Taking Care of Staff by Taking Time to Vote

In these highly political times, finding your voice is crucial to getting through a heated and stressful election season. As an organization, you have an opportunity to help your staff voice their concerns through the power of voting, and specifically by helping them get educated and motivated.

Employees appreciate this information and want to hear from employers on issues and elections:

52% who got information from their employers said it led them to register to vote.

65% were more likely to vote based on the information received from their employers.

83% found information received from employers helpful in deciding how to vote.

How you can educate and motivate staff around voting and issues?

• Partner with employeesvote.com to help with sending out information that’s nonpartisan and factual.

• Inform staff on their rights to vote on election day or during early voting. In TX, time off on election day is required as long as it reasonably takes to vote, unless staff has 2 consecutive hours available before or after work to vote. And feel free to make this even more flexible in your organization to reduce barriers to voting! Besides, these companies are doing it.

Why creating a culture of voting may benefit your organization:

• It shows staff you respect them: A 2013 Harvard Business Review survey of 20,000 workers worldwide found that a powerful way to increase employee engagement and commitment is to do things that show you respect them. Giving them time to vote as well as helping them become more informed, opens their eyes to the fact that you care about them as a person, not just as a worker.

• Political engagement increases dialogue: when staff get to know each other, it increases collaboration and synergy. Even if the conversations turn to conflict, it’s not a bad thing. It’s an opportunity to help staff deal with difficult conversations in a healthier way.

• It further proves your organization is socially responsible: civil engagement is one of the ways organizations can take part in their community, showing that they are not only driven by the mission of their organization but also a larger mission of helping others. Giving back to society is increasingly respected and coveted by millennials, which may help you obtain and retain this valuable and growing population.

Are you developing ways to engage your staff in voting? Let me know by leaving comments or thoughts! If this resonates with you and you’d like for you or your organization to learn more, please reach out to sommer@sommerneffconsulting.com.