Apple CEO Tim Cook responded recent criticisms over Apple suppliers’ working conditions in China by making a forceful response in comments at the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference. Cook’s answer to a difficult question offers a good example for CEOs and leaders whose brands are in the public eye. Cook’s response contained five elements that I would recommend to any spokesperson who must craft statements on sensitive topics.
- Be prepared for the inevitable. The New York Times recently published several extensive articles on working conditions at Chinese factories that assemble products for Apple products and thousands of other electronic companies. When your brand or industry is front-page news, there is absolutely no reason to be caught off guard, stumbling through an answer. Sure enough, as soon as Tim Cook took his seat, the first question was, “What should investors know about Apple’s relationship with the supply chain and the workers within it.”
- Forcefully respond to strong criticism with equally with strong statements free of legal or marketing jargon. According to Cook, “The first thing I would want everyone to know is that Apple takes working conditions very, very seriously, and we have for a very long time. Whether workers are in Europe or Asia or the United States, we care about every worker… Our commitment is simple. Every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely. Apple’s suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple… no one in our industry is doing more to improve working conditions than Apple.”
- Use examples and personal stories. Cook said he spends a lot of time in factories and not just as an executive. “I worked at a paper mill in Alabama and an aluminum plant in Virginia.” Cook personalized his response so he doesn’t seem like some detached, uncaring executive in a corner office thousands of miles from where the problems are surfacing. He also pointed to examples of Apple’s support for its supply chain workers including its commitment to offering free educational courses in partnership with local colleges.
- Support your argument with statistics. As Cook spoke about the educational classes Apple offers its workers, he pointed out that 60,000 employees had attended classes. “If you take all of these employees and move them to one location, it would be a campus larger than Arizona State, the largest public university in the U.S,” explained Cook.
- Demonstrate transparency. Cook outlined Apple’s code of conduct regarding child labor (Cook called it “abhorrent” and said Apple’s top priority is to eliminate it entirely) and workweek hours. Cook explained that in January Apple began to collect weekly audits on over half a million workers in the supply chain and that it would “take the unprecedented step of reporting this monthly on our web site so it’s transparent to everyone.”
Many company executives faced with a crisis in public perception either hide out and hope the issue blows over (it rarely does) or issue a statement vetted by so many lawyers, it makes little sense to the average person, exacerbating the public’s distrust. Tim Cook did the right thing and did it well.