Politics Does Matter in Business

I know that I've written before that politics is something you don't want to talk about with clients.

dont-talk-politics

Having said that please understand that they still have a huge impact on businesses and hiring.

Now is the time of the year when job recs get put on hold, sales contracts are held up, and things kind of halt for a few weeks.

The points below are lessons I've learned over the last 20 years meeting with thousands of companies of all sizes and shapes and run by people of all backgrounds and beliefs. They all have the following in common when it comes to hiring and politics. These findings apply no matter who is running, who wins, when the election day is, and if the race is local, statewide, or national.

1. All companies have operation plans set up deal with whoever wins. 

In an election year all of the above slows to a crawl once October starts. Decisions are put off until after the election. Everyone gets gun shy about who might win. People panic and think the world will end immediately if person X or Y gets elected. They hedge their bet and wait to see who wins. Smart companies have plans on how they will operate if the plans of elected official X get implemented or the plans for elected official Y. There is also a matter of actually seeing if a person will govern on the same promises they ran on.

It's logical. Companies don't want to commit to package A that will benefit them if the polices of official X gets elected but not if official Y gets elected they will have been a waste of time and money.

2. New hiring usually gets put on hold.

Every November of every even numbered year we have an election for 1/2 of the congress and every fourth November for president.

Hiring and buying decisions always start to go on hold in October.

Companies don't want to hire people only to see the policies of X or Y causing them to fire those people a few months down the road.

In the case of hiring September is usually a good month for hiring because everyone is back from summer vacation, school starts, college kids leave their summer jobs, the Christmas retail season starts reving up. In odd numbered years these good times usually last through October and sometimes later as retail hiring picks up as other hiring slows down.

3. Companies might play it safe and hold the rest of the budget to see what happens.

For buying companies still usually have a chunk of budget available and can commit to a package before the end of October or even up to Thanksgiving and through December if it is an annual contract. In an election year they might decide to wait a little longer before making the decesion. See point one.

4. Companies hate uncertainty.

Regular elections cause enough uncertainty.

Recall elections confuse and frustrate businesses and hiring because of the uncertainty of what is going to happen. 

In Wisconsin we went though two years of recalling every elected official and judge possible.

Companies didn't know what to do because as soon as one election was over and companies thought they knew what was going to happen, another group of recall elections were scheduled bringing uncertainty back into the market. Instead of signing contracts or hiring people, decisions were put off until after the elections again.

5. Decisions by activist judges impact companies creating more confusion.

According to what I learned about the branches of government in social studies back in grade school, the judges of the judicial branch interpret the law (Congress makes them, the President enforces them), they do not make them and are supposed to be impartial.

Unfortunately we live in a world where judges are now biased toward one political party or another and that colors their interpretation of laws. 

As an example look at Act 10 passed in Wisconsin (I'm not goign to recount what the bill was about except to say it caused a lot of turmoil for everyone in Wisconsin). The bill was passed and there were protests. A local judge struck the law down. There was a period fo uncertainty while the bill made its way through the courts. When the bill was declared constitutional and made legal, businesses acted based on that law. A year later another local judge struck down the law again. Emplyers and businesses who acted under that law while it was legal suddenly don't know if they have to reverse what they did during the time the bill was legal. It's a confusing mess.

Companies execute their business plans by these rules. Lawsuits are filed by people against  the rules. Judges suspended those rules, now companies don't know if they should continue to play by those rules or go back to the old rules. What do they have to do about employees hired under new rules? If the new rules are found to be legal, then what does a company have to do about people hired under the old laws that they had to revert to following the invalidation of the new laws but before the new laws were declared legal again? Confused? So are the companies. Confusion reigns again and slows down hiring and buying decisions.

6. As salespeople and recruiters we have to plan for uncertainty in election quarters and understand that they will effect your sales and hiring no matter what you do. That there will be uncertainty during election times is the only certainty you can count on. You will get frustrated waiting for people to make decesions.

The above thoughts are those of mine and are only observations and not meant to be an endorsement or implication of any political party, leaders, candidates, or anything else so don't imply that they are.

Wow. What does it say about our political climate that I even have to write that?

Go Vote!

I'm Ev and I approve this message.