Election Day has passed\u00a0and we\u00a0know either\u00a0who is our next President or it will be decided in the next few days.\u00a0 This particular year we have all endured life during a global pandemic, climatic disturbances, racial tensions,\u00a0and a series of divisive public messages.<\/p>\n
On\u00a0top of it all, there was a\u00a0presidential election added to the mix.\u00a0 It has been an election dividing\u00a0families,\u00a0friends,\u00a0communities and\u00a0workplace relationships. As HR consultants, we have seen\u00a0\u201celection\u00a0distress\u00a0disorder\u201d\u00a0manifest in more anger and frustration than in any other election\u00a0year\u00a0we have ever lived through.\u00a0 Employees vent their personal feelings, flooding their opinions on social media\u00a0and\u00a0showing concern\u00a0over the potential outcome.\u00a0 One employee told me \u201cThis election is literally killing me!\u201d.<\/p>\n
The term \u201celection stress disorder\u201d\u00a0was first publicly coined in 2016 by Steven Stosny, PhD, a\u00a0psychologist who\u00a0used the term in an article about him being overwhelmed with distress calls from patients during the 2016 election.\u00a0\u00a0His\u00a0patients\u00a0were\u00a0so stressed over the election that it was interfering with their ability to function in their\u00a0personal and professional lives.\u00a0 Although the term is not an actual medical diagnosis,\u00a0there is\u00a0evidence the \u201cdisorder\u201d\u00a0is a real thing.<\/p>\n
We dealt with\u00a0one\u00a0complaint where\u00a0an\u00a0employee sent emails to fellow employees with contrary opinions\u00a0stating,\u00a0\u201cIf you don\u2019t vote for\u00a0Trump, we\u2019re not friends anymore.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0We have had to intervene on a whole host of situations involving\u00a0employees\u2019\u00a0personal attacks, insults, shaming and\u00a0predictions\u00a0of doomsday\u00a0scenarios.\u00a0In another case, three employees were shouting at each other over cubicles\u00a0about who they were voting for.\u00a0 The entire office was\u00a0disrupted,\u00a0and the manager didn\u2019t know what to do. He tried talking to them, but mirroring the state of our country,\u00a0they\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0get beyond their pollical differences.<\/p>\n
As a result, employers are seeking advice\u00a0to deal with\u00a0workplace aggression, bullying, and harassment.\u00a0 We confirmed\u00a0incidences are on the\u00a0rise\u00a0and we warn that inaction will result in lower productivity, poor morale, and higher turnover rates.\u00a0\u00a0The facts show toxic offices\u00a0increase\u00a0sick leave\u00a0usage\u00a0and workers in those kinds of environments show less enthusiasm, reduced creativity, and lower productivity.<\/p>\n
Solutions generally involve leadership seeking ways to\u00a0identify\u00a0negative and abusive employees.\u00a0\u00a0A trained person in employee relations\u00a0can attempt to\u00a0help employees overcome their differences.\u00a0 In the case of the screaming match, our certified coach provided\u00a0professional coaching\u00a0to the employees\u00a0and our certified mediator worked with management to implement\u00a0a conflict resolution plan.<\/p>\n
It is important to note that while uncivil behavior such as insults, yelling and fights are easy to spot, some negative\u00a0behaviors\u00a0are not\u00a0so\u00a0obvious.\u00a0 Negative behaviors\u00a0can include leaving work early, long breaks, sabotaging equipment, lying, stealing, favoritism or gossiping about coworkers.\u00a0 Victims are more often seeking legal counsel or\u00a0filing\u00a0complaints\u00a0to state\/federal agencies.\u00a0 Even though incivility isn\u2019t illegal, it can still\u00a0cause\u00a0employees\u00a0to\u00a0feel demoralized, targeted and depressed.<\/p>\n
Some employers may believe these types of conflicts\u00a0just\u00a0resolve themselves.\u00a0 We have heard them say, \u201cWhy can\u2019t they just all get along?\u201d\u00a0 We even saw an \u201cAll Employees\u201d email sent out by an Owner\u00a0stating just that.\u00a0 Oh, how we wish it were that easy!\u00a0 Those employers\u00a0are\u00a0many times forced to confront these issues when\u00a0it\u00a0suddenly gets\u00a0out of control.\u00a0 We have seen employees cause physical damage to company property or lawsuits involving harassment, stalking and physical threats.\u00a0 In the end it ends up costing them a lot more money than hiring a consultant.<\/p>\n
With the intensity of this election, some viewing it as\u00a0an attack on their cultural values, leadership should be prepared with a plan if all hell breaks loose.\u00a0\u00a0A zero tolerance for uncivil behavior is a must.\u00a0 Provide\u00a0rules and\u00a0expectations regarding a workplace that values dignity and respect in all dealings\u00a0with each other at all times.<\/p>\n
Although civility may be a larger societal issue, employers will still need to figure out solutions\u00a0if they\u00a0get\u00a0caught up in it.\u00a0\u00a0More frequent and positive messages regarding the company, its products,\u00a0and its customers\u00a0should\u00a0replace\u00a0election\u00a0banter.\u00a0 Provide employees\u00a0with\u00a0a safe place to discuss negative feelings or incidents of uncivil behavior. Bring in wellness\u00a0professionals\u00a0or mental health\u00a0resources and provide training on workplace bullying.<\/p>\n
Employers should not be afraid to put boundaries on how employees interact with each other, especially\u00a0when it supports\u00a0treating each other with dignity and respect at all times- no matter\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0elected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Election Day has passed\u00a0and we\u00a0know either\u00a0who is our next President or it will be decided in the next few days.\u00a0 This particular year we have all endured life during a global pandemic, climatic disturbances, racial tensions,\u00a0and a series of divisive public messages. On\u00a0top of it all, there was a\u00a0presidential election added to the mix.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[268],"class_list":["post-11148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11149,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11148\/revisions\/11149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11148"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}