The Political Divide At Work:
What To Do About It
by Douglas H. Duerr
I
2021 Issue 3 |
THE
SCORE
30
n a time when the choice to wear a face mask is considered by many to be a political statement to be cheered or jeered, it is natural to wonder how a business can survive the growing, deepening political polarization plaguing the workplace and seemingly all aspects of our lives. Indeed, you might even be wishing for the “good old days” when we, as a nation, were reportedly not so politically divided. Wouldn’t that be nice? Unfortunately, it is hard to find any time in our nation when there was not a political divide. Indeed, if you go back to our nation’s founding fathers and the presidential election following George Washington’s terms, there is ample evidence of partisan politics: Thomas Jefferson described his opponent John Adams as being “a blind, bald, crippled, toothless man [with] a hideous hermaphroditic character with neither the force and fitness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” You do not have to look up the definition of “hermaphroditic” (I did) to understand that this is a take-no-prisoners insult that was generally, undeniably false. (While on his way to being bald, Adams was indisputably not disabled, toothless or blind, with the rest being either subject to debate or lost to history.) This is hardly the only example of deep, partisan disputes
through history, but certainly establishes that our young nation’s political discourse was hardly genteel. Although our history reflects deep partisan divide and debate, this does not diminish the negative impact it can have on the modern workplace. Political debate can impact morale and productivity in both obvious and hidden ways, for example, through co-workers who refuse to work with each other because of a political disagreement. In some instances, the debate can spill over into customer relations. Indeed, that politics impacts work is not supported just from anecdotal evidence, but was recently confirmed (as if there was any debate) in a recent report by the research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.: • 78% of employees report discussing politics at work. • 47% of employees claim the 2020 U.S. presidential election impacted their ability to get work done. • 36% of employees reported they avoid talking to a co-worker because of the 2020 election. • 31% of employees who talk politics at work report these conversations as stressful and/or frustrating.
