PRINCIPLES FOR MANAGING LOBBYISTS EFFECTIVELY (FOR CIVIL SERVANTS)

The 8 Principles here below were written by J. Stephen Andrews, a Government Relations Advisor with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto, Canada. Although these Principles were articulated within the Canadian context, they may serve as a guiding framework for working with  lobbyists. The Principles were elaborated with Senior Government Officials in mind.

Like all professions, there are good and poor practitioners of the art of lobbying. Good lobbyists are honest and straightforward in their attempts to understand and influence the policy process. They present the best arguments they can about the need for change or why a certain course of government action may negatively impact their constituencies and/or the clients they represent. Good lobbyists or “government relations” practitioners also spend a lot of time explaining how the public policy process works, the roles of each level of government and how various external forces shape government issue agendas. Lobbyists also spend time in identifying the objectives and drivers of different internal government agendas in order to shape coherent change strategies. These activities are pursued as a means to manage their “clients’ or ‘organizations’ expectations about the level of complexity generally involved in making public policy.

From the civil servant’s perspective, it is key to understand that lobbyists tend to want something from you- background information about the government’s intentions with respect to a particular sector, access to decision makers or face- to face- meetings with you or other senior civil servants in your department. With good lobbyists this activity is usually done with an eye to establishing a mutually beneficial dialogue on public policy issues that are of concern to their clients or organizations.

Principles for Managing Lobbyists Effectively

In order to make the most of the time you spend with lobbyists, here are a few basic rules.

Principle 1: Know who you are dealing with

First, determine if the lobbyist is registered as either a consultant or in-house lobbyist. At the federal level there is a whole range of requirements in law that impact senior civil servants because of the monthly reporting requirements on all ‘oral and arranged’ communications with lobbyists. The Federal Commissioner of Lobbying maintains a public registry of monthly communication returns and can ask for clarification about who, what and when a specific communication with a lobbyist occurred. So it is critical you know who you are dealing with. In most provincial systems, it is also advisable those requesting meetings or otherwise trying to influence the work of policy makers to become registered as lobbyists. It ensures transparency of activities and adds legitimacy to the process. It also ensures that you are dealing with those professionals who have taken the time to understand and act in accordance with the disclosure and registration requirements of their profession.

Principle 2: Require lobbyists to disclose the nature of their meeting requests

Inevitably lobbyist will request face-to-face meetings on any number of issues. In this context, make sure that they disclosure  the details of the meeting requests, who will attend, the issue for discussion, background information on the subject matter and what they hope to achieve from the meeting. This will help you prepare and manage the lobbyists and his or her client or organization.

Principle 3: Conduct formal meetings only during office hours

This may seem a bit strict or formal, but this will signal that you want useful, productive meetings that will accomplish specific objectives. Even introductory meetings where policy matters are discussed at a minimum level should be formally arranged and conducted. Another benefit of formalizing all interactions with lobbyists is that discussions can stay focused on the policy matter under review. Conducting meetings over dinner or lunch, may introduce a degree of familiarity that could lead to information leaks or rumours that are distracting or worse.

Principle 4: Provide background briefings on a regular basis about the government’s agenda.

It is key to making effective use of everyone’s time that lobbyists have the information resources to advise their clients and organizations about the government’s overall agenda and how it relates to specific sectors. Many external groups will not automatically understand the multitude of competing pressures on policy makers and what is a priority at any given moment. Keeping lobbyists informed will assist in minimizing pointless meetings and submissions on matters that are irrelevant to the government’s or department’s work plan.

Principle 5: Ensure that lobbyists have a basic knowledge of policy development.

This may sound like you are being asked to do the job of a lobbyist, but the degree of knowledge about policy processes is very mixed among lobbyists. Providing a basic sketch of how things are done and the kinds of research, analysis and information requirements you have will help to ensure that lobbyists don’t waste your time with demands that are unjustified from a public policy perspective. You may even get some research that helps the department with its own policy objectives as well !!!

Principle 6: Debrief lobbyists on the effectiveness of any meeting

Typically, lobbyists will call you after a meeting to discuss your perceptions of how things went. Be honest and straightforward. Don’t shy away from indicating if the meeting was not valuable, diverted from the agenda or was otherwise unhelpful. Many times, lobbyist brief their clients on the agenda to follow and various issues for discussion. But sometimes their clients bring up a wide range of issues that no one is prepared for. If this is the outcome, let the lobbyist know that you expect a more focused discussion in the future. Lobbyists use this information to let their clients know how to be more effective in meetings with government officials.

Principle 7: Tell lobbyists that leakage of information is unacceptable.

This may seem obvious or trivial, but sometimes lobbyists or their clients learn something in meetings that they feel compelled to share with trade associations, contacts in the media. Inform them up front that leakage of sensitive information to third parties will not be tolerated and could jeopardize their relationship with the department or government.

Principle 8: Remember that business organizations have limited policy capacity

It is important to keep in mind that most businesses in Canada have limited capacity for public policy debate. Even in businesses where working cooperatively with government is core to their business strategy, managing their relations with government is usually limited to defensive campaigns designed to prevent the government from moving in a certain direction. This means, too that businesses will continue to rely on lobbyists to assist them in navigating the public policy process.

Conclusion

Effectively managing relationships with lobbyists is one key element of good public administration strategy. Since the success of a policy initiative is often dependent on anticipating the needs and concerns of stakeholders, working effectively with their representatives is also critical. Properly prepared, lobbyists can also save public administrators and policy makers from fruitless discussions with business and other interests. To achieve this objective lobbyists and public servants must respect and work with each other to ensure successful policy outcomes.