❤️Getting ahead of the election season

Hello and Happy Thursday! 

First of all, thank you to everyone who responded to the call for a newsletter writer in our last issue! I heard from some amazing people and am looking forward to adding another passionate individual to the team.

Today, I want to discuss a topic that will start to (if it hasn't already) consume your team’s time and attention over the next six months: the election. 

Trust me when I say, my personal feelings about the election are big, messy, and exhausting. I'm going to guess yours might be too. The last thing I want to do is focus more closely on it.

At the same time, I viscerally remember just how stressful it was to navigate the topic as the Director of People at a SaaS company in 2020. I was horribly unprepared, to say the least.

This week I’m sharing a guide to helping your leadership team choose a “stance” on political conversations at work. It's the first step in preparing for what's to come, so that you can head into election season with a clear plan.

Yours in navigating the messiness, 

Jill

P.S. Our team is working on a much larger resource for navigating an election year at work with templates, policies, guides, etc. We’re currently looking for 4-5 people to serve on a review team - each of whom will get free access to the full guide once it released next month. Fill out this form to join us!

The case for "choosing a lane"

Let’s flash back to four years ago.

It was 2020 and I was the Director of People Ops at a tech startup with the ominous task of leading our team through election season.

Let me be clear. This was not something I prepared for. In fact, I'd been so focused on company-specific issues, that it didn’t even occur to me we needed a plan - until it became absolutely clear that we did. 

Once the floodgates opened, I struggled with everything from what types of conversations and comments we would allow in Slack to what official communications we were going to make (both internally and externally) when big things happened. And boy, did they ever.

As we once again head into a very heated election year, I can't help but think about all the resources I'd wished for in 2020. Luckily, I'm now in a position to proactively build them - which is exactly what my team and I are in the process of doing. 

While the full guide won't be released until August 15th, I wanted to make sure you had access to a very important step first step. A decision that will need to be made before you can move onto all the tactical pieces. 

Picking Your Lane

No, I'm not asking you to pick a candidate. I think we've all watched how that went for StickerMule this week.

This is about deciding on a united strategy for navigating political discussions in your workplace. Here are five common stances businesses have taken:

“Politics are off-limits”: We avoid conversations about politics at all costs. It’s simply none of our business to know what our employees believe. It's not a discussion anyone should be having during business hours.

“Highly-moderated discussions”: We can talk about politics, but only in a controlled setting. We invite (or train) facilitators to lead conversations around politics that allow people to speak their minds without things going off the rails.

"Lightly-controlled discussions": We can talk about politics, but only in designated forums, such as a Slack channel dedicated to the topic. The channel will be moderated, but only harmful comments will be removed.

“Free-for-all!”: A.k.a. The “reactionary” method. We allow employees to do pretty much whatever they want. If it's really necessary, we’ll clean up any messes later.

“Strong stance in support of [party/candidate]”: We've declared our company in support of a particular party or candidate. Everyone knows this is our stance and we’re ok if that offends some people. 

Now, I’m not here to make the case that one “camp” is better than the other. What I am advocating for is making a choice. The worst thing you can do is to avoid proactively making this critical decision, only to be forced into making a reactionary choice down the road. 

So… how exactly do you select the right strategy?

First and foremost, you want to understand both how you'll be making the decision and who will be involved.

Will your CEO have the final say? If so, do they want input for certain stakeholders or will they be making the decision without feedback?

If the leadership team will be involved, is this something where consensus is needed? Or will someone be gathering data throughout the discussion and then utilizing it to make a final decision?

Knowing this in advance of what will (likely) be a sensitive discussion, will save you a lot of stress when it comes to actually making the call.

If you're at a loss for where to start, I highly recommend checking out the Decider App; a free online tool that will provide you with suggested decision making models based on your answers to a few questions.

Once you are clear on how the decision will be made, here are some questions to kickstart you discussion:

1. What are the pros and cons for us placing specific boundaries around political conversations in our workplace?

2. Would these boundaries align with our company’s values and culture? Or would they be contradictory?

3. How would employee morale, inclusivity and productivity be impacted by placing expectations around political conversations at work?

4. Are there examples of other workplaces we admire and want to emulate during this time?

5. Will we share our stance around politics externally (press comments, LinkedIn posts, etc.) or keep communications internal?

6. What will we expect of our managers to support the company’s stance?

7. What level of detail do we need to provide our employees to carry out the chosen approach to managing political discussions?

8. What are the specific next steps we need to take to begin operationalizing our decision?

Each question will reveal more and more about the culture and expectations your executive team or CEO would like to uphold during the next 6 months (and beyond). While not an easy discussion, it's one that will set you and your entire company up for success.

THINGS I LOVE (BOOK EDITION)

There's no question that things have been heavy lately. Personally, my go-to escape has always been books and I've been doubling down lately. Here are some recent favorites, in case you too are in need of a mental field trip.

You're Safe Here: Written by the brilliant Leslie Stephens, this book gripped me from the first chapter. Set in a climate-ravaged near future the book jumps between the perspectives of three women who are navigating the perils of a cutting-edge wellness technology. If you're in the mood for an escape into the future that will also have you questioning your priorities, this is the book for you.

The House in the Cerulean Sea (Audio): It is extremely rare that I re-listen to an audio book. This one I've devoured four times and for good reason. Not only does the story wrap you like a warm hug, the narration is BEYOND delightful. Chauncey is (and will continue to be) one of my favorite characters of all time. With a sequel coming out in a few short months (eeee!) now is the time to dive in. Note: I found the beginning a little slow, but hang in there - it's worth it!

The Book of Doors: This book caught me majorly by surprise. I'm quick to pickup anything that involves a bookstore, which is what originally sold me on this title. I wasn't expecting to be completely caught up in a unique fantasy storyline that kept me reading late into the night. It's worth checking the trigger warnings before diving in, as there are some darker aspects to the book, but it's one I'll continue thinking about for a long time to come. 

Funny Story: If you're in the mood for something light, this is the book for you. Like so many others, I'm a huge Emily Henry fan, but I loved her last book Happy Place so much that I thought her newest release would feel like a bit of a let down. I was very wrong. If you're looking for a beach read, this is it.

Democracy in Retrograde: This one I've technically not read yet, having just scooped it up last weekend, but it's high on my list for many reasons - most notably, hope. It's something I'm critically in need of when it comes to the election and I can already tell this book is going to help me move past fear and into sustainable action. Definitely worth checking out.