Survey Shows People Want To Discuss Social, Political Issues At Work And Call For Companies To Support Their Views – Forbes

Not too long ago, when we were actually in the office, lighthearted arguments centered around sports. On Monday morning the person who had the winning football team would brag and tease her coworker whose team lost. Over the last few years, things have quickly changed. Politics and social issues have eclipsed good-natured kidding around over sports. Traditionally, heated discussions concerning politics took place over the dinner table or at the local bar. Now, it’s become commonplace to talk about serious social issues at work.

Exploring this trend, Gartner, Inc., a leading research and advisory company offering business insights, conducted a survey of 3,000 employees “regarding social issues in the workplace.” 

The results showed that “three-quarters of employees expect their employer to take a stance on current societal or cultural issues, even if those issues have nothing to do with their employer,” and  “demands have only become more urgent during recent protests demanding social equity and justice.”

Gartner found that “68% of employees would consider quitting their current job and working with an organization with a stronger viewpoint on the social issues that matter most to them.” It turns out that “employees whose employer has taken a strong stance on current societal and cultural issues are twice as likely to report high job satisfaction.”

Brian Kropp, chief of research in the Gartner HR practice said about the study “Times of social and political change and uncertainty affect individuals across their lives, and introduce distraction, disruption and division into the workplace,” and “The recent events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the U.S. presidential election, Black Lives Matter movement and Brexit, have created numerous opportunities for increased tension among employees.”

The same passion, anger and friction found on social media has permeated into the office. Gartner points out that “In November 2020, more than one-third of U.S. employees (36%) reported that the U.S. presidential election had led them to argue about politics with co-workers,” and “Forty-four percent of employees said the election had led them to avoid talking to, or working with, a co-worker.” Nearly 70-percent of workers said that they “were very satisfied when their organizations took action in response to the protests and demonstrations against racial injustice.” 

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Silicon Valley-based cryptocurrency exchange and broker Coinbase, which plans to go public at a valuation of about $100 million, has a different take compared to the study. Armstrong explicitly told his employees that he won’t stand for political-oriented debates at the office. He took one step further by offering severance packages to employees who aren’t comfortable with the new corporate policy of “political neutrality” in the office. 

In a corporate blog, Armstrong wrote “Everyone is asking the question about how companies should engage in broader societal issues during these difficult times, while keeping their teams united and focused on the mission. Coinbase has had its own challenges here, including employee walkouts. I decided to share publicly how I’m addressing this in case it helps others navigate a path through these challenging times.” He added, “I want Coinbase to be laser focused on achieving its mission, because I believe that this is the way that we can have the biggest impact on the world.” Armstrong told his staff “Life is too short to work at a company that you aren’t excited about,” and if you are not happy, “Hopefully, this package helps create a win-win outcome for those who choose to opt out.”  

His stance runs counter to the narrative at many other prominent tech companies. A large percentage of Silicon Valley-based corporations tend to lean left, allow and encourage their employees to get involved with social, racial and political causes. 

Sometimes the views are very forceful. In a tweet that has been deleted, Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo wrote “Me-first capitalists who think you can separate society from business are going to be the first people lined up against the wall and shot in the revolution. I’ll happily provide video commentary.” 

Facebook and Google both had to enact policies and procedures to deal with heated conversations on their respective internal message boards. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company will update policies to prevent clashes over potentially divisive hot topics, such as politics, racial justice and the Covid-19 pandemic on the company’s message board.

Ashok Chandwaney, a software engineer at Facebook, was so incensed over his perception of the platform’s part in fanning the flames of hate that he tendered his resignation after 5 ½ years at the company. In an open letter posted on Facebook’s internal employee network, Chandwaney said “I’m quitting because I can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the U.S. and globally.”

Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne said “What we’ve heard from our employees is that they want the option to join debates on social and political issues,” and “We’re updating our employee policies and work tools to ensure our culture remains respectful and inclusive. Facebook is strengthening its harassment policy so that employees from under-represented communities don’t face hostile work environments.”

Similar activities are taking place at Google too. The company requested employees to moderate internal message boards, as there’s been an increase of posts flagged for racism or abuse. In response to this matter, the online search giant is enhancing its content moderation program. This will entail owners of discussion groups to step up their moderation and oversight, take mandatory moderation training and create a charter to clarify the group’s purpose.   

Google rules state, “While sharing information and ideas with colleagues helps build community, disrupting the workday to have a raging debate over politics or the latest news story does not.” The company’s guidelines also indicate, “Our primary responsibility is to do the work we’ve each been hired to do, not to spend working time on debates about non-work topics.”

Both tech titans are trying to walk the fine line of allowing employees to speak their minds, while also ensuring that comments aren’t offensive nor distract people from their jobs. It seems, according to the companies, that the heightened level of hostility grew during the work-from- home time period.

Recently, a small group of Google employees felt that the company did not do enough for social causes. They decided to form the Alphabet (the parent company of Google) Workers Union. Whereas traditional unions utilize their collective bargaining strength to negotiate higher salaries, better health benefits and pensions, this new union is focused on social issues. It calls for workers to join the union and “fight the systems of oppression that persist to this day.”  The union envisions, “All aspects of our work must be transparent, and we must have the freedom to choose which projects benefit from our labor.” The union contends, “Alphabet can make money without doing evil. We must prioritize the well-being of society and the environment over maximizing profits.”

Back in July 2019 online home goods and furniture retailer, Wayfair, had hundreds of employees complain to management for selling about $200k of bedroom furniture to a government contractor that operates immigration detention centers on the U.S. and Mexico border. When Wayfair’s CEO Niraj Shah refused to comply with the workers’ demand to cancel the sales, employees protested by staging a walkout. The anger and frustration was highlighted by employee Madeline Howard’s statement “We don’t want our company to profit off of children being in concentration camps.” 

This trend is only growing stronger. Companies are going to have to make tough choices. Do they go the route of Coinbase and say that they won’t tolerate political and social causes in the offices or will they promote the values that their employees stand behind? Corporate management may follow the lead of Facebook and Google by walking the fine line of promoting robust conversations but ensuring it doesn’t exclude or marginalize groups who disagree with the prevailing viewpoints.

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