Stressed at work over the election? 3 ways to minimize political tension on the job

The contentious U.S. election is causing emotions to run high everywhere — including at the workplace.

Political and social tensions have sent workplace incivility to an all-time high this year, according to a survey from the human-resources group SHRM. As U.S. voters finish choosing a new president today, many are also bracing for a lot of tense conversations with colleagues — whether around the in-person watercooler, or over Zoom and other digital platforms.

"It's getting hot out here," says Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM's president and CEO.

Taylor and other HR experts attribute some of the growing anxiety over political minefields at the workplace to this year's divisive and unprecedented presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. They also blame the lingering shadow of the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, when a group of Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.

That violence sent a message that "you have the license to not just disagree with someone, but to physically hurt someone because of their political affiliation," Taylor says.

For employers, there's more at stake than workplace harmony. U.S. businesses are losing $2.17 billion per day from reduced productivity and absenteeism relating to incivility, SHRM estimates.

Now human resources executives are bracing for potentially many more weeks of uncertainty, and workplace disagreements over U.S. politics. After all, it could be days before the country knows the results of the presidential election – and months before the next U.S. president takes office.

"There is definitely potential for heightened tensions and increased discourse," says Amy Schwind, a lawyer with Lowenstein Sandler who advises employers. "So how, as an employer, can you best navigate that and minimize the potential for disruption?"

Here are three ways she and other HR experts suggest that businesses, and their employees, can prepare at work for today's election and its aftermath.

1. You can try banning political talk on the job – but don't expect it to be easy

In the last few years, some prominent employers have explicitly banned political discussion at their workplaces.

The crypto platform Coinbase did it in 2020, controversially telling employees not to "debate causes or political candidates internally that are unrelated to work." Google followed suit this spring after firing dozens of employees who had protested its business relationships with the Israeli government.

But HR experts who spoke with NPR said that such blanket bans are often hard to enforce in practice.

"It's very difficult to manage," says Taylor. "As human beings, Americans talk about politics or social issues – and because all social issues ultimately feel like they're political conversations, I don't know how you enforce that."

Some employers say they want to encourage workers to air their differences – under the right circumstances and with respect for each other.

"Part of building bridges is having conversations," says Melissa Anderson, chief people and transformation officer for chemical manufacturer Albemarle.

Her company, which is the world's largest lithium producer, has created employee resource groups and hosted internal conversations about current events that are affecting employees.

"In this moment when people feel less secure, the best way for them to handle their emotions is to feel like they have a safe place to talk about it," Anderson says.

Ignoring a problem rarely works out well in the long term – and whatever the outcome of this U.S. presidential election, this won't be the last time that politics becomes a flashpoint in the workplace. So if your office hasn't already figured out guidelines for how employees should interact around these tense topics, it's never too late to start.

"Companies need to proactively sit down and think about their policy," Taylor says. "The odds are good that there [will be] an act of incivility or disagreement, up to and including violence. So how are we going to deal with this?"

Schwind adds that employers also need to think expansively about how they define the workplace, given how many employees work remotely or interact with colleagues online and over social media.

"There's potential for things that employees say on their own personal social media to be seen by their colleagues and to potentially create issues," she says.

Businesses that have already instituted and communicated workplace policies over social media, harassment, and discrimination are in the best position to weather this tumultuous week, Schwind argues.

"These are all things that should have been in place well before this election, and that that employees should be abiding by," she says.

3. Do prepare for uncertainty and unproductivity – and maybe cancel some meetings

With partisan feelings and anxiety over the outcome of the election running high, the cost to mental health – and productivity at the office – is mounting.

For example, SHRM estimates that every time someone experiences an act of political incivility at work, it takes them more than half an hour to recover their focus. As Taylor says, "That directly impacts productivity."

Some employers are taking more drastic steps to reduce the possibility of workplace confrontations over politics. Taylor says he recently spoke to one business that is canceling meetings this Wednesday and Thursday, so that employees who voted for different candidates aren't forced to interact.

He adds that this employer compared the U.S. election, and its impact on workers, to another national event – if one that's generally more festive and lower stakes.

"They likened it to the day after the Super Bowl," Taylor says. "We know nothing's going to be done."