The Trusted Employer

23

Harvard Business Review

March 2022

DRIVING MODERN LABOR RELATIONS TO PROMOTE AND
PROTECT JOHN DEERE’S REPUTATION THROUGH A 35-
DAY STRIKE
SITUATION
John Deere, a worldwide leader in precision agriculture, was
enjoying the tailwinds of a strong post-pandemic year. However,
a strong labor market coupled with the marginal passage of the
company’s 2015 contract bargaining agreement created a troubling
reality: the company’s first strike in 35 years was looming.
STRATEGIC APPROACH

• Channel & message prioritization. Three years prior to
  negotiations, Edelman stood up a factory-specific website
  (one.deere.com) that could be ultimately used to share labor
  updates. Informed by employee focus groups at every step
  of its development – from frequently used links to visuals to
  messaging – the site quickly became a one-stop shop for
  employees with 9,000 unique visits per month.


• Shoulder-to-shoulder leader support. Trained leaders and
  managers to fluency on how to deliver messages around
  wages, benefits, and Deere’s financial health, and leveraged
  regular rhythm communications – shift-start talking points,
  home mailers, wages & benefits statements, one.deere.com,
  e-screens – to ensure surround sound communications.


• Crisis management. Anticipated and developed more than
  30 scenarios and company responses to ensure that when
  a scenario was triggered our communications were already
  solidly nearing final. These included: salaried leaks, picketing
  injuries, administrative interference, congressional call-outs,
  local protests / rallies, and much more.


• Always-on Engine. Leveraged data and analytics to inform all
  aspects of the strategy, including taking a stronger posture with
  media and employees, and meeting the union with an equal
  presence at a time when the labor market demands a more
  communicative employer during negotiations.
  PROGRAM IMPERATIVES


• Assembled a cross-discipline Edelman team to carry out the
  program, including experts from crisis, digital, corp reputation,
  employee experience and earned media, with subject matter
  expertise from labor and agriculture.


• Developed core message track and reactive statements to
  ensure consistency of messaging across all communications.


• Implemented compelling communications program to Deere’s
  stakeholders; tactics included: national media interviews,
  local media interviews, digital paid program, surrogate
  support, significant preparedness and planning, employee
  communications.
  RE S U LT S


• Suffered no losses to reputation, with flat favorability and no
  traction lost in the markets.


• Developed and executed against multi-channel strategy,
  earning 50k visits per week to Deere’s microsite (previously 9k
  per week) and message pull through of 69.2k mentions across
  national and news outlets.

“I’m sorry,” Prisha said. “I

don’t want to abandon you all, but

Ishan seems so much happier and

has the potential to make more

money. It’s really tempting to

follow his lead. I have to think of

my own interests.”

So much for family, Diya

thought.

“I see where you’re coming

from,” Diya said, “but let me

present the counterargument.”

She shared all the reasons to stay:

the security, the benefits, the

company’s growth potential, and

yes, the close-knit culture.

But as she was talking, Diya

realized that she wasn’t sure

those upsides were convincing

enough. Would retention bonuses

or pay increases be more compel-

ling? Or was it time to intensify

the downsides of leaving by

instituting a no-working-with-

former-employees rule and

inserting language to the same

effect and noncompetes in all

future employment contracts?

Would carrots or sticks be more

persuasive?

RAKESH BOHRA is the senior VP

and head of projects at Pioneer

Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. and

a doctoral student in organizational

behavior and human resources

management at the Management

Development Institute in Gurgaon,

India. JYOTSNA BHATNAGAR is a

professor of organizational behavior

and human resources manage -

ment and dean of research at the

Manage ment Development Institute

in Gurgaon, India.

It’s time for Blackbird to

lean into 21 st-century

management, embrace the

gig economy, and let more

employees go freelance.

Diya and Veer made the right decision

with Ishan, and they’ll attract more

talent, foster greater loyalty, build a bet-

ter culture, and produce more-creative

work by letting others follow suit.

To keep pace with societal and

technological change, companies today

need to be flexible with—and offer

flexibility to—their workforces. Young

people, particularly creatives, want the

autonomy and variety that gig work

offers. And companies like Blackbird

can greatly benefit—first, by reducing

the danger of having people they can’t

keep busy on the payroll and, second,

by serving clients with curated teams

designed for their specific needs. If

your employees are almost exclusively

full-time, you’re stuck with their skills;

How should Diya handle all the

employees who want to follow

Ishan? The exper ts respond.

JOHN H. CHUANG is

the cofounder, chairman,

and CEO of Aquent.

152

Harvard Business Review

March–April 2022

Experience

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