Companies look to unite customers and workers divided by new president
NEW YORK — Apple CEO Tim Cook is telling his employees to “keep moving forward.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is saying “progress does not move in a straight line.”
T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere tweeted “let’s see what an out of the box, nontypical, non-politician can do for America!”
CEOs of major companies are taking stands about the results of the U.S. election — a departure from the traditional model of not mixing politics with business that major brands have long espoused.
Some are using it as an opportunity to bring their employees together following a divisive election campaign. Others are using it as an opportunity to stress their companies’ values and mission, or an opportunity to make nice with Donald Trump, who many CEOs were publicly against during the campaign.
The men and women who head the nation’s biggest companies know that having a hostile relationship with the Trump administration could make doing business difficult. “Neutral is the best policy,” says John Challenger, CEO of workplace consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
T-Mobile’s Legere, who long was vocally opposed to Trump, congratulated the president-elect on Twitter for his victory last week, while holding off on judging the president-elect’s policies.
Many CEOs publicly expressed hope that the tensions dividing the country will diminish, and that American consumers will set aside their fears and get back to what they do best: shop.
“We are hoping that in the postelection we are just going to see people ready to spend,” said Marvin Ellison, CEO of JCPenney.
CEOs and companies that try to bring people together are “going to be the winners,” says Dr. Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business.
“That always works better from a brand perspective,” he says.
Trump’s victory drew a range of responses from CEOs in Silicon Valley, where popular sentiment had tilted strongly against Trump because of his statements on immigrants, women, overseas manufacturing and the use of encryption in consumer products like Apple’s iPhones.
In a postelection email to employees, Apple CEO Cook didn’t mention Trump by name, but admitted that many people had strong feelings about the outcome of the vote.