As the election ramps up and individuals prepare to vote, how should managers deal with politics and employees? Clearly political issues can be quite polarizing these days, and political discussions can lead to heated arguments.
So should we keep politics out of the job?
While I certainly agree that politics should not take over the workday and we would need to limit discussions to keep the focus on productivity and work, if we don’t encourage civil communication at work, are we missing an opportunity to learn from each other? While there are opposing viewpoints on ideology, economics and a variety of other topics, part of the problem is that we’ve stopped listening to each other. We seem to need to prove that we're right and opposing views are wrong, as opposed to listening to others viewpoints and working together.
So why don’t we help by encouraging civil discourse at work? Encourage staff to talk with each other about things that are important to them, and when they disagree, lay out expectations as to how they should handle the disagreement. Make sure to emphasize and model active listening and set that as a requirement for these discussions.
By not talking with each other, we’re pushing each other further apart. In turn, this encourages us to seek out only like-minded individuals, which limits diversity and creativity. Helping our employees have constructive conversations about differences can help open the door to additional learning opportunities.
The goals of these discussions should not be “conversion,” but simply a better understanding of and appreciation for other’s perspectives.
By helping employees feel free to express themselves, we can increase mental health, produce a more positive work culture, and bring in the varying perspectives that can promote a successful organization.
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