Let’s just say that the general elections are a couple of months away, and it has been on everyone’s minds for some time. Suddenly, you hear a commotion happening in the pantry room. Upon inquiring, you find out that the flame ignited due to one’s political leaning, triggering the other one.
This is a classic example of a polarizing conversation at the workplace. Conflicting opinions at the workplace could cause a lot of awkward situations and create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Let’s understand some of its effects properly and then see how you, as an HR, deal with them.
What Is A Polarizing Conversation and How It Affects a Workplace
Such conversations could be over internal issues like policy changes at the workplace, new working setups, or social issues like politics, and societal inequality. This negatively impacts the team spirit amongst the employees. The camaraderie they share with others can go for a toss here.
More than half of employees have admitted that they self-censor to avoid such situations. This is a dangerous trend for companies, as people are becoming more and more hesitant to speak their minds. This results in a stressful atmosphere, leading to a dip in the employees’ morale and productivity.
Strategies for HRs to Manage Polarizing Conversations at Workplace
1. Actively Listen to the Involved Parties:
If you come across a case where there’s a riled-up employee, it’s better to let them vent their raw emotions. The worst thing you could do is ask them to give up their stance. Make sure that you’ve created a safe space for them to speak their heart out. Before having a joint meeting, hear their perspective completely, understand their stance, and then offer them appropriate solutions.
If any of the employees use any derogatory language, reprimand them immediately. Show them the company policy for using such language and ask them to be careful with their words.
2. Acknowledge the Employee’s Perspective:
Having an impartial approach in this situation is a must. As an HR, you cannot be dismissive of their emotions and opinions. Even if you don’t agree with their thoughts, you can’t let that come in the middle of your discussion. Hear them out and ask them what should be the next steps. You need to know how they are perceiving the situation. Since you’re representing the entire organization, you should look balanced and not favor one side over the other.
3. Set Boundaries for the Upcoming Discussion:
Before the joint meeting involving all the parties, you need to ensure that everyone knows what is okay and what is not okay to speak about in the workplace. They should know the proper ways to communicate their concerns. Raising a voice or being disrespectful towards the other party should be strictly prohibited. Make it a point to get it clear that they won’t be getting any special treatment just because of their stature in the company, or their commitment to their belief.
4. Moderate the Discussion:
You need to understand that these conversations won’t just die down themselves. If left unattended for a long time, these can cause havoc around the office. So what do you do? Confront them and resolve them to whatever extent possible. If the polarizing issue is related to the workplace, try to find a middle ground where none of them feels neglected in the end.
If it’s something that is not related to work, make them understand that they can’t enforce their personal beliefs and ideologies over the other one. To prevent such situations in the future, provide them with solutions while encouraging them to respect each other’s beliefs and preferences.
5. Make Systematic Changes to Prevent Future Issues:
Remember to create a detailed document about the conflict after the matter has been dealt with properly. Conduct a thorough review with your team to see what went wrong and how it was resolved.
To maintain a positive attitude in the workplace, encourage employees to express their ideas and beliefs openly, but with a respectful tone. If ever faced with unique situations, use one of the best HR software in India, greytHR , to gather insights about employees and their opinions via their polls feature. This enables management to make more informed and effective decisions that reflect the team’s real concerns and aspirations.
Summing Up
People will talk, converse, and get to know each other. Along the way, they may also come across such situations where disagreements will happen. You need to ensure that these disagreements don’t escalate and become a bigger issue.
FAQs
What Is a Polarizing Conversation?
A polarizing conversation is one that could create a divide between groups or individuals who don’t share the same values or beliefs. These conversations can be about sensitive topics or could be something as basic as a work setup.
What Is Inappropriate Conversation in the Workplace?
Inappropriate conversations at the workplace are those that can make others feel uncomfortable, disrespected, or hurt. It could be in the form of jokes, discriminatory remarks, and generalizations about groups based on gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliation, or race.
What Are Some Polarizing Topics?
Polarizing conversation topics could be anything. It could be about a certain war going on in another part of the world, political tensions in the country, communal clashes, etc. These conversations could also arise from simple issues like workplace management, ideas, etc.
