In my last post, I discussed why you should allow political conversations at work and realistic ways to do it without ending up with a huge mess. Well, if you thought you had enough on your plate guiding your employees to have respectful conversations during this incredibly tense political election year, just wait! Over the weekend, Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court, and confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin on October 12.
There’s nothing like the topic of a woman who’s also a mom being in leadership to bring out sexism in some people.
Now, let me be clear – this is not a political post. This is not in support of Barrett’s confirmation or against it. There’s plenty of room to talk about whether or not you think she’s qualified, whether or not you agree with her positions, and whether or not a Supreme Court justice should be confirmed this close to an election. In fact, I think those are the right topics to be talking about.
This post is about what is and isn’t appropriate and how to navigate this topic in the workplace. As a woman (and a mom), I feel a responsibility to advocate for other women to be treated equally and respectfully.
Conversations that should be off-limits are ones that essentially discriminate against Barrett for being a women or for being a mom. As you can imagine, comments like this are flying all over social media, such as these I saw on Twitter:
“I’m confused. How can she be at home running the household and at work at the same time?”
“And who’s looking after her kids? She isn’t.”
“There’s wasn’t even females 100 years ago.” (Yes, it was grammatically incorrect.) It received this reply, “I miss the old days.”
Regardless of whether you think Barrett should become a Supreme Court justice, these comments should infuriate you, especially if you’re a woman and especially if you’re a fan of RBG. These comments were from both men and women, so keep in mind that women can display sexism toward other women too.
Women should be considered for any and all positions based on whether they meet the qualifications. Not based on her gender, whether she’s married, who’s cleaning her house, what her childcare arrangements are, or how many children she has. Women should be considered based on whether they can do the job – not just because it’s the law but also because it’s the right thing to do.
No doubt your employees will be following the confirmation hearings, so this will become a topic at work just like the presidential election already is. So, how do you make sure your employees have respectful conversations at work about Amy Coney Barrett?
Remind them of your policy and expectations. As easy as it might be to sit back and hope conversations are appropriate, it could cause you much more work down the road. Be proactive in order to safeguard your company culture. Remind employees that communication should be respectful, professional, and inclusive and that all conversations should promote a cohesive work environment. If you’ve developed a policy regarding political conversations at work, let your employees know this is a great opportunity to really practice putting those words into action. For example, in this particular situation, negative and derogatory comments about Amy Coney Barrett being a women or a mom would be prohibited. Stick to topics related to her qualifications, her legal positions, etc. Remind employees that these expectations could extend to social media content as well (in line with your state laws). Just as racist social media posts can be addressed, so can sexist social media posts that create a hostile work environment, constitute hate speech, or reflect unfavorably on the company’s reputation.
Give extra caution to leaders. With public positions like this, we’re privy to a lot of personal information about the candidates that we would (hopefully) never know in routine business interviews. We know it would be unlawful to ask questions about marriage, children, childcare, or household responsibilities when interviewing candidates for our own open positions. This means that leaders need to be especially aware of anything they say, whether at work or on social media. Making discriminatory comments could easily lead employees to be concerned about the same mindset playing a role at work and affecting who’s hired for which jobs. Make it clear to your leaders that you have zero tolerance for discrimination.
Allowing political conversations at work is tricky, but you can do it and do it successfully! Your employees will be talking about Amy Coney Barrett at work anyway, and there’s absolutely no room for sexism. Inappropriate discussions have the potential to erode trust and professionalism within your company. Why not harness these conversations and use them to build extra layers of respect, inclusion, and maturity into your culture?
Photo credit: By serggn / Canva
