How to Manage Corporate Culture During Political Division

2024 is an election year, which means that starting at the end of this year, employees everywhere will be hearing more about the American political landscape, thinking more about their political leanings, and talking more about political outcomes. 

Naturally, as with every election year, these conversations will trickle their way into the workplace, but as the divisiveness of American politics continues to worsen, so does that divisiveness in the workplace—a growing concern for HR professionals everywhere who are responsible for keeping employees on task and on good terms. 

So how can HR departments prepare? How can HR professionals lead employees through what is sure to be a tumultuous election season while maintaining an open, respectful, and unified corporate culture? 

To answer these questions, we sat down with Tiffany Slater on this week’s episode of America Back to Work: Expert Interview Series to get her take on politics in the workplace. Slater has more than 25 years of experience in HR and is CEO of HR TailorMade, a company that serves as a fractional HR department for its partners. Here are her top tips for managing political differences during election season:

Set Hard Boundaries 

Some believe that topics like politics and religion should never be brought up at the dinner table, especially in the workplace, but banning all forms of political discussion is unrealistic today. Instead, companies should establish and communicate clear ground rules around the limits. 

For example, are employees allowed to wear clothing that demonstrates what political party they support? Can they change the background of their work computer to what political figure they support? Can they bring up the election during meetings? 

Starting now, employers need to get vocal and communicate effectively about what their preferences are to minimize political conversations as much as possible. In the end, work isn’t really a place for politics since it tends to distract employees and cause tension, so limiting political conversations is the end goal—just not eliminating them completely. It’s about being realistic. 

“We want our workspace to be a space where everybody feels comfortable, safe, and heard,” says Slater. “So it doesn’t matter who you support; we just want to make sure that we are clear on what happens here in our workspace.” 

Train Managers to Model Respectful Behavior 

A core responsibility of the HR department is to ensure that managers and other leaders throughout the company have the knowledge and skills to model desired behavior—to be role models that represent the company’s best interests. Before the upcoming election, HR should ensure that managers know what it takes to model respectful conversation around politics in the workplace. The logic: if managers demonstrate desired behavior, everyone else will follow suit, growing a culture of respect that celebrates everyone’s differences. 

“In the context of politics, this might look like respectfully declining to continue with the conversation and saying, ‘We’re both entitled to our opinion, and I respect you, but I’m choosing to walk away from this,’” said Slater.  

Address Offensive Comments 

While every company upholds a different set of values, most successful companies are built on mutual respect between employees. When HR leaders ignore offensive and rude comments that breach this unofficial contract of respect, it gives off the impression that the employer agrees with the sentiment or that they don’t care that certain parties are offended.

“As leaders of the organization, [HR] plays the primary role in making sure that people understand how to show up at work,” shared Slater.

That work includes holding people accountable when they cross a clear boundary. Addressing insensitivity will signal to employees that, no matter their individual beliefs, they are expected to uphold the principles of the organization, helping to build a positive, more resilient culture overall in the face of political turmoil. 

Create Spaces for Individual Discussions 

If a team member does, in fact, cross a boundary, especially by making an offensive comment, the best course of action is to have a controlled conversation with that person one on one rather than in a large-group setting where there are opportunities for further damage. The conversation should directly address the ways in which the comments were disrespectful and out of alignment with company values. 

“Whatever your values are, you want to make sure that the employee is always aligned—sharing with them how their comments were offensive and in opposition to the culture you’re creating and the values you’ve established within the organization,” said Slater. 

Always Seek To Gain Perspective

But, that one-on-one discussion shouldn’t just be about reprimanding the individual at first (although boundaries exist for a reason, and if it happens again, then perhaps a different outcome should be considered). Instead, the conversation should be approached with curiosity about where the employee is coming from and with reassurance that they’re not alone or isolated––after all, they’re still on your team, and you still need to work with them.  

“It’s difficult when you don’t agree with something someone says, and it’s offensive to you; it’s hard at times to even want to understand their perspective. But I think we need to do that in the workspace and in the spirit of respect. If we start our conversations with seeking to understand their perspective, I think it helps to take their guard down, and it helps to soften our stance just a bit so that we can connect with that person,” urged Slater. 

For more expert tips on managing people through the upcoming election season and creating your stance on politics in the workplace, click here to watch or listen to the episode.