After last year’s presidential election, it became obvious that Americans are deeply divided on a number of issues. This divide has clearly begun to show itself in many aspects of American’s daily lives. Now according to a recent story which appeared on the NBC Dallas-Fort Worth website, it appears that the leadership style of President Donald Trump’s leadership style is also greatly affecting the workplace in a negative manner.
NBC reports that what has emerged inside corporate America is a so-called “Trump effect”. This phenomenon has led to more widespread incidents of lying on resumes about credentials, swearing in the workplace as well as increased hostility and rumor mongering among co-workers.
According to a survey conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 46% of the 1008 workers who took part indicated that their relationships with colleagues had suffered since the election in November of 2016. Some of the reasons that the Institute attributed to this were due to an almost over-saturation of media coverage that made it seem like an almost endless two years of election coverage.
During the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump behaved in a manner that was often well outside accepted societal norms. In spite of numerous instances where he displayed both his own personal vulgarity and bad behavior, Trump suffered no real consequences for any of them. Some of his supporters viewed this negative behavior as “honesty” and as a signal that it was alright to behave in a similar manner.
According to Seth Spain, assistant professor of organizational behavior at John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, “Trump is serving as a negative kind of role model. They see his behavior, they see that it worked, it was effective, and use that as a model.”
For some, Trump’s ascent to the White House and the coverage in the media of his behavior and that of his administration has fostered a sense of rage, division and overall mean-spiritedness. President Trump has openly derided the idea of “political correctness” and this has led to more open displays of hostility where tolerance, kindness, and compassion may have been the norm in the workplace before he was elected.
In business, as in everything else, integrity and honesty are important. These ideas are the cornerstone of what our society holds dear and it is key to fostering trust between people. If these ideals are not present, it can negatively affect how business gets done and ultimately the productivity and the success of the entire organization. Research among HR professionals is clear: Workers at every level tend to thrive in a work environment where ethics and integrity matter.
At NetPEO we understand how important it is to your business to have workers that they feel safe in their work environment. We are there to help both small and mid-sized companies to meet all of their human resource and outsourcing needs.
Let us conduct a free needs assessment so that we can better understand your current situation and can make recommendations based on your organization’s unique needs. Once your company’s needs are determined we will help find the best service providers among our alliance partners in or4er to help you meet them. Contact NetPEO today and find out how we can help.