According to a 2024 Harris Poll commissioned by Indeed, 40% of Gen Z and Millennial workers would quit a job over political differences in the workplace and 42% of all generations find that politics had impacted their team in some way. With a daily barrage of breaking news stories, politically polarizing conversations seem highly likely to increase in frequency over the course of the new U.S. presidential administration.
The Society for Human Resources Management cites tangible costs associated with workplace incivility and respect in their 2024 study, “Workers who rate their workplace as uncivil are more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with their job and more than twice as likely to leave their job in the next year than those who rate their workplace as civil, and HR professionals who rate their workplace as uncivil are twice as likely to report high or very high turnover than those who rate their workplace as civil.”
With political discourse about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) regularly in the news cycle, respectful behavior that acknowledges the dignity of others, even in disagreement, seems to be more difficult than ever. Many organizations are rebranding their DEI programs to refocus on core values of respect, civility and inclusion to avoid legal challenges and more clearly state the intentions of the work. Culture is a competitive advantage, and it is much harder to replicate by a competitor in the short term.
Civility and respect sound nice on paper, yet in practice can be much more difficult to foster. In my interview with Sara Taylor, author of the new book Thinking at the Speed of Bias, she shared a groundbreaking cultural competence model that progressively reflects one’s developing ability to interact effectively across differences with civility and respect. For organizations that want to lean into civility, respect and inclusion, she recommends they start by focusing on cultural competence.
The cultural competence model is broken into six key steps:
- Unaware of differences
- Focus on differences
- Focus on similarities
- See self
- See others
- See approach
Unaware of Differences
The first step of cultural competence is lack of awareness. This is where we might be oblivious to differences and unaware of the frames we have of the world around us. Taylor suggests we start with exposure to differences. One might consciously try easy-to-see differences that don’t even require human interaction, like different cultural food or entertainment.
Focus on Differences
Once we start making the differences of our natural frames more obvious, our filters do what they are supposed to do. We categorize and judge them as different because they are different from what we are used to. This is the stage of shortcuts like stereotypes. We use binary words like good or bad, or us versus them. One might say “Ick! Ew!” to the new food. This is the polarization stage many of us are stuck in right now, also called othering.
Focus on Similarities
The mindset of this stage is that a focus on differences divides; a focus on similarity unites. We believe we’re more alike than different and that shared universal values guide us all and help us to resolve any misunderstanding. But it oversimplifies our differences. In the food example, one might say this is different but it’s similar to another food I tried before. The goal here is not to minimize differences, but to acknowledge the complexity of differences. Continuing with the food example, one might note the taste or ingredients as similar to foods they regularly eat.
The next step is pivotal as Taylor’s research finds that only 15% of people move past the focus on similarities stage. This is where we can see and understand how our unconscious filters are working. It is politically irrelevant.
“In the past, people were stuck in the third stage and we tried to pull people out of it. This is necessary for civility. People are basing their thinking on a lot of assumptions. People think that they do not need to change their behavior because it is aligned with my cultural norms and that makes them civil. The problem is that we all interact with people that have different norms. Differences are not bad, they are just different,” Taylor explains.
See Self
Step four is the first step towards genuine civility and respect. Here, people start letting go of their previously held stereotypes and biases and acknowledge and accept accountability for their own filters. Using the food example, one might say “I haven’t had food like this before, now I know more about it” without comparison. This is acknowledging your own self-limiting view while staying open to accepting other perspectives. This stage is all about self-awareness and letting go of preconceived notions.
See Others
This stage is critical to navigating political discourse with civility and respect. This is where people recognize the complexity of differences in others without judgment. People start to put the brakes on their judgment and embrace new views outside of their natural lived experiences. Staying with the food analogy, one might embrace the complexity of the new food without fear or discourse. Other than oversimplifying the similarities or even comparing it to previous experiences, the food now is a paradox. It’s different and it’s good.
See Approach
Taylor says, “This is the stage where we’re able to actually shift our behavior to be more civil in the eyes of others.” If this were food, one might be able to pinpoint all the ingredients in a dish by just tasting it. This stage is critical because people are aware of the perceptions of others and are reflecting those perceptions in their behavior.
This final step is critical for leadership teams right now in a polarizing environment. As Taylor notes, “A group is never more culturally competent than its leadership. The level of cultural competence is contingent upon leadership because the leaders set the bar. We are the bar of polarization. The time is now to make civility appealing.”
Cultural competence is a six-step model that involves developing the ability to interact effectively across differences. Leaders play a critical role in setting the bar for cultural competence in the workplace, and embracing civility and respect is essential for navigating political discourse in a polarizing environment.
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