Global crises, local reactions: How Canadian leaders can address employee dissent

And with such a diverse population, odds are that every organization will have employees with passionate feelings on both sides of any issue.

How to respond, or if to respond, is a conundrum for business leaders — and it starts with a simple realization that “dissent is not disloyalty,” according to Paul Dunn, professor of business ethics at Brock University’s Goodman School of Business in St. Catharines, Ont.

“We need to be clear that people can and do hold alternative perspectives on almost every issue,” he said. “And employees should be able to hold personal views, in fact even radical ones, without fear of reprisal with the caveat, though, when these views cause harm to the business model the employee should expect to be disciplined.”

That’s something Google did in the United States — firing nearly 50 workers who protested a cloud computing contract it had with the Israeli government in April. The workers staged sit-ins at offices in New York and California and refused to leave.

“They just totally made it unable for other employees to work,” said Dunn. “When protest prevents or interrupts normal business operations, that’s when you should expect to be disciplined.”

Should leaders weigh in?

Having your C-suite or company weigh in on global events isn’t necessarily a bad idea, said Dunn.

“If you have articulated a policy, then you should be consistent with that policy,” he said.

For example, if your mission statement or value statement says you will speak out on these issues, then you should follow through, he said.

“Otherwise, you look hypocritical. You’re not following the values that you’ve articulated,” said Dunn. “

Saying nothing is also an option if that’s your policy — but that also needs to be communicated to staff clearly, and adhered to consistently, he said.

“The other thing that’s important is that not everything is appropriate for the workplace,” said Dunn. “If the company is selling material, or has business in Israel or in Palestine, then you would say yes. You probably should be making a comment. But if your business has nothing to do with that that, then it becomes a question: Is that the appropriate response from my company?”

The tone at the top is critically important, and the board of directors, the CEO, and the management team all need to be able to articulate the organization’s policy and follow through on it, he said.

“It has to be a living document, where the leaders demonstrate respectful communication, respectful workplace, and then hopefully that filters down throughout the organization,” said Dunn.

The reality is that you’re never going to get everyone rowing in the same direction, but “if you can get most of your employees to buy-in to your values and your attitudes, you’re going to be much further ahead.”

Dealing with conflict

Bill Howatt, founder of Ottawa-based Howatt HR and an expert in workplace mental health, said it’s normal for conflict to show up in the workplace — but there is a line between healthy and unhealthy disagreement.

“We’re allowed to have differences, so the focus is on civility,” he said. “We don’t get involved with solving the trucker issue, or the Palestine issue, because they’re not material in our scope.”

His advice is to get in front of the issue, and stay there, to prevent it from festering into something serious.

“As a leader say, ‘Listen, we understand there are some issues that are happening outside of our workplace — that may not have anything to do with our workplace — but are influencing our operation,’” said Howatt.

It’s OK to remind staff about the company’s values, respectful workplace policies, and the expectations around their behaviour, he said.

“You don’t get into the issue of right or wrong, you’re going to get into the issue around expectations,” said Howatt. “You don’t get paid to do sit-ins. If someone comes in and they want to do a sit in? Well, not on our property — you can do a sit-in on the street if you want, but you’re not going to do a sit-in here because I’m not paying you to do that.”

Handling employee demands

If a passionate employee shows up at your door, demanding the company or you personally to take a stand on an issue, Howatt’s advice is to listen.

“Let them get their position out. But I think you have to say that we can’t take a position on this because you’re going to marginalize somebody,” he said. “Look at it through the lens of inclusion and diversity and accessibility and accommodation.”

Choosing one side or another essentially creates permission for some type of discrimination in the organization, he said.

“We all have differences of opinion with religion, and points of view, but we all volunteer to drive on the right side of the road,” he said. “We seem to do that OK. “

Now is a good time for organizations to anchor their values and avoid biases — including unconscious ones, said Howatt.

“Because if I’m a leader, and I’m Jewish, I may have biases I don’t even know about. But if I’m following the values, then it provides a North star,” he said. “People can have different hockey teams and hate each other, or different religions, but we co-exist all the time.”

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