Netflix Successfully Pivoted On Social And Political Issues

As election season approaches, companies must think more and more about how they address the social and political issues that will undoubtedly resurface.

“I think it’s really important for companies to think about what is the core of their business,” Betsy Atkins, president of Alphabet’s ( GOOG , GOOGL ) Google Cloud and board member of Wynn and GoPuff, told Yahoo Finance at the 2023 Milken Global Conference (video above). “Is it about building a great product, a great service, or is it about trying to reshape the world? When companies decide that social and political issues are more important, that’s when they get into trouble.”

Atkins cited Netflix ( NFLX ) as an example.

“They had such a unified vision and were on one side of the political spectrum that their creative teams created content for just one side,” Atkins said. “Finally, they realized they were losing half the market. So they had to come back and say, to Netflix, let’s create content for everyone.”

This Jan. 29, 2010 file photo shows the company logo and view of Netflix’s headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, file)

Meanwhile, Atkins, who has served on more than two dozen boards in his career, expressed concern about software vendor Salesforce (CRM) and how its activism has left him vulnerable

“The problem with focusing too much on social issues … is that you unfortunately divide your employees because politics, by its very nature, is divisive,” Atkins added. “It’s not inclusive, it’s not unifying, and you want every mental calorie to be devoted to the business of the company. You want an open environment where all opinions are welcome and you don’t demonize your colleagues. You want the broadest set of views , but also the most diverse and inclusive”.

He emphasized that political positions can affect the results, so they should be done thoughtfully.

“I think we make sure we get the best ideas that we create a great environment for,” Atkins said. “Everybody has a voice, but … our business is our business.”

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So what should companies do? How should they approach talking about political issues, when they do?

“The best way to do that is to create a policy, and with that policy, say when you speak as a company, why you speak,” Atkins said.

“I would actually put the principles into your employee base and through your leadership team,” he continued. “We’re going to create a policy about what our beliefs are, what our values are, and when we have an opinion, when we engage, why do we engage? Is it relevant to us as a company? How do we do that in a constructive way that we lead to a place of unity and cohesion?”

Allie Garfinkle is a senior technical reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @agarfinks yen LinkedIn.