Are Political Discussions Heating Up in Your Office?

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With Super Tuesday fast approaching, discussions about politics and the presidential election will heat up at water coolers in offices around the country. But according to a new survey from American Management Association (AMA) on politics and the workplace, employees are decidedly mixed about sharing political views with their colleagues and bosses. 
 
More than one-third (35%) of the business people surveyed said they are uncomfortable discussing their political views with colleagues, while 39% said they are comfortable, and 25% of respondents said they were neutral about sharing their political opinions.  Forty percent, however, are comfortable talking about politics with their supervisors, 38% are uncomfortable and 22% are neutral.
 
While political chatter at work is expected during a presidential election year, the AMA survey shows that most employees are not campaigning in the office for their favorites. Ninety-two percent of respondents said that no one from their company—either management or labor—has recommended voting for a particular candidate because it would benefit the organization.

Companies as a whole also are staying away from endorsing political favorites or parties. More than three-fourths (79%) of senior executives confirmed that their company does not contribute to a particular political party.  However, they are not spending a lot of energy communicating this point, as almost two-thirds (65%) of employees cannot say whether their company contributes to a particular political party. 
 
The complete “AMA 2008 Political Discussions in the Workplace Survey” is available on the American Management Association Web site at www.amanet.org/research/