Has Your Workplace Become a Culture War Battleground?

Workplaces are often a melting pot of racial, gender, religious, ideological and political diversity, challenging employers to leverage social differences while reducing tension. Culture wars can plague the workforce when employees have conflicting values or feel disadvantaged by company practices that infringe upon personal beliefs. Employers can benefit from workplace diversity, but only if they invest time in building a culture of respect and open-mindedness.

Full-time employees spend a significant portion of their time at work, making it important to form positive relationships that don't detract from productivity or personal well-being. Yet, as social change and civil rights legislation lead to more workplace diversity, employees are faced with greater potential for miscommunication and bias. Differences in race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic background result in a broad variety of viewpoints, and employers who under- or overreact to culture wars run the risk of magnifying frustration and distrust among divided factions.

A poor but common reaction is to tighten workplace policies or overload employees with increased sensitivity training. Stricter policies rely on aggression to suppress negative behavior while failing to address the thought process and motivation behind culture wars, says employment law attorney Tim Garrett. In a compliance-driven work culture, employees are fearful of being honest or confronting conflicts, making it harder to be open to other viewpoints or understand why specific behaviors cause offense.

A better solution is to focus on building strong relationships by coaching employees to communicate well and be objective toward coworkers. In many cases of miscommunication, all parties involved impose subtext based on their personal biases. Instead, employers should encourage workers to affirm the positive qualities of fellow employees when interacting, so they are motivated to interpret statements or behaviors the way they are intended.

Seeing the best in one another is difficult in environments with double standards and inflexible hierarchies. Culture wars thrive when employees view specific jobs as superior or inferior, leading to an "us and them" mentality. In such scenarios, upper management can counteract these divisions by fostering a culture that celebrates the value of every role in the organization. However, committing to a cultural change requires ongoing team-building and professional development, and managers must be willing to both give and receive constructive feedback to build trust and respect among employees.

Fortunately, nurturing diversity may improve long-term profitability and quell culture wars. Harvard Business Review conducted a study in which companies with two-dimensional diversity were 45 percent more likely to report a growth in market share and 70 percent more likely to report engagement with new markets. Two-dimensional diversity referred to employees with inherent attributes, such as race and gender, and acquired attributes, such as travel or professional experience. According to the study, innovation and creativity increased in companies with two-dimensional diversity in leadership because the workforce offered a wider range of compelling ideas and received greater support and resources to develop those ideas. As a result, employees felt empowered to speak up, and in turn they listened to others.

Culture wars are a natural outgrowth of social change, but employers can reduce clashing by fostering familiarity, empathy and goodwill. Employees may unintentionally fear or question behaviors they don't understand, making it essential for leaders to provide environments where it's safe to respectfully share opinions and address conflicts.

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