Friday, March 14, 2008

Keeping the presidential race out of the office

In the past months, there’s been no way to escape presidential campaign coverage and it’s only going to get worse. Barack and Hilary are constantly in our face on TV, the lead story in the newspaper and hot topics on the radio. Race, religion, gender, scandals - this campaign is a reporter’s dream.

And, on top of the current presidential race, there may be some creative jokes floating around the office about the governor of New York’s recent legal predicament.

It’s next to impossible to keep these topics from creating heated and inappropriate discussion at work.

ELT, Specialists in Ethics and Legal Compliance Training, posted some tips on how to prevent inappropriate and potentially explosive political discussions in your workplace.
  1. Communicate to employees that discussion about political preferences or issues may not be suitable in the workplace.
  2. Monitor your office for political promotional materials and remind employees that they may not be appropriate.
  3. Address heated political discussion early and make sure managers are doing their part to monitor discussion in their departments.
  4. Continue training employees on the importance of maintaining a tolerant workplace and continue to communicate your policies. Training is the best defense for preventing problems before they happen.
Read the full article.

ELT recommends that “having a sound policy and training program around diversity and discrimination will prove your best defense against problems.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting article. It is something that we dont often think about in terms of causing problems in the workplace. But as you touched upon, politics can be very divisive and can cause strain in an otherwise happy work environment if not moderated closely.

People have such strong opinions on political issues that such discussions may lead to pretty heated arguments which could eventually spill over into other aspects of the job if you arent careful.

Like they say, its best not to discuss politics or religion in polite company.


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