CHROs Discuss How to Maintain Productive Workplaces During Election Season

Elections are a cornerstone of the American experience and, as a result, cause excitement, anticipation, and sometimes stress. In the first of a two-part webinar series, Managing Political Differences at Work, presenters addressed ways to maintain productivity and create a psychologically safe workplace through a stress-inducing political season.

More stress and anxiety in 2024: According to the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll, 43% of U.S. adults say they feel more anxious in 2024 than they did last year with 70% citing particular anxiety as a result of current events, especially the economy (77%) and the upcoming election (73%). It’s no surprise that this anxiety, fed by a constant news cycle and uncertainty about the future, finds its way into the workplace, impacting teamwork and productivity.

Acknowledge the anxiety and plan ahead. Noting that leadership support serves as a buffer against stress, webinar participants identified key ways that CHROs can create productive and psychologically safe workplaces:

• Acknowledge the anxiety: Elections can be stressful and ignoring the impact on employees is counterproductive.
  
  
• Lead with company values: Reinforce those values with every message to employees. Highlight supports for voting, including time off, resources on how to vote, and other resources provided at your company.
  
  
• Support managers: Provide training for managers on how to lead, set expectations and deescalate situations when needed.
  
  
• Rely on your code of conduct: By signing your code of conduct, employees agreed to work within those parameters. While no code can cover every scenario, leaders should model and ensure a culture of respect.
  
  
• Set boundaries: Don’t leave this up to individual leaders. Instead, set company-wide expectations about when and where political conversations are appropriate--for example, over lunch or on breaks but not during work time or in team meetings.
  
  
• Foster inclusivity: All voices are important and make sure you allow all to participate without forcing participation.

What’s next: Stay tuned for the second webinar in our series, Managing Political Difference at Work, coming Fall 2024.