From headline-making international conflicts to the looming U.S. presidential election, politics are on everybody’s mind. Naturally, keeping political talk out of the workplace would seem an impossible task.
And yet, at a time when political passions – and divisions – run high, staying vigilant about how discourse over external events threatens to devolve into language and behavior that bumps up against workplace standards is a timely concern for HR leaders.
“When I started in HR, the rule was you just didn’t talk about it—you didn’t talk about race, you didn’t talk about religion. That was just sort of verboten in the workplace, and that is how we dealt with it. That doesn’t work nowadays,” says Deb Muller, founder and CEO of HR Acuity, an employee relations tech company.
“We have to be thoughtful about the tension that’s going to arise,” she adds. “People are going to be stressed out because of their elections, and I think we just have to lean into it with respect and civility.”
One problem is that managers are often not adequately trained to handle loaded conversations among employees or their fallout, so now might be a good time for companies to invest in educating managers about how to manage political discourse “and really focus on active listening and empathy,” Muller suggests.
“It’s not the role of HR to manage the influence external events have on the workplace, but it is the work of HR to anticipate and respond to their unavoidable influence on our people,” adds Lynne Hamilton, svp of people at Black Crow AI, a marketer of software that predicts and influences shopper behavior. “We’ve learned the only truly essential response is acknowledging the burden and noise, and letting your teams know you are receptive to many perspectives and that you care about your team as humans.”
The workforce apparently understands what a minefield talking politics with coworkers can be — which is why so many steer clear of it. A survey of 1,000 people earlier this year by ResumeHelp found that about half avoid political discussions at work, while nearly as many regret having had such interactions in the past. Around half of workers think political conversations hurt the work environment.
Politics don’t just risk damaging office culture—they can also have a negative impact on a company’s ability to attract talent, the survey found. Nearly one-quarter of employees said they’d declined to apply for a job because of the company’s political allegiances, while 1 in 10 job seekers have done so on more than one occasion.
There would appear to be a generational divide when it comes to talking politics on the clock, with millennials and Gen Z signaling they are more comfortable about it and more likely to engage in it, according to the findings.
As for remote working, it may be easier for those who work from the outside to opt out of discussions they find uncomfortable, Hamilton points out — but it’s also tougher to gauge how they may be feeling about such interactions. That’s why her department does weekly one-on-one meetings with managers to keep a pulse on the mindset of their people.
HR leaders may opt to set guidelines for political discourse “so there is no question around expectations,” says Shawnee Irmen-De Anda, chief people officer at Thriveworks, a national provider of psychotherapy services. “Provide examples as appropriate and make it known what course of action will be taken if the guidelines are ignored—for example, comments will be deleted if offensive language is used,” she advises.
Such rules should be applicable to all topics, not just politics, Irmen-De Anda emphasizes, noting that HR may have to get involved if guidelines are being ignored and a conversation is deemed inappropriate for the workplace. Employees should have an avenue to anonymously report cases where they feel their psychological safety is being threatened, she stresses.
To facilitate workplace discussions that may encompass external events, including politics, Thriveworks schedules regular meetings called “safe spaces,” which are overseen by clinicians to “keep discussions both honest and productive,” she says.
Whether it’s a polarizing Supreme Court decision or a presidential election, it is inevitable that people bring their feelings about outside events to work with them. It is the HR leader’s responsibility to make sure they are supported, as Irmen-De Anda sees it.
“It’s incredibly important during times like these that we live up to the human part of our title and model compassion, understanding and respect.”
