If you’re like me, you’ve always wondered why so many people in HR are uninterested in talking politics. Trying to get one of you guys to talk about health care reform out in the open is like pulling teeth without health insurance. Get it? Because I said… nah, forget it.

I always chalked it up to politics being an uncomfortable situation in general. It is one we often find easier to commiserate with like-minded folks. Then again, it seems like every other department I’ve worked with inside an organization wants to talk politics. My theory: if you want to be a big shot in HR, you’re going to have to have a political voice.

So HR is different but why? Here are the three primary reasons:

Poor Education

Some people aren’t going to like this reason and that’s too bad because it is one of the major reasons. I don’t know too many politically educated people who sit on the sidelines in other fields so it has to be a reason in at least some of the cases.

Political issues that impact the workplace are complicated certainly but it’s not like there isn’t a myriad of ways to get educated. So what could be the problem?

Could it be that SHRM’s emphasis on being an advocating and lobbying organization rather than an educational organization on legislative matters be demotivating to those that may disagree with SHRM on critical workplace issues?

Maybe the thing that has rubbed me the wrong way about SHRM’s issue advocacy on the part of all SHRM members is that they spend so few (comparative) resources on being proactive in workplace issues. Wouldn’t working within corporations to promote communication and openness serve as a better long term solution to the threat of easier unionization than advocacy? Shouldn’t we as a group of HR professionals be talking about more thoughtful approaches than just battling legislation?

Faux Neutrality

As the famous Burr/Hamilton duel suggests, we could just shoot people when we had political disagreements in the past. Now we have to take a slightly different approach.

One of the major reasons I hear smart and intelligent HR people say they don’t want to enter the political arena is that they want to maintain a sense of neutrality. I know this because I used to be that person as well. And there is a decent argument for it somewhere but it has nothing to do with being a leader. It has everything to do with marginalizing yourself out of important conversations going on in your organization.

While you may feel like you are being noble and fair, you are also missing an opportunity to show your skills as a contributor. Anybody can report how the laws changed. How do you bring it up within your organization? What’s your position on it? What is your plan for adapting and thriving?

When you take on your faux neutrality pose, it hinders your ability to have reasonable, adult level disagreements with people you respect and have to be around. That’s a political skill that translates over so well in business. You become a better person because you aren’t just commiserating with like-minded people anymore. You learn to disagree respectfully while still being firm in your beliefs.

Intimidation by Other Corporate Leaders

The last, and maybe most difficult, reason is corporate leader bullying. Now if you know me, you know that generally isn’t a problem. I am a big believer in free enterprise and that goes over well with other corporate leaders.

That being said, there are also some areas where there are some serious disagreements. That’s when some people who haven’t learned how to disagree like adults start the bullying and harassing.

Of course, the HR side of us wants to say, “Hey, some states prohibit that” which is admittedly funny in its own right. But the problem is much bigger than that. The assumption that most leaders are like-minded in political matters has to be one of the major threats to American business. If you think I am joking or being glib, my philosophy is that like-mindedness is bad for innovation and if there is anything American business needs right now, it is innovation.

So Now What?

So now what, what? Get politically active. Get educated, drop the silent treatment and stand up for yourself. Let’s talk about health care reform or unionization or affirmative action. Let’s talk about regulations that impact our core businesses. If you work in aviation, know about the major changes to flight safety going on now. If you work in ecommerce, read up on the developments around taxation for goods purchased.

None of this is rocket science but it is a change. Are you ready and willing? Have you been doing this for a while? Are you not ready to take the plunge? Let me know in the comments.