Leading up to the 2016 election, politics were a common watercooler discussion at workplaces around the country, and the focus on politics is increasing and having an effect on productivity.
The last election marked a shift in how often people discuss politics at work. A recent Gallup poll says 60 percent of Americans report coworkers talking more about politics in the last four months than before the election. This same Gallup poll says for those seeing political discussions increase, they aren't seeing productivity affected.
This was also a trend during the campaign leading up to the election. Earlier this year Gallup surveyed Democratic workers about their engagement before and after the 2016 election to see if the political scene in the country was affecting workplace productivity.
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The study found that right after the election, the number of Democrats who reported being engaged at work fell from 34 percent to 30 percent. And the group of Democrats who said they weren't engaged at work jumped from 50 percent to 55 percent.
This was a party-line issue, because the same poll found Republicans who said their engagement at work stayed consistent through the same period.
While Democrats did have a dip in engagement right after the election, Gallup found they bounced back fairly quickly. After the inauguration in January, 35 percent of Democrats said they were engaged at work, which is higher than before the election.
Despite large numbers of employees engaging and being around political discussions at work, many employers aren't addressing this trend. Gallup asked workers if employers addressed the current political climate over the last four months, and 26 percent of those polled said yes. That leaves the vast majority of employees working for organizations where leadership has not addressed the impact or policy regarding political discussions in the office.
Without a company policy around the issue, some workers are feeling negative effects of increased political talk. A new survey from Clutch shows 12 percent of employees report feeling uncomfortable at work in the past week because of political discussions. So the question remains: Should employers intervene?
The Clutch poll found 45 percent of workplaces have a policy in place regarding political expression at work, and 33 percent of employees think their company should enact some type of policy. Thirty-one percent of employees don't think there should be policies, but more (36 percent) are neutral.
Not surprisingly, those who are experiencing more negative effects of these discussions at work think it is their employers' place to intervene and stop the discussions.
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