Voting Matters

Leaders can make sure their people can get to the polls

I have strong political opinions. But you won’t hear them in this post.

If you are a leader in your company and/or on your team, I urge you to give your people time away from work to vote. On Election Day (Tuesday, November 8th), consider allowing half your team to come in an hour or so late, while the other half gets to leave an hour early (perhaps with an extra-long lunch for those who would like to vote then). You might want to send around a link to a signup sheet now, so you’ll know who will be in the office at which times.

In my company, we don’t schedule meetings or training on Election Day. This means everyone working for TJG has time in their schedule to vote. We also have the opportunity to work a shift at our local polling place, or drive people to the polls (senior citizens, college students, etc.), or stay home with our kids if the school is closed so it can be used as a polling location.

Not every company has the luxury of this type of scheduling, but there is a patriotic sense of purpose that comes from prioritizing “exercising the franchise.” DON’T tell your people who you think they should vote for—tell them you think they should vote. You can choose to set the tone in your office to support democracy and civic engagement.

(Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash)