Annual General Meetings: Preparing for Disruption
Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are a set piece for protest action and disruption. Businesses and senior leaders must be prepared to respond appropriately to defend their reputation.
For institutional investors, remuneration became one of the most disputed topics at AGMs in the UK, France and Germany in 2024, a trend that is likely to continue into 2025. However, this year’s AGM season also saw significant disruption from social and climate activist groups, seeking to use events as a platform to voice their demands.
As well as disrupting the formal business of the AGMs, protest activity puts the Chair squarely in the spotlight. Chairs must navigate both challenging questioning and hostile protest tactics, in full view of key stakeholders including institutional investors and corporate governance representatives. Any missteps may be amplified on social media, resulting in wider reputational challenges for those involved. There may be additional pressure where previous operational or reputational issues have created a trust gap between the business and certain stakeholder groups.
Leaders must be ready to deliver effective and authoritative messaging, show compassion where appropriate, and remain ready to respond to physical disruption.
How should businesses prepare?
The right preparation will reduce the risks posed to businesses throughout the AGM process, placing Chairs and other senior leaders in a position of confidence and ready to respond appropriately to any disruption.
Preparations should consider not just what standard items of business are likely to attract disruption, but what other possible risks the business may face at the AGM, whether this relates directly to business activity or not. Businesses must be prepared to answer difficult questions about executive remuneration, financial performance and climate change, alongside many others. By anticipating and preparing for these questions or disruptions, businesses can start to develop messaging that will support senior leaders at the forefront. Too often, the ‘playbook’ for Chairs can be long, unwieldly and inconsistent. Work with them to ensure it has common themes and is grounded in their real-life experience.
Physical disruption can be intimidating, but preparation can help ensure that they are handled appropriately. Chairs and other senior spokespeople must rehearse to deliver a strong and convincing AGM presence. It is a skill that is assumed rather than practiced. As discussed, these leaders will face complex questions, often centred around sensitive, emotive topics and even personal accusations. Placed under pressure, it is important that these questions are handled with respect, empathy and accuracy.
Businesses should expect all AGM proceedings to be amplified externally. Ultimately, a poor performance or perceived overreaction will become ‘the story’ of the AGM. At best this will be embarrassing, but can have much broader implications if shared on social media or witnessed by influential investors.
Effective spokesperson training can counter these risks. Rehearsals should replicate the real-life pressures faced in the AGM; including being ‘on the platform’ for an hour or more. These rehearsals will build up muscle memory that senior leaders can lean on.
The AGM is an environment where there is an expectation to connect personally with stakeholders. Many protestors have a personal commitment to their cause, whether that is environmental issues, health concerns or socio-economic challenges. Chairs must take an empathetic approach in the event of any AGMs, demonstrating understanding of this context. Reactions and responses to questions should be personal and based on direct experience wherever possible, avoiding technical jargon or “legalese”.
This approach also applies to physical disruption. Businesses should plan ahead and rehearse a sensitive, empathetic response to any situations that arise. Senior leaders should be provided with a strategy that will best mitigate the disruption of the formal business of the AGM – including an agreed threshold at which security personnel will intervene in the response.
Conclusion
AGMs are associated with greater risk than ever before. Increased stakeholder expectations alongside more instances of social and environmental activism have made the AGM a platform for media attention and stakeholder scrutiny. It is vital that businesses prepare to navigate these complex challenges with confidence.
If you’d like to discuss how to prepare for your next AGM, please contact our EMEA Crisis Team at [email protected].
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.
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