Improving the culture of political work is a collective task

Professionalizing political staff starts by realizing we all have limitations. Parliament Hill attracts many people who think they are capable of changing our country for the better, and they are often right about that. But our hopeful tenacity can make us stoics, conceding that individually overcoming the unique challenges facing staffers is an inevitable part of the job. In my time in politics, I was fortunate to get to talk to staffers across politics about their workplaces, both one-on-one and through workplace feedback surveys. I found that staffers are incredibly hard working and resilient, but I also learned this resiliency was being tested on a daily basis, often in ways that could have been mitigated. When staffers are pushed to their limits, they will burn out and often leave politics altogether. Employee turnover on the Hill is higher than in most other industries. Many offices quietly suffer from a persistent brain drain where experience, talent, and institutional knowledge are regularly lost and must be found again. How can workplaces adapt to address this? One solution is a strong, tiered training system that starts on Day 1. It can take months before new staffers get comfortable in their roles, from understanding the unique role of MPs to accessing parliamentary resources and learning how to communicate to different audiences. Rare programs like the master of political management school at Carleton University prepare some in advance, but the vast majority of new staff don’t enter their job already having the specific skillset and knowledge that staffing demands. On-boarding materials and standardized orientation sessions can dramatically decrease the learning curve across the Hill. Alex Kohut was formerly the senior manager of research and advertising in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. Photograph courtesy of Alex Kohut Training shouldn’t be just a Day 1 activity, though; introductory training should be complemented with ongoing access to professional development. Gender-based Analysis Plus and sensitivity training sessions have become more common in recent years and have had a positive influence. In-depth policy sessions on key priority issues can help offices engage with topics easier, management training is crucial for anyone looking to take on supervisory roles, and there is a constant demand for sharing best practices on managing stress. Not all challenges are universal across offices, but there can be training for difficult tasks that are relevant to smaller groups of staffers. We should champion those who are succeeding at niche tasks and empower them by putting them in a room with those in similar roles so they can share expertise. This type of training regime can make a difference, but equipping staff is only part of the solution. When getting feedback from staffers, I’ve consistently found staff working more than 60 hours a week with poor social networks outside of work are extremely vulnerable to burnout and eventually leave politics much sooner than others. Recent research by Dr. Jennifer Lees-Marshment suggests both of these variables are highly impactful on the success of staffers across parliamentary democracies. It may not be realistic for every position on the Hill, but we should be open to having conversations about capping the hours staff are expected to work to ensure they are able to thrive in the long term. I have never seen compelling evidence that working excessive hours and leaving vacation days unused leads to improved work quality. Improving social networks on the Hill is an easier variable to address. Most staffers are not from Ottawa, and don’t have a local support network in place when they start working. Work relationships fill that role. If someone in an office is isolated from the rest of their team socially, they likely don’t have another network to provide support after work on a difficult day. Hybrid work, for all its benefits, makes it easier for isolation to go unnoticed. It’s now more important than ever that offices proactively engage in team building, and that the Hill provides a variety of social settings for everyone to establish bonds in comfortable environments. Conversations about improving culture and supporting staff need to become more commonplace. Every workplace on the Hill should have someone with a responsibility to address these topics in their job description. But if it isn’t someone’s job in an office to think about protecting the people working there, it becomes everyone’s role to fill that gap. Alex Kohut was formerly the senior manager of research and advertising in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. The Hill Times