With the election season nearly upon us, keeping any workplace free from political arguments takes some effort from your managers. It’s a task that becomes more complex with the Coronavirus pandemic still causing distress throughout the world. Still, even if your staff is largely remote, keeping adversity to a minimum – including disagreements about the election – is a must.
Here are a few tips on minimizing the adverse effect politics brings to an otherwise collaborative workplace. If you want to keep your team’s productivity at its highest, this is advice you need to consider. After all, November will be long gone before you know it!
Politics Requires Taking a Careful Approach in the Office
Political discourse runs rampant within many offices in the country. In a recent survey of professionals, nearly two-thirds reported that politics gets openly discussed at the office, with 30 percent reporting a coworker tried to influence their vote. Some respondents even reported a boss threatening their job if said employee didn’t vote a certain way.
Needless to say, when trying to forge a company culture focused on collaboration and teamwork, politics has the potential to make all that effort go for naught. Managers, employees – it doesn’t matter. No one at the office should try to get a coworker to vote in a certain way.
How to Limit the Effect of Politics at Your Company
A multi-faceted approach helps to keep the adverse effect of political discourse at your business. Simply prohibiting any formal campaign activity during business hours at your office is one obvious policy your company needs to consider. An overall edict disallowing any form of solicitation in the office is another wise strategy as this includes any political campaigning activity.
Of course, it’s important to clearly state any company rules forbidding political activity only apply to business hours in the office. Your employees are still free to campaign on their own time. Expect significant backlash if trying to extend that policy to your employees’ lives outside of the office.
In the end, politics are really a personal issue and don’t belong in any technology office. Pay close attention to the watercooler talk at your company to see if implementing any official “no-politics” policy is necessary. As noted earlier, not allowing any form of solicitation also helps minimize any adverse effect of political discourse on your company.
When you need advice on building a great tech team at your company, speak with the experts at Synerfac. As one of the top IT staffing agencies on the East Coast, we provide great candidates able to make a difference for you. Schedule some time with us soon.