“We’re not [doing] any work that is unrelated to the Middle East crisis,” said Farah Salam-Hottle. “It’s all we’re focused on right now.”
Ms. Salam-Hottle is the founder and president of Origins Consulting Group, based in Glen Allen, Va., just north of Richmond, which helps private and non-profit sector clients to improve their equity, diversity and inclusion.
These days, she is being hired by companies to hold roundtable discussions and one-on-one interviews with management and workers to “strengthen [their] ability to communicate across divides” when it comes to issues around the Israel-Hamas war. She said workers are expressing concerns over the way their employers are responding – or not responding – to the turmoil and tensions are rising.
“We have [workers] who are very vocal about their stance. … They’re not afraid to say that they disagree with the way that their leadership has responded,” Ms. Salam-Hottle said. “On the other hand, you have people who are scared to say anything, because they’re afraid of how it will impact their ability to grow in the company; [they worry] that they will be passed over for projects and other forms of retaliation. It definitely feels like walking on eggshells, I think, for a lot of people.”
Ms. Salam-Hottle said those who are speaking up on a wide array of issues – such as global conflicts, abortion, poverty, immigration, LGBTQ rights, even climate change – are part of a wider shift toward social justice activism at work. And the shift is being ushered in, largely, by younger workers.
Studies by Glassdoor and Deloitte show Gen Z workers are most likely to discuss politics at work, least likely to feel comfortable working with someone who espouses different political views and more likely to turn down employers over a political view.
But, as the economy softens, hiring is expected to slow and the scales will tilt away from workers. So, what can employees do if they find themselves in a situation where their values don’t align with their company’s?
“Gen Z are struggling because they’re coming with an activism orientation into the workplace and starting to understand how that translates into a workplace – or doesn’t translate,” said Sharon Nyangweso, chief executive officer of Ottawa-based inclusion and communications agency QuakeLab. “Because of the material that they’re engaging with online, in person, within universities, they come into the workplace with a much more complex and much more nuanced understanding of issues.”
Though many organizations say they embrace conversations about social justice at work, Toronto-based lawyer Shibil Siddiqi said the reality is different.
“Employers even seek to attract younger workers by encouraging them to bring their ‘whole selves’ to work. But younger workers need to be aware that reality hasn’t yet caught up to the hype,” Mr. Siddiqi said in an email to The Globe and Mail. “Politics in the workplace is not safe for everybody. For people with marginalized identities and less power in the workplace, it can still be a minefield. A real disconnect between EDI [equity, diversity and inclusion] policies and EDI practices is becoming evident.”
One recent Glassdoor survey found 64 per cent of American Gen Z workers have discussed politics with colleagues in the past year, compared with 57 per cent of baby boomers. In the same survey, 71 per cent of Gen Zs said they feel supported when their employer takes a public stance on something they care about, compared with 51 per cent of boomers.
In Deloitte’s 2023 global survey of Gen Z and millennial workers, 39 per cent of Gen Zs and 34 per cent of millennials said they’ve turned down jobs because the employer’s values didn’t align with their own.
If employees find themselves in a situation where their values are at odds with the company’s but they still need a job, Mr. Siddiqi suggests starting with a respectful conversation.
“If you had a good relationship with your colleagues yesterday, it may be valuable to attempt to maintain that today.”
Ms. Salam-Hottle said workers should go into these conversations assuming positive intent. And they can even be an opportunity for activism, especially if the organization has stated values on inclusion.
For example, she said, if a company says it values collaboration, a worker could suggest facilitated workplace conversations about social issues that affect team members differently depending on their identity – as a way to build connection and understanding.
Ms. Salam-Hottle also recommended finding colleagues to talk to, perhaps even starting formal or informal affinity groups, such as groups for racialized employees, if the organization doesn’t already have them. “The worst thing would be to suffer alone, to be alone with your thoughts and your frustration.”
Ms. Nyangweso said workers should also consider if the workplace is a suitable venue for all kinds of activism in the first place.
For example, “if your company has never thought about trans rights in their entire existence, do you want them to be the people who are putting out statements?” she said. “I don’t want Nancy from HR [weighing in]. Again, that’s virtue signalling.”
Kayla Iafelice, vice-president of strategic communications and digital advocacy at corporate and government communications firm Wellington Advocacy, said corporations tend to weigh the risks when deciding whether to make internal or external statements on current events.
“Putting out a statement – is that going to confuse or negatively impact more people, more existing customers, than it could potentially bring in new customers who might be impressed with this new stance that you’ve never taken before?” She said she often advises organizations to be prepared for backlash.
Instead, she suggested workers watch for consistency in their employers’ communications. How much do the issues they care about show up in day-to-day internal messaging, for example?
Ms. Nyangweso suggested employees focus on their work, and the operations and HR policies of their organization, asking themselves, “What is it we do? How can we do that with more equity?”
And ultimately, she said marginalized workers should weigh the risks involved of speaking up – and know it’s not a cop-out to keep their activism to their personal life, especially if it’s a matter of keeping their job.
All three experts said the wave of people speaking up for their values at work won’t slow any time soon.
“I don’t think we can turn back the clock on politics and social issues at work and we should think very hard about whether we would want to,” said Mr. Siddiqi. “Talking about gender pay-gaps and #MeToo, for instance, shows us the importance of embracing certain political issues in the workplace. All large employers now have [EDI] policies and these can only be meaningfully understood with a measure of political awareness.”