In a post-Trump, divisive electoral cycle, politics remains on the tips of everyone’s tongue. From the dinner table, to cable news and into the workplace, everyone seems to have some opinion on the current political climate.

This is not necessarily a good thing, especially in the workplace. B2B research firm Clutch, has surveyed 1,000 full-time employees with interesting findings about political expression in the workplace. The results of Clutch’s survey state that 31% of employees say their company’s productivity level has decreased as a result of being uncomfortable with political expression. More than half of the employees who have been uncomfortable or distracted by political expression want their company to create a policy to address the issue. Finally, nearly a third of employees’ productivity level decreased due to political conversations at work.

It would appear two issues are at play here. The first has to do with company policy. Do companies implement policies around political expression? While the policies are desired and welcome, according to the survey, it can run HR managers and their employers’ afoul with freedom of expression rules, and it’s difficult to monitor political conversations in the workplace.

Second, and perhaps just as important as implementation of policies, is recruitment. Understating the culture of your business, or creating one from scratch, will help guide the candidates that are the “right fit.” Discussing the matter ahead of time, at the recruitment process, can help curb future problems. So long as everyone is on board and understands the nature of the corporate culture, even before they are employed, the right corporate tone will hopefully prevail and ultimately help encourage productivity, and employee comfort levels.

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Henry Goldbeck

President & CEO at Goldbeck Recruiting Inc.

Henry E. Goldbeck, President and founder of Goldbeck Recruiting Inc, is a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) with over 24 years recruiting experience. In his 13 years at the helm of Goldbeck Recruiting, Henry has built the company's reputation as a leading headhunter and recruitment agency in sales, marketing, operations, engineering, and executive level positions across a variety of industries.

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