It’s estimated that the average person spends ⅓ of their life at work. While most wouldn’t consider their colleagues their best friends (true personal connection is harder than ever as we spend more time on Zoom and Slack than in the office), relationships with people at work, and our work community, are central to our lives. In a world where we spend so many of our waking hours at work, we have to acknowledge that our coworkers can’t just turn off their feelings, and emotional responses when they log in for the day.
We are also living through a news cycle working overtime. No matter your political beliefs, it’s unequivocally true that real people—friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues—are scared and unsure of what to do when policy and current events take a deeply personal turn. When they do, whether it’s reproductive healthcare, the future of LGBTQ+ rights, or you and your family’s safety in public places, they become more than political issues. We cannot ignore this shared human experience—feeling unsettled and vulnerable —is one with far-reaching consequences on personal happiness, productivity, and stress.
So, when politics gets personal, our work communities must unite and empathize with each other’s humanity. It’s clear that workplaces play a critical role in supporting their people through tough times. Luckily, there is no shortage of ways that people leaders can stand by their teams through defining moments, including:
- Include personal days in your official PTO policy.
- Provide work/life flexibility that empowers employees to step away from work to recalibrate.
- Create a culture that offers safe spaces for personal check-ins that normalize talking about stress and mental health.
In tandem, businesses must zero in on core values to support their people. This guides critical decisions across teams that help set you apart from your competition, stand out as a socially conscious employer, and connect employees with the help they need when they have nowhere else to turn. Ultimately, once leaders appreciate the complexity of employees’ lives, the ability to build strong, supportive, and respectful communities alongside societal change becomes a tangible, meaningful exercise.
Check out these additional resources to help you leverage your work to support your employees:
Download our Impact Report to learn how employer-sponsored cash grants can help people when they need it most
Download the Pro Repro playbook, a guide for businesses on how they can protect the reproductive health of their workforce
Download the Guide To Racial Equality In The Workplace to help achieve a diverse and equitable workplace
