
Bridging the Partisan Divide in Our Organizations — September 2024
September 23, 2024
“The political landscape in the United States is highly polarized,” that being the opening line of a recent (August 22) Gallup study. It probably won’t surprise any of you, but I would submit that we are more divided now than anytime since the 1960s (and before that, the 1860s). The opening paragraph goes on to say that “understanding how this manifests in the workplace — for work relationships, engagement and performance — is important.”
Admittedly, I’m taking a risk by wandering into a highly charged topic this month (a reminder: PEN’s mission — as well as this blog — is non-partisan). But as today’s political divide creeps into organizations, now impacting organizational performance (I’ll share more on that in a moment), it’s important for leaders to proactively address the situation (which IS PEN’s mission!). The goal for leaders is to navigate these challenges and create an environment where their workforce can still be productive and civil while holding very different points of view.
Last week as part of our bimonthly webinar series, PEN hosted a discussion on this very topic. The webinar was entitled “Braver Angels: Bridging the Partisan Divide in our Nation & in our Organizations” and was facilitated by Jeff Theimann, Executive Director of both the Church Alliance and the Church Benefits Association. If you’re not familiar, Braver Angels is a nonprofit created in 2016, with a mission of “bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic” (more information here and if you want to view the webinar itself, click here).
Jeff started the discussion by declaring that we are seeing an increase in “affective polarization,” manifested in three growing trends:
- We are seeing more toxic “othering,” where we label people, put them into groups, and allow ourselves to no longer respect those who are not in our group.
- We are seeing a growing philosophy that a downfall of “them” is a victory for me — proactively hoping that the “other side” fails, creating some sort of a zero sum game.
- Difference of opinions and perspectives are now being seen as a lack of moral judgment — if you support a policy or political candidate that is different than my own, you clearly lack values or character.
We’re seeing these trends in society, but they are now beginning to emerge inside our organizations. The Gallup study I referenced above found that nearly half (45%) of US workers had had a political conversation with a coworker in the last month, and 12% felt uncomfortable about political discussions. While that is still a small number, I would assume it’s growing — and will continue to grow as we approach the upcoming election.
The impact is real: an article in the New Port Institute last month claims that 40% of Americans identify politics as a significant source of stress in their lives; 29% reported losing their temper over politics; more than 20% are feeling fatigued and that same number have had political disagreements that have impacted friendships. The same study found that 5 percent have actually considered suicide in response to political developments.
Similarly, a SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) study two years ago found that 45% of US workers have experienced political disagreements in the workplace and 13% of American workers have experienced bullying in the workplace due to their political views (that was two years ago; I’m sure it’s now worse). SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. said “Unfortunately, we’ve seen a real decline in civility when people express their opinions and beliefs, and it’s a barrier to success for employers and their employees. This trend has been fueled by the relative anonymity of social media, and it has spilled into our communities and our workplaces. In today’s climate, people are saying, ‘I can’t work with you if you don’t share my views.’ It’s a problem…business leaders cannot ignore.”
HRO Today reports that politics is impacting organizations’ ability to attract and recruit new employees (23% have decided not to apply for positions because of the organization’s political stance), that 59% of workers say their manager’s political beliefs influence their management style and decisions, and 25% have either left their job or are considering it because of their manager’s political views.
All of these studies converge on the simple fact that politics is impacting employee morale and engagement levels and therefore likely impacting productivity and performance.
So what can leaders do? Turns out, many things. Reflecting on the insights from Jeff and Braver Angels, along with some of the advice coming from many of those studies referenced above, here are some things that leaders and organizations can — maybe should — do:
- Stay true to your organization’s core values — in fact, consider creating a list of behavior expectations to complement and bring to life what your organization values. For example, if staying civil in the workplace is a core value, how would we see that in action or behaviors? According to the SHRM study above, only 8% of organizations have communicated guidelines to employees around political discussions at work: that number should be much, much higher!
- Prepare — leaders need to be intentional and proactive, rather than just waiting for political issues to arise. Create standard communication messages; consider creating a “meeting in a box” so all managers at all levels can have structured, consistent discussions with their team; create a “help desk” phone/email line for employees to air their grievances (or leverage an existing Employee Assistance Program to do so). Get ahead of the issue before they become major issues.
- Check in with your team and listen, listen, listen — yep, this is a best practice anytime, but is especially important during these politically charged times. Create an environment where employees feel comfortable raising their concerns, sharing their views, and exploring differences of opinion. As Covey said “seek first to understand” before (or instead of!) passing automatic judgment on team members’ points of view.
- Emphasize a culture of respect and inclusion — high performing organizations have safe, trusting, and cooperative work environments. They also have a culture of equity and inclusion that capitalizes on the diverse backgrounds and characteristics, knowledge, skills, creativity, motivation, and beliefs of its workforce, partners, and collaborators. The concept of inclusion applies not only to race, gender, religion and other factors, but also to political perspectives.
- Keep your team focused on the work — much like staying true to your core values, leaders should reinforce the other important elements of the organization’s success, including staying focused on the mission, on customers and their needs, on strategy and goals. These elements can be unifying, putting everyone in your organization “on the same team” and reminding everyone to focus on what’s important to their — and the organization’s overall — success.
- Foster personal understanding — Get to know your team members as individuals (and encourage them to do the same). In an August Forbes article, author Bryan Robinson claims that “understanding each others’ backgrounds, hopes, and challenges lays the groundwork for open, respectful dialogue…creating a more cohesive and empathetic work environment.” This builds trust and stronger relationships.
- Consider the physical work environment — As cited in the Forbes article: 90% of workers have experienced annoyances in the workplace, such as loud talking, uncomfortable temperatures, slow systems, or — yes — difference of opinions with coworkers. While many organizations are still grappling with hybrid or remote workforces, allowing some flexibility in where work gets done can reduce (if not eliminate) some of these workplace frustrations.
So those are things that leaders should do to create an environment that minimizes political tension. In addition, here are some ideas that we all can do as individuals if we experience incivility or tension:
- Think about what you can control — Identify actions you can control (such as exercising your right to vote or civilly express your opinion outside of work) rather than ruminating over the things you can’t.
- Focus on the now — Sometimes we overthink things as humans, worrying about the future (what happens if so-and-so wins; what will happen to the stock market; what will be the impact on my family and kids?). Worrying about what might happen months or years from now only increases fear, anger, and stress.
- Consider movement and exercise — engaging in activities that release endorphins can make you feel good/better physically and emotionally. Exercise helps release stress, and it offers a distraction from your thoughts.
- Do things that bring you happiness — Identify interests, hobbies, activities that bring you joy, improve your outlook and maybe bring you a sense of accomplishment. Take a walk; read; listen to music; journal; unplug from social media; take a trip; engage with family and draw upon your social network.
- Plan for action — Regardless of the election’s outcome, you can get involved in organizations or events that align with your value system and empower you.
Self-care adds up: those strategies above may not bring you relief from your stresses immediately, but they compound and — over time — will improve your outlook.
The next 40 days will be politically charged and may feel a little bumpy, both inside and outside our organizations. As leaders, consider implementing a few of those good practices above to create a civil, transparent, and safe work environment. As individuals, consider implementing a few of those good self-care practices to maintain your mental, emotional, and physical sanity. And for all of us: we should — in the words of singer/songwriter Michael Franti — just “work hard and be nice to people.”
What other insights do you have regarding how to navigate today’s political divide? Participate in a discussion on this topic: visit our LinkedIn group to post a comment (and follow me on Twitter @LassiterBrian!).
Never stop improving!
Brian S. Lassiter
President, Performance Excellence Network
www.performanceexcellencenetwork.org
http://twitter.com/LassiterBrian
A Catalyst for Success Since 1987!
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