to our employees and how do we do these things?" But let's keep in mind that the American public, when they look at a company and they say, "Are you a just company?" We know this from JUST Capital. The main trigger and cue that tells Americans that a company is just is how they treat employees within their own walls.
That's not going back in a bottle, right? How you treat your workforce, are you helping them as they age? We saw it's a big year for unions, so we saw all of the conversations about, "Are we keeping them safe? Are they able to have balance? Are we keeping them secure as they age?" This is a massive trend that we see across a ton of data now.
Carol Cone:
I think this also gives a very nice bridge to, I think, the consensus social issue besides focusing on the core stakeholder of employees, which was health and wellbeing. We put together a series of the 23 issues, we put them into buckets, and it was fascinating that, across the board, it didn't matter what political party you belong to... It was almost 50% higher than any of the other combined issues, it was health and wellbeing. Interestingly, one of the key issues which popped out, which was really surprising, was care for seniors. The one that was even more important than that was mental health. Across the board, no matter what political affiliation, mental health.
Charlie Spinale:
Just to step back for a minute, I'll also just talk a minute for the care for seniors one, because I think that is so interesting, that when we ask them to exclude inflation and immigration, care for seniors is next, that number three issue. I think that's huge, because it tells us just how much that issue resonates. If you break down the data, if you look at the demographics, the age groups, it's really that Gen X and that Boomer age group that's focusing on care for seniors, and people are asking, "How are we going to care for the people who care for us?" I think the need is so pressing, as our population ages, that more families are taking on caregiver responsibilities, and I think that obviously ties back to mental health. Can we afford quality for our parents or grandparents? Will there be enough systems in place as demand is going up? Will our loved ones be able to age with dignity? I think we weren't expecting that caregiver one to rise to the top, so I think that was really interesting for sure.
I think many people feel like they're on their own when it comes to managing their health, and of course, it's not just physical health. We talk about it all the time, we do a ton of research on mental health. I worked closely with CVS Health on a lot of mental health research, particularly for suicide prevention month last year, and particularly, when you look among younger generations, we know that social media is not helping.
With mental health, I think for companies and how they're dealing with that from a workforce perspective, I think it's not just about, I mean, throwing in a free meditation app. I think it's rethinking policies, I think it's, "How are we actually going to address mental health?" I think of Salesforce, for example. I believe they're offering employees mental health sabbaticals. There's things that employers can be doing, flexibility, letting employees go to therapy or take care of their kids. I think there's obviously the always-on culture. I think child care support, for example, I think it's Patagonia with the onsite child care for working parents. There's a lot of great examples of what companies are doing to deal with this.
Wendy Solomon:
I think we also want to, again, to broaden this lens beyond employees. We partner with the American Psychological Association, more than half of Gen Z feel literally overwhelmed by the levels of stress they're facing. This is a crisis that does not get enough time, and it gets a lot of time. It's not just the system of health, but we are extraordinarily fragile, and I will say to your global listeners, this is a global thing. Globally, 71% say that their country is not equipped to handle all the multiple crises we're facing. It's this stocked crisis that the drumbeat has continued. The majority of adults around the world, and this is 61%, wonder if their home is at risk in the next two decades due to climate or due to geopolitics. Think of it.
Carol Cone:
Wow.
Wendy Solomon:
Think of it. In a 20-year horizon, literally the ground underneath us is not stable. It's not surprising. More than half of Americans literally are making backup plans, "We have second passports." This is unprecedented. It even sounds weird to talk about, right? But it's that level of mental fragility, it's that level of risk, so when we ask ourselves, "That's a company backdrop. Yes, it's your employees, so yes, it's what you do internally, but it's your customers." It's the people in their communities giving them license to operate, license to expand their operations. Companies need to navigate the challenges and work for solutions and think about the role they could play in a broader, not just within their all four walls.
Carol Cone:
I know that for those of our listeners that are a little bit more conservative about, "I don't want to stick my neck out on this issue of mental health," joining coalitions is a wonderful way to have, quote, "Safety in numbers," so that the coalition can be supporting mental health in a special way, and you can be a member of it and you can take a portion of it bringing it into your company. I'd like to get into some of our recommendations in a minute, but is there anything else about the data, Charlie or Wendy, that you want to point our listeners towards?
Charlie Spinale:
Well, I think one other thing I'll mention before we get into the recommendation, I think, obviously, as you mentioned, there was that sizable gap between Democrats and Republicans for support for corporate involvement, and I think the gap, it highlights this growing polarization in how people view the role in business. I think, for Democrats, they're okay with some of these more polarizing issues, climate change, LGBTQ rights, DEI, and the Republican side, I think there's a clear preference for business staying in their lane. I think this division obviously creates a challenge for companies. I think taking a stand on social issues I think it can build loyalty with one group, but they can also alienate another, and I think businesses need to find a way to engage authentically, which I guess is part of the recommendation, and address issues that resonate broadly. Like we found here today, like health and wellbeing.
Wendy Solomon:
How our schools in measuring corporate reputation and polarization politically, how companies are seen differently by those who identify as Republicans or Democrats, and it's like a highlights reel of the culture wars, looking at these things. What are the companies that are seen far more favorably by Republicans? Well, it's Fox and it's X and it's Chick-fil-A and it's Hobby Lobby and it's ExxonMobil. What are the other ones? The companies that are seen far more positively by those who are Democratic. It's Target, it's Disney, it's Pfizer, it's even Anheuser-Busch, right? Shared values, "Do I think that this company shares my value?" Is a key component driving reputation, driving whether I want to engage and expand my relationship with the company. Now, there's lots of companies, and I don't want to lose sight of this, because I think we all need to take a deep breath. There's lots of companies that are not right. There's lots of industrial companies, automotive companies, a bunch of airlines, these CPG companies, they're not divisive.
I just want to make clear that, although the above-the-fold stories we hear about companies very often make us think that the minefield is real, but there are a lot of companies that are doing good work, treating their employees well, engaging in issues, and not make angering anyone in the process.
Carol Cone:
Thank you, and I want to add that, while this research was only done in the US, that when we're talking to our global clients, they're taking a longer view. Most companies during the Trump administration should not go out there with a red cape in front of the bull and shake it, but companies, we feel, from what we're hearing from our clients and from our friends, will be very thoughtful about continuing to support their values and work with their employees. We're recommending to some companies, "It might be time to dust off a bit of your values and see are they still relevant? Do they need a bit of tweaking?"
Wendy Solomon:
Well, I can't help but applauding that comment. My thought is, what are the things that help us through turbulent times? What are the things that unifies our stakeholders? What are the things that, when we engage in issues, we can point to? Because they're on the wall, they're laminated on desks, they're known in HR and talent recruitment it's our values. That's why we do things. I feel that things like values or purpose or guiding principles, I mean, what companies call all different things, is the secret sauce. Yes, dust them off, build them if you don't have them, have employees share their voice in shaping them.
Carol Cone:
Yeah, and I want to say there's a really important time here now. Don't just talk about it. There's a lot of discussion with communicators, "Well, are we going to do ads? Are we going to do big splashy events?" Our recommendation, which is consistent over the decades, do the work first. Make the impact, then talk about it. I know, Wendy and Charlie, you want to jump in on some of these other recommendations?
Charlie Spinale:
Yeah. I mean, navigating purpose in 2025 is obviously no easy task. I think, obviously, like we talked about, it's such a divided landscape, and it's not just me saying that. 82% we found, last month, that people believe companies are getting into more controversy as they try to appease both the left and the right. I think a lot of companies are asking themselves, "What am I supposed to do?" Of course, they can't just sit on the sidelines, but they also can't be everything to everyone. I think everything you got at about being thoughtful, authentic, strategic, I think is very important, and staying true to your core. If your company values sustainability, lean into that. If it's health and wellbeing, go all in on that.
I think people today can spot a phony a mile away, so your purpose has to align with what you do. Then again, I'll just reiterate, focus on those big universal issues that I think bring people together. Whether that's health, that's community development, sustainability, things that resonate across the board, and then I love your recommendation, Carol, on employees. Let them take the lead, create programs. I think employees' voices want to be heard, can create programs where they can vote on causes or directly participate. That way, your purpose or initiatives are not just top-down, they feel personal and meaningful.
Carol Cone:
They have to come from the inside out, they-
Wendy Solomon:
Totally. I mean, we've all used this word, "Do." This idea of action, this bias towards action, and then you have your proof point, but I think we also need to be pointier in what we do. In line with your comment about the red cape, not the time for... I think it's not the time to say, "I'm going to lower the planet's temperature by X degrees." I think we have to be pointy. We see, in the research that we did for you, there is more support and prioritization of clean oceans than preserving the environment. One could argue that they're the same, but the notion that it's pointy, I can imagine it, I can see it, "I want a clean stream in my community." Exactly.
Just like the red cape days are over, the broad, generic proclamations are over. I think we need to understand issues, which is no easy task, right? This research helps us, it's going to differ a little bit by what's authentic by sector, what's authentic given a client's history, but to really not be generic, but to boil them down, to understand what matters. Words matter, your level of ambition matters. I think there's a certain pragmatism that company really need to keep it real in the years and year.
Carol Cone:
I think pragmatism is a great word. I think there's also the power of local, then... You trust your employer, you don't trust the business overall. You may not trust government, but you trust your congressman. You trust your friends to give you recommendations. What's interesting, I heard in a webinar the other day, they said, "Go offline, talk to people, talk to your neighbors," because we have no idea, with changes in regulations to social media... Will there be any monitoring of what is fake news or not? If you talk to the person over your fence, no matter what party, you certainly... I think local is going to have a big, big resurgence. Absolutely.
Wendy Solomon:
Yeah. I think so, too.
Carol Cone:
This has been a marvelous conversation, and I always like to turn over the mic to my guests for a final comment, so Charlie and then Wendy? Charlie?
Charlie Spinale:
Yeah. I think one of the key findings was, obviously, the workplace priorities. I always think about it coming back to people and humans, and I think what we need from leaders in companies I think is just evolving so fast. I think the way we talked about the message is delivered is just so important. Words matter. Earlier this year, I partnered with new capacity partners on a research, we surveyed senior P&L executives. Really, what stood out was the top qualities of a modern CEO. It's about being strategic and visionary, it's about being adaptive and agile, tech-fluent and innovative. We're all talking about AI, but number five was also "Being human." I think when leaders address social issues, the most effective ones, they bring it back to being human. It's not about what they say, it's about how they connect. Empathy, authenticity. I think a focus on people at the heart of these issues is going to go a long way today.
Carol Cone:
Wendy.
Wendy Solomon:
I think that there is a call and a cry and a need for optimism. I think that large companies with large infrastructures can be a source and a fountain for that optimism, dare I say joy. We didn't talk a lot about the climate chasm, but where Americans are on that issue, it's extraordinarily polarizing, right? If you're at Union Square in New York City, there's a climate doomsday clock. It's ticking minute by minute, it's dropping off. We know that 55% of Americans experience climate dread. For Gen Z, that is 72%. 61% of Gen Z say they can't do much to help the environment. Think about that. You got a doomsday clock ticking down the minutes, by the way, we're at five years, and more than half of Gen Z says, "The ship has sailed, I can't do anything." No agency, perhaps no urgency, perhaps it's a futility, resignation. I don't know, but I feel, as I've had this privileged position of looking at public opinion data on this issue over the years, I sense a turning point where we're starting to feel like we're unable to make a difference, and that makes me worried.
When I think about what businesses can do, how can you differentiate? How can we pivot the climate conversation from one of dread, from one of fear to one of a love affair with our planet, perhaps?
Carol Cone:
No, I love that comment. And, by the way, we developed... I have to do a plug for EPIQ. We've created this amazing measurement diagnostic with our friends at Harris, called EPIC, and it's Employee Purpose IQ. We've got a number of companies that we trust are going to sign some contracts to really analyze the depth of their purpose across their enterprise to see how it's working better. I want to thank you, Charlie Spinale and Wendy Solomon. Every time we get together, one, we do great research together, and so I'm going to give a plug for you. Any last thoughts?
Wendy Solomon:
I'll just [inaudible 00:44:18] on optimism. I think that there is companies... It's still a credit space, regardless of administration. If companies come at any of these issues with a source of optimism, if you look at our work with milk and show the massive gap, you ask basic people, "How optimistic are you of your local, national?" Barely. Business leaders remain optimistic, share it.
Carol Cone:
Great, super. Well, on that note, I think it's a great note to end. Thank you very much. Have a great year, and keep doing the wonderful work that you're doing with so many different clients. Thank you, Charlie. Thank you, Wendy.
Charlie Spinale:
Thank you, Carol.
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people, and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone ON PURPOSE. Pete Wright and Andy Nelson, our crack production team at TruStory FM, and you, our listener. Please, rate and rank us, because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available, so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.
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