News

Navigating Political Talk At Work

Navigating Political Talk At Work
by David W. Ballard

We know that work is one of the leading causes of stress for American adults. But in the aftermath of a heated presidential campaign, we were curious about whether political talk was adding an extra layer, threatening job performance, productivity, and employee well-being.

The American Psychological Association (APA) regularly releases surveys that take the pulse of the U.S. workforce and explore various topics related to people’s experiences on the job. In the midst of the campaign season, the APA’s Center for Organizational Excellence surveyed a representative sample of the U.S. workforce and found that one in four employees was negatively affected by political talk at work. Working Americans said that, as a result of political discussions, they felt tense or stressed out (17%), were more cynical and negative at work (15%), had more difficulty getting work done (10%), were less productive (13%) and were producing lower-quality work (10%).

Work relationships suffered as well. Although some workers bonded with their colleagues over shared political views, others said team cohesiveness suffered and they had a more negative view of coworkers, felt more isolated from them, and perceived more workplace hostility. To manage these tensions, just over half of American workers said they simply steered clear of political conversations at work, but one in five reported avoiding certain coworkers because of their political views.

The political climate didn’t affect everyone equally. Men were more likely than women, and younger workers were more likely than older generations, to have experienced negative consequences of political discussions at work during the 2016 election season. Younger workers in particular reported lower levels of productivity and higher levels of stress.

More than twice as many men as women said political talk was making them less productive. When it came to actual conflicts on the job, men were more than four times as likely as women to report having argued about politics with a coworker (18% and 4%, respectively).

Despite the differences in the way political discussions affected different demographic groups, the survey found no major differences based on political party or ideology in the lead-up to the election.

None of these feelings seem to have dissipated since the election. Rather, the pre-election tensions fueling anger, polarization, and conflict are still in full force. In another APA survey, conducted in early January 2017, more than half of Americans cited the current political climate as a significant source of stress, and two-thirds said they were stressed about the future of the country, including both Democrats and Republicans. This spring the APA will release the results of a follow-up survey that looks at how political talk has been affecting working Americans since the election.

The organizational challenges of this environment should not be underestimated. Even when a majority of employees treat each other with respect and manage their stress effectively, just one person on a team who is more stressed, getting into arguments, or avoiding coworkers because of political differences can create a ripple effect that hurts the entire work group.

Read full article on hbr.