snippets - #8 10.1

On politics in the workplace

Happy October! Time is of course meaningless at this point, but it’s still the best time of the year. Halloween happens to be my and my husband’s favorite holiday so we’re bummed we can’t hand out candy this year. However, we’re still sewing costumes… even if we’re stuck wearing them for a scary movie marathon alone in our apt. Anyone else with me?

Okay, so this week I want to talk about the controversial policy Coinbase just released. If you haven’t been following along, here’s what I’m talking about. The TLDR is Coinbase is taking a stand against allowing politics into the workforce. In the policy, Brian (CEO) outlined what won’t be acceptable anymore:

We won’t:

• Debate causes or political candidates internally

• Expect the company to represent our personal beliefs externally

• Assume negative intent, or not have each others back

• Take on activism outside of our core mission at work

He also announced an exit package for anyone who wants to leave.

We are currently living through, perhaps, the most divisive period in our history since the Civil War. Every CEO is trying to figure out how to lead right now and it’s not easy.

Now, Coinbase is a private company and can technically do whatever they’d like with regards to political discourse at the office, so long as it adheres to the law (frankly, this policy definitely wades into some murky waters IMO).

I also understand why you might feel like a politics-free workplace could be good. A truly inclusive workplace would be one where people are welcomed no matter what their political stance is. With the polarizing nature of our political system today, removing discussion of politics internally is perhaps an attempt at doing this. But this isn’t what they’re actually saying in this policy.

The Coinbase policy isn’t so much about politics. It’s about “causes” and “beliefs.” This policy is no doubt a reaction to a recent walkout by Coinbase engineers when Brian refused to state that Black Lives Matter (he later did on twitter). The second bullet point above “We won’t…Expect the company to represent our personal beliefs externally” is absolutely a direct response to that pressure.

In Silicon Valley, companies are built to change the world. We exist to build a new future that is, hopefully, better than where we are today. In that context, I think it’s absolutely abysmal that you would try to create a culture where discourse on societal issues is banned. How can we make the world better if we’re not engaging in it?

Politics, for better or worse, is all around us. And by halting the ability to engage, you’re telling your employees that their concerns and fears are invalid. They are cogs in a machine and that you believe the system is fine as is. Imagine being a woman who has no space to talk about harassment she’s experiencing or experienced at work. Or a trans employee who has to experience the threat of whether or not they’ll be able to receive health benefits on a regular basis. Or a Black engineer who sees constant workplace bias but has no way to voice their concerns. Politics affects us in the workplace and companies are better off when they listen to their employees.

Especially now. We’re living in a world where our lives are regulated by politics. Invalidating how an employee feels is an easy way to create distrust. Even if you look at this issue from a pure workforce productivity standpoint, distrust creates a lack of productivity. I want employees to be productive. I want employees to feel safe at work. I want to play whatever small part I can in creating better work environments.

At the heart of all this lies respect. It’s critical that employers, no matter what policy they choose, foster an environment where employees respect one another. It’s one of our core values at my company and I believe it should be part of every work culture.

I’m proud of the culture we’ve built at Artemis and wanted to share some of the things we’ve done that are pretty polar opposite to the approach Brian took at Coinbase.

• In June, employees wanted to organize a donation campaign where we could share which groups folks were donating to as a way to support the Black Lives Matter movement. I personally matched all donations. We were able to raise over $5,000 (more actually because another employee also matched a percentage of donations) and supported organizations helping both nationally and locally (to our employees’ locations), such as Black & Pink, Campaign Zero, Southern Poverty Law Center, Bail Fund for Lincoln Protestors, and more. We even got some of our investors to contribute.

• We have regular lunch and learns internally about all kinds of things; one of my favorites was a presentation on trans inclusivity.

• We have a diversity and inclusion taskforce who hold us accountable on how we’re doing with hiring practices as well as inclusion practices on a regular basis.

• We conduct gender pay gap audits regularly.

• We have a book club where we’ve been focusing on reading books by Black authors recently, including Are Prisons Obsolete and Water Dancer.

• We have held open discussion times for folks who just want to talk about current events and how they’re doing. No judgement, just free time to talk.

• We give Election Day off.

• We allow folks time off to help volunteer for campaigns in the fall (for whoever they want).

While we don’t have a policy on politics, we have core values that drive the kind of work environment we want.

• We default to curiosity.

• We align around solutions, not consensus.

• We trust and respect each other.

• We are a team, not a family.

• We value ethics in building our company and platform.

At the end of the day, I’m a woman in tech. I know the current system is broken. It is broken for me and it is broken for anyone who doesn’t look like those that are in charge. As employers we sign a social contract with employees (yes, I recognize that employees are mostly at-will and there’s no real social contract). It is my job to create an environment where people can get their job done. That’s what I promise you as an employee when you join our company.

I believe we are better off for acknowledging that we’re in a divisive time, where politics unfortunately has a major impact on the way we work and the way we live our lives. If we allow a conversation to occur, we can build companies that are stronger, more diverse, more inclusive, and ultimately better for all stakeholders.

So, yes, Coinbase can absolutely create whatever sort of politics-free workforce they want to. I know I would never work there. And there are also people who will love this policy. But hey, that’s our choice. Always remember that job interviews are a two-way street. Make sure you choose an environment where you want to work. Culture fit is so incredibly important.

What do you think about all of this? I’d love to hear.