Politics as Usual

As if you weren’t already aware, we are in the midst of a prolonged political season that already shows signs of deep emotional investment by people on both sides of the aisle.  Given 17 current presidential candidates in one party alone, there is plenty about which to disagree even in a single political party.  We have enough issues in our day-to-day business operations to keep us all on our toes without introducing something as potentially volatile as politics.

Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash

A Packer-Bear rivalry can sometimes be fun in a workplace environment because we seldom are as deeply committed to a football team as we can become to a particular politician.

Differing political views, while healthy and normal are simply not desirable for display in a work setting.

Many of us are very committed to our political party or candidate of choice and are active in those events and in supporting the candidates of our choosing.  Even then, we are wise to avoid politics in our respective businesses because that can lead to dysfunction.  And dysfunction is the opposite of what we all strive to create.

The staffing business is especially prone to these kinds of disagreements since our ‘product’ is people, and our customers are people and it is people who have political opinions.

If we were to display political banners or wear political buttons in the workplace, we’d likely lose a few candidates or customers if not more.  And we’d probably lose them for a long time since those memories stay with us for a long time.

So we, understandably, are more tuned in to this kind of thing but it can be just as concerning in a warehouse or on a factory floor or within a sales force.

There is more than enough in the normal course of things that can produce workplace angst without adding fuel to the mixture.

Now to work at practicing what has just been preached…

Alan Campbell, Account Executive