GreatWork Blog

Building better workplaces through compliance, culture, connection

With the 2016 presidential race heating up, employees may be more likely to engage in political conversations at work. Politics is a topic that people have very strong and divided feelings about and have great potential to offend and divide the workplace. While such talk is not illegal per se, many political topics involve protected class issues such as race, age, gender, and religion which do create legal implications.

There are five primary approaches to dealing with conflict: 1) Authority, 2) Compromise, 3) Avoidance, 4) Accommodation, and 5) Collaboration. Many people are comfortable with a few of these approaches but not with all five. If you misuse, overuse or under-use any of the five, you take a risk the conflict will become worse. 

If you’re looking to get a really quick pulse on your culture and employee engagement, here is the one statement you should ask employees to rate their agreement with: “It would take a lot for me to leave this organization.”

Ever wonder what happens to your recyclables once they get picked up by the collection truck? This Eugene-based member is probably involved in one way or another.