As an executive in a trade association or in a company, you know the importance of staying in touch with and influencing state government policy for your stakeholders. The decisions of state lawmakers can have a huge impact on your firm’s profits, costs and efficiencies. In fact, your government relations department is probably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in this effort already. You may have hired lobbyists or consultants to help you educate and advocate for the interests of your company and stakeholders; this would be a fiduciary obligation to your shareholders. That said, how do you know if these lobbyists and consultants are doing a good job? What kind of evaluation process do you have in place to make sure that your money is spent in the best manner?
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The 2013 State Government Relations Benchmarking Report found that more than half of corporations and nearly three-quarters of associations do not have a formal evaluation process for their contract lobbyists and consultants. Such a void is astounding considering that corporations spend over 25% of operating income on these contractors.
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If your organization is lacking an evaluation process, it would behoove you to contact Stateside Associates. Stateside is a consulting firm specializing in state and local government affairs, but its experienced and expert staff members will bring best practices to help your organization evaluate contractor performance. Stateside Associates staff will help you develop and execute an audit of your contractor’s activities. They will explain that success must be measured by more than whether a targeted bill passed or was quashed.
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While outcome in the legislature is one reason to hire a contractor, it is not the only reason. Process is important, too. In what activities did the contractor engage to achieve the outcome? Did it put your organization in jeopardy for future influence?
Ask the experts at Stateside Associates about their work in consultant and lobbyist evaluation.
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