The latest episode of Newsweek's Horizons podcast explores the challenge of rising political disagreement in the workplace.
Political conflict and polarization are on the rise in the United States. Smartphones are pushing notifications to us constantly; digital news outlets are incentivized to sensationalize global events; the fragmentation of media on the internet means that people can stay informed, entertained and social in their echo chambers; and people increasingly believe that those who are politically opposed to them are bad people.
On a panel discussion that took place on December 10 at Newsweek's headquarters in New York City, experts spanning a wide range of fields offered advice to executives dealing with political strife in the workplace.
"It matters for America, it matters for our relationships," Dr. Kurt Gray, social psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said on the panel. "Folks have always been divided, there's always been disagreements. It's worse now."
Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, MD, chief innovation officer at BetterUp, a well-being platform, noted significant gaps in the general public's ability to understand how this type of conflict may be affecting them.
"Political polarization has been a growing concern for our CEO and CHRO partners," she said. "But unfortunately, there has not been an evidence base from which they can draw to inform effective responses." Rosen Kellerman runs a research lab within BetterUp that aims to meet this gap.
Some recent data from BetterUp's research found that elections and politically tense moments decrease productivity and well-being at work, and increased stress is leading to an erosion of unity in teams.
Of the people surveyed in August who reported overhearing political talk at work at least several times a week, 67 percent said they wanted to avoid certain co-workers. These feelings tend to be more pronounced in younger employees.
The solutions for business leaders looking to address the issue start with clear guidelines and earnest, consistent communication of those standards.
"We can tell people, 'We don't care what you think, but we have a right to say how you behave, because your behavior affects productivity and teamwork,'" said Stephen Paskoff, CEO of culture and compliance training firm ELI. "The harm to organizations is significant."
After Donald Trump's election victory and the subsequent news cycles around his Cabinet appointments, planned executive orders and the palace intrigue that dominated headlines during his first term as president, the issue of political disagreement isn't going away. Business leaders need to act on the new expectations around this issue rather than ignore it and hope it disappears.
"We have a chance to really reframe the conversation of civility to focus on things that can hold folks accountable and to talk about things that matter to actually have true civility," said Michael Franklin, executive director of Speechwriters of Color.
The Newsweek Horizons event series brings together leading voices in business, academia and the public sector to explore vital issues in sustainability, health and the workplace. The podcast is one way for you to join the conversation. Past episodes focused on artificial intelligence, including how AI is being applied to health care and whether the power needed for AI data centers will come from clean energy.
We hope you'll join us for conversations that offer a glimpse just over the horizon of these emerging trends.
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