Companies backing social causes such as the Voice to parliament need to better test the views of staff and customers before speaking out and back up their words with action, according to the findings of a new survey.
There was strong corporate support for the Yes campaign in the Voice referendum, but the result suggests customers and employees were not universally on board.voting numbers suggest that many employees, shareholders and customers voted No in the referendumVoters in inner-city and wealthier electorates, where executives tend to live, favoured the Voice, whereas outer suburban and regional areas voted strongly against it.
While 69 per cent of Australian respondents said companies speaking out on ESG issues was important to employees and customers, the social topics had to be “issues of importance”.“They need to be out there talking to customers and employees for their views.”About 75 per cent of survey respondents agreed it was important for companies to act on ESG issues, particularly environment-related matters.“The main thing people expect on ESG issues is action,” Ms Vercoe said.
, arguing it was consistent with its values. Some shareholders at the bank’s annual general meeting had argued it should not be allocating capital to support what they considered a political campaign.for a $2 million corporate donation to the Yes campaign.