getting workers out to vote transcript

Insight on Coaching Getting Workers Out to Vote 2008

Monday October 20th, 2008 11AM PT (2PM ET)

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Confidential | October 23, 2008

Getting Workers Out to Vote in 2008 Transcript

Time Speaker Transcript

00:26 Tom Floyd Hello everyone and welcome to Insight on Coaching.

Insight on Coaching explores the many facets, flavors and sides of the emerging

professional coaching field.

I’m Tom Floyd. I’m the CEO of Insight Educational Consulting and your host for

today’s show.

This week our topic is Getting Workers Out to Vote in 2008.

We’ll discuss some of the reasons why people don't vote. We’ll talk about why some

companies are encouraging their employees to get more involved in the political

process and vote. And we’ll discuss the work coaches are doing with both

organizations and employees to encourage higher turnout at the polls as well.

With me to explore this topic are five guests and let me give you a quick overview of

who we have with us today.

Our first guest, Tiffany Adams, is Vice President of Public Affairs for the National

Association of Manufacturers and oversees the association’s public affairs

department, which executes NAM member and employee involvement programs, as

well as the coordination of fly ins, get out the vote strategies and overall grassroots

efforts.

Tiffany coordinates the organization’s outside the beltway involvement activities for

all NAM members. She has oversight for all NAM local in-district events across the

country and handles the association’s congressional recognition and accountability

program. In addition, Tiffany oversees NAM’s small and medium manufacturer’s

department, working to increase the efficacy involvement efforts of this segment of

the membership. Welcome to the show, Tiffany.

Our second guest, Barry Hermanson, is the Green Party candidate running for the

12th California District congressional set.

He is currently an equity investor and a former small business owner of Hermanson’s

Employment Service, employing more than 3,000 workers during its 25 years in

operation.

He served as vice president and was former president of the Merchants of Upper

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Market and Castro, one of the largest neighborhood merchant associations in San

Francisco.

Barry is the co-author of San Francisco’s 2003 minimum wage initiative and was also

one of the recipients of the San Francisco Bay Guardians local hero award in 2006.

Welcome to the show, Barry.

02:25. Barry

Hermanson

Thank you.

02:26 Tom Floyd Our next guest, Donna Karlin aka The Shadow Coach, is principle of the Better

Perspective. She has worked for over 24 years as a coach and trainer with clients in

Canada, the U.S. and abroad in the corporate sector, political and federal ministries,

government departments and agencies and the medical community.

Donna is a recognized author and speaker and lectures internationally. Her work has

been written up in Fast Company Magazine, The National Post, The Globe and Mail,

The Boston Globe, The New York Times, as well as in numerous online columns and

articles.

Currently, Donna writes a weekly column for Fast Company called “Jumping in to the

Deep End of Leadership.”

Her blog, “Perspectives” is subscribed to by readers in 136 countries.

Welcome to the show, Donna.

03:08 Donna Karlin Thanks.

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03:10 Tom Floyd Our fourth guest, Michelle Randall, is an executive leadership coach, author and

found of The Juncture Company where she works very closely with business and

government leaders from around the world.

She supports newly elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives and state

legislative leaders as they transition into office and begin to build a foundation for

success.

Michelle has also co-authored the book, Winning without Compromising Yourself:

Unlocking Personal and Professional Mastery in the Political Arena, and authored

Visionary Women Inspiring the World: 12 Paths to Personal Power.

Welcome to the show, Michelle.

03:44 Michelle

Randall

Thanks, Tom.

03:45 Tom Floyd Our fifth guest, Dana Walsh, is a Republican candidate running for the 8th California

District congressional seat.

Dana was elected to the Republican County Committee in 1994 and served as the

past vice chair of communications.

She’s the president of the Nob Hill Republican Women Federated and a court

appointed special advocate for the San Francisco Juvenile Court.

She’s been president of the Greater Clement Street Merchant’s Association and a

board member of Women Entrepreneurs and Bay Area Professional Women’s

Network.

Dana also owned and operated her own San Francisco design firm for 15 years.

Welcome to the show, Dana.

04:19 Dana Walsh Thank you.

04:21 Tom Floyd Well, to kick off our show today, I’d like to start off, as we usually do, with some data

that our research team put together to set the stage.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the 2004 presidential election, there

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were 32 million people who reported that they were not registered to vote. The

top two reasons for not registering were one, being uninterested in politics and

two, missing the registration deadline.

Of the 142 million people who reported that they were registered to vote, 60

million did not vote in the 2004 presidential election.

Of the registered nonvoters, reasons ranged from too busy or conflicting

work or school schedules, which was about 20%, to illness, disability or

family emergency, about 15%, not interested or felt their vote would not

make a difference, about 11%. And 10% did not like the candidates or the

issues.

According to a March 7, 2004 article in USA Today, since 1972, when the voting

age was dropped to 18, young people have been increasingly disinterested in

casting a ballot for president. Turnout hit an all-time low in 2000 when an

estimated 42% of voters 18 to 24-years-old went to the polls. That compares

with 70% of adults 25 and older who voted that year, according to the Center for

Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, based at the

University of Maryland.

Now the study, which was based on surveys, included a profile of what

researchers called “Generation dot net” which was respondents ages 15 to

25. They found that the younger generation was indeed politically

disengaged.

Only 24% of dot net said that they followed government and public affairs

very often, compared with 60% of elderly voters, 50% of baby boomers

and 37% of Gen Xers.

Researchers also found the youngest group were the most distrustful

with 70% agreeing with the statement that most people will take

advantage of you.

Very interesting.

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06:33 Tom Floyd According to a June 25, 2008 article by Reuters titled, “ÁFL-CIO Backs Obama,

Promises Voter Turnout Drive.” The largest U.S. labor federation endorsed

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and promised to launch a

huge effort to get union voters to the polls on his behalf in November.

Gerald McEntee, chairman of the AFL-CIO political committee and president

of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said,

our program is going to be worker to worker and neighbor to neighbor.

“We’re ready to mobilize,” said McEntee, who originally supported Obama’s

Democratic presidential rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.

The labor federation has budgeted about $54 million for get out the vote

operations on behalf of Obama and will focus on mobilizing 13 million union

members in 24 priority states.

Now, last but not least, I thought this article was pretty amusing.

In an interesting November 8, 2006 editorial that ran on CBS News, contributor

Lloyd Garver offered some humorous suggestions on how to increase voter

turnout on Election Day. Some of his zany suggestions included:

Providing cash incentives to get people to vote

Making Election Day a national holiday

Allowing voters to express their opinions on the election or issues in two

minutes via video cameras set up in voter booths

Making voting fun by providing free food, music or entertainment at polling

stations. I liked that one, personally.

And providing special lanes and lines for voters on Election Day. For

example, letting them drive in the carpool lane.

Now Dana, I’d like to start with you to kick off our segment.

How is some of the information that I’ve shared landing on you so far?

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08:29 Dana Walsh Well I’ve heard a lot of it before. It sort of surprises me and yet it doesn’t.

I would say the most important part about how many are not interested and feel they

have no candidate, I always think as we’re talking about employees, employers

helping their employees.

I think it’s really important for them to first become engaged at a local level because

quite frankly, I do believe that that’s where they can see the most difference the most

quickly because it’s in their own backyard.

Things like community boards and schools boards and things.

So I would say part of the solution would be if an employer wanted to get their

employee involved, to make them more aware of what’s going on in their own

communities.

09:11 Tom Floyd So it could be just employers encouraging them to get involved at the city level or in a

local small organization or something like that?

09:19 Dana Walsh And/or providing them information about the candidates or the propositions in a

nonpartisan way so they can be made aware of what’s going on in their own

backyard.

09:30 Tom Floyd It’s interesting that you say that because that’s actually what it took for me to get

more involved.

09:36 Dana Walsh Great.

09:36 Tom Floyd I am involved locally as a volunteer. I did start very small, just working with a small

organization here.

I know that one of the things that I felt is I was intimidated at first.

I thought “I don't have a lot of knowledge here. I’m going to be around all these

people who know way more than I do.”

Does that come up as a fear for other people as well?

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09:55 Dana Walsh I’m sure it does. What I think is important is for anyone who feels that way to realize

that everybody starts somewhere and you can become quite quickly and you can get

up to speed very quickly as well.

Again, especially when you start at a local issue. It’s like anything else.

As your coaching people know, you start with what you know and what you’re

interested in and build from there.

10:17 Tom Floyd Exactly. The U.S. Census Bureau mentions that being uninterested in politics as one

of the main reasons that people don't vote.

So from a campaign perspective, are there strategies that you put in place to address

this?

I mean do you try to focus on getting more people interested in voting, for example?

10:37 Dana Walsh My challenge here in San Francisco is that I am a Republican in a very, very

Democratic area.

So we’ve been trying to do that sort of outreach to decline to states.

And primarily in this day and age we try to do it by making people aware of our

website.

So in that way we try to engage them and to go to events that a Republican isn't

really expected to go to.

So again, I’ve been making an effort to go to groups that aren’t used to asking

Republicans to become involved in. So I’ve found that to be very helpful.

They don't necessarily agree with me but I’ve been amazed at how many are open to

looking at a different perspective and I’ve been very pleased with that.

11:21 Tom Floyd It sounds like a lot of it would be about the conversation too.

I mean just showing up for the conversation and engaging people alone probably

encourages more dialogue and involvement as well.

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11:32 Dana Walsh Definitely.

This election is my first election. I shouldn’t say it’s my first election, but my first

candidacy for Congress.

But we have had situations where I have sent in a questionnaire and they have not

asked me to speak.

It’s not very common, but very often I’ll go to someplace and they’ll say, “you know

we’re not use to having a Republican here” and they have been very warm and

gracious.

Like I said, I very much appreciated that and have been amazed at how many

questions are asked of me.

And again, it just gives me a really good opportunity to reach people that are

considered open to my message.

I think that’s been very good in this campaign here in San Francisco.

12:13 Tom Floyd Great. Barry, what would you add to the conversation so far?

For example, how do you get people who aren’t interested in politics to vote and get

more involved?

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12:24 Barry

Hermanson

That’s a really tough question.

First of all, I want to compliment Dana for showing up at those events. I really do

believe that democracy, you know we’re better served when there actually is differing

ideas that are being presented.

I’m in a much different position. The Bay Area here is very heavily Democratic in its

voting patterns and I’m a Green.

Lots of the things that I do say the folks in the room will agree with, but they’re not

used to voting outside of the Republican and Democratic tickets.

So Green Party candidates tend not to fare very well, even though many of the ideas

that we’re saying resonate well with voters.

I wanted to bring up one thing; I was doing some work on preparing some walk lists

last night. With a small campaign you really can't concentrate a lot on the people that

do not vote because then you never get a message out to the people who actually do

vote.

You’ve highlighted today that we have a lot of people in this country that don't even

bother to register to vote. But I want to add to that, in my work last night we have

445,000 people that registered to vote on the rolls in San Francisco.

Of that amount, there were 117,000 people that did not bother to vote in the last

three elections; in our June primary, in the February presidential primary and last

November.

With small resources there’s no way that I can spend time contacting these people

because the amount of time to do that, the amount of expense to do that and then

trying to find a way of actually convincing these people, it’s very, very difficult.

I’m looking forward to hearing other comments on today’s show as to what might be

a good strategy to be reaching out to these folks and how we can really be doing that

on a community wide basis.

I think voting should be something that everyone does. It’s participating in our

democracy. And when people don't vote, they really do not have a say in how our

government is run. And maybe it’s because people are so dispirited. They just figure

that their voice isn't valued.

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15:08 Tom Floyd So a lot of things I want to come back to there.

In general I think it’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens with this year’s

election because of the economy and so many other things that going on, if that

impacts the amount of people that turn out at the polls at all.

I have to admit, I was surprised when I read the statistic about the registration

deadlines playing such a large role as well.

Are there any steps campaigns can take to ensure higher registration rates?

For example I saw that some states allow same day voter registration. I even saw an

interesting article that talked about online registration possibly being used to help

increase turnout.

15:53 Barry

Hermanson

I agree. Same day registration would be good.

In the state of Oregon they do voting by mail.

So it’s very similar to what we have here in California with absentee ballots. An

increasing number of people are mailing in ballots instead of taking the time to

actually show up at the polls on Election Day.

There are, of course, many people that very much enjoy the process of actually going

to the polls and casting their votes.

But anything we can do to make it easier for people, I really would take a very, very

serious look at that.

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16:34 Dana Walsh Could I make a statement?

I have a little bit different view than Barry.

And Barry, thank you for your kind words earlier.

I think that we’ve done very, very much to allow participation. I’m not at all happy

with the idea of same day registration because part of the process is being sure that

the people who register are in the location they say or the person they say. There is

a certain amount of important information that has to be vetted to vote.

Because I think the vote is an extremely important thing. I would question whether

someone who doesn’t even bother to register until the day of the vote have really

taken the time to look into the issues. I think that’s extremely important because it’s

not just how many people vote but who votes and how informed they are.

Again, we were talking about what employers could do.

I think it’s very important that employers would help their employees become more

aware and more informed, not just to get them out to the polls that day. I think it’s

actually a little disconcerting to think that they might take enough control that they

would give their employees an idea of how to vote because that could be somewhat

intimidating. I think the systems in place were put that way for a reason. I’m not

saying there couldn’t be changes of some way or another.

But I think the real key of what employers could do is what we’re talking today is not

to make it easier to vote, but just to make their people aware of what the process is.

And there’s registration all day every day at the Department of Elections and a lot of

it can be done by mail.

So I think there’s a very good process in place and it shouldn’t be jettisoned just for

convenience.

18:14 Tom Floyd Got it.

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18:15 Tiffany Adams Well I think that there’s a combination there because employers are not only there to

provide information on the election so that employees can make a sound decision,

but it is to help them to understand how easy it is to register.

There are all kinds of ways to register and get to the polls either on or before Election

Day.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with employers providing that information to their

employees along with a hearty understanding of, hey, make sure you know the

issues as well.

They certainly aren’t going to tell them how to vote for anyone. That’s completely up

to the individual.

But providing this type of information is a must.

And I’d like to see more and more employers do it in this election and in elections to

come.

18:58 Tom Floyd Tiffany, can you speak to us about the role that the National Association of

Manufacturers typically plays in elections?

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19:03 Tiffany Adams Absolutely. Actually for years the NAM has always offered voter education

information.

But since 1996, we have really taken a comprehensive approach to not only voter

registration but to voter education.

The NAM provides an overview of voter registration deadlines and opportunities in all

50 states. We provide that to our membership so that they don't have to go out and

dig it up. We give them that information straight away.

We have a website, NAM.org/gotv, get out the vote, that lists all of the information for

the 50 states.

It lists how you can register, when you much register.

Early voting, as you know, more than 20 states offer early voting now where folks can

actually go to designated polling stations and vote onsite before the election. There

is also absentee balloting.

So we provide this information along with easy ways and lawful ways that our

employers can put together voter registration drives for their employees.

We want to make sure that everyone is a part of this process and that they’re

informed voters.

So we want to provide that information to the manufacturing community and make

sure that manufacturing is heard at the polls.

20:21 Tom Floyd Donna, I want to loop you in the conversation. I want to come back to the USA

Today article. That article discussed the role that age plays in getting people to vote.

My question is, in your experience, what role does age or generation play in getting

people to poll?

Are there some generations, like baby boomers for example, who in your experience

are more inclined to vote than others?

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20:48 Donna Karlin I believe that the baby boomers really do get out there and vote.

Actually I’ve seen more and more drives and baby boomers working with the younger

generation to engage them into what’s going on, especially in the workplace.

To tie it into leadership for a minute, a lot of the boomers who I work with in positions

of leadership turn around and say if you want to evolve into your leadership and

really be a strong voice within the organization, are you taking as much responsibility

for your life and getting out there to vote.

And what they’re doing is they’re challenging, especially the younger generation, to

find out what they need to find out so it has meaning to them, or some kind of

personal connection.

They know what the platforms are, the policies, et cetera, and they encourage them

to show their leadership by taking control of their life and voting in the person who will

have a direct impact on their work life and personal life.

So I’m watching that message happen more and more as time goes on. And I’m

fascinated to see those conversations happen because it is about taking control of

your life and your leadership in a personal and professional way.

22:03 Tom Floyd Do you think that that’s necessarily something that’s on the mind of somebody in the

millennial generation though?

I mean, is really taking control of their life and taking that stance something that is top

of mind for them?

22:18 Donna Karlin I’m so glad you asked that question because I’m interviewing a lot of people in the

boomers and the millennial generation for a book that I’m writing on leadership.

What’s interesting is that the millennial generation really wants to have more control

over their lives than the boomers have taken when it comes to work hours, work life

balance, et cetera.

22:39 Tom Floyd True.

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22:40 Donna Karlin And one of the things they’re doing is they’re getting involved in causes.

That is a great connection to make when it comes to encouraging them to find out

what the platform and policies are of the people running so that they could vote and

be a part of that.

22:57 Tom Floyd And it’s funny that you bring that up too. I thought it was interesting with Obama who

used Facebook and other web technologies to really mobilize that group. I found that

really interesting.

But from my own experience volunteering, the group I’m involved in is the Human

Rights Campaign and I’m on the Board of Governors for them.

And it’s interesting for a lot of our events, I have found you can get the millennial

generation to show up and lobby, for example, and show up to support events and

things like that.

What I’ve noticed is there’s not as much interest in driving a program, or driving a

campaign or things like that. It’s been kind of like, “okay, if you tell me to show up

and tell me exactly what I need to do,” they’re there.

But in terms of defining of a program or running it long term, there’s not as much

interest there.

Out of curiosity, have you seen anything like that as well?

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23:53 Donna Karlin I used to see more of it. I’m seeing less of it now and I’m very happy to say that.

When people do get engaged, they really jump in with both feet. It’s very little

peripheral engagement.

And I think people are becoming more vocal about what they want.

As the new generation is coming into positions of leadership, they speak their minds

and that’s really good.

So it’s a matter of translating that to, you want to speak your mind, how are you going

to do it through your representative and the person who’s in political power who could

make a difference for you. And I think that that is the message that has to come out

of organizations, is to turn around and say, it has a direct impact on you. Are you

taking the time to find out what that might be and are you going to do your thing and

vote to make a difference for yourself and the global environment that you live in?

24:48 Tom Floyd Understood. Michelle, I would like to go ahead and loop you in on the conversation.

The first part of my question, just anything in general that you’d add so far and the

second part of that is you have a wealth of experience in coaching political leaders

over the years and have been involved in helping several politicians in their run for

office.

Now Lloyd Garver’s humorous suggestions on CBS News were definitely a little

zany, but just out of curiosity do you think, from your experience, that any of his funny

suggestions would work?

For example, in terms of making Election Day a national holiday, or providing

entertainment or food at polling stations and things like that to increase turnout?

25:27 Michelle

Randall

Well, I’ll start with the second part of your question, which was the zany ideas.

And the first thing is it seems zany to me voting on a national holiday, but in Germany

all voting takes place on a Sunday.

25:44 Tom Floyd Interesting.

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25:44 Michelle

Randall

Yes, there’s not a competition for it.

In fact they can't really conceive of how we manage to vote at all in the middle of a

work week.

But the other thing too is I was just riding with a friend of mine who lives in London,

and on his ballot, you know, he was talking about what an effort it is to vote in

California because we also basically legislate from the voting booth.

So it’s also very challenging in some ways.

I like the process, but it may be a bit more of a complex process than need be. That

could be turning people off.

And finally, on that part, I was an RA in college and I found that free food always

helped everything.

26:32 Tom Floyd Free food and booze seems to play a role in that too.

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26:36 Michelle

Randall

There you go. And imagine the, “well I didn't know I was voting for that person.”

What I want to come back to is when you originally were asking this question I tried

to think how is it a benefit for companies to really have their employees be involved in

voting.

Because we’ve heard that it really isn't that hard to register. And it really isn't that

hard to vote. So it’s really about engendering more of a desire to be out there.

I mean it’s great for the company because people are out in their communities, you

know from a marketing perspective. They’re understanding what people are caring

about. They’re outside of their bubble.

But where I think where people turn off from voting is that we don't necessarily have

a healthy way of communicating in the presence of deep disagreement.

We don't have a lot of role models who are respective to agreement. It’s sort of,

quite honestly at this point, a whack a mole thing. Somebody sticks their head up to

get whacked over their head, just personal attacks, personal investigation, and things

like that.

So I think that it would be very, very useful for organizations to be able to teach the

people who work there to communicate with each other in the presence of this deep

disagreement. One thing that they could use is the hot button of politics.

28:14 Tom Floyd Just to summarize before we go to break, from an organization’s perspective it’s

providing more of a role model, more understanding about the process, more voice

and things like that are some of the benefits in terms of encouraging folks to vote.

28:27 Michelle

Randall

Right. It’s actually about teaching communication.

28:31 Tom Floyd I’m hearing the music for our first commercial break, so let's go ahead and go on

pause.

Stay tuned everyone, more Insight on Coaching when we return.

31:13 Tom Floyd Hello everyone and welcome back to Insight on Coaching. I’m Tom Floyd.

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Today the topic is Getting Workers Out to Vote in 2008.

With me are Tiffany Adams, vice president of public affairs of the National

Association of Manufacturers; Barry Hermanson, Green Party candidate running for

the 12th California District congressional seat and former owner of Hermanson’s

Employment Service; Donna Karlin, president of A Better Perspective and author of

Fast Company’s weekly column, “Jumping into the Deep End of Leadership” and co-

author of the best-selling book, 101 Great Ways to Improve your Life; Michelle

Randall, president of The Juncture Company and co-author of Winning Without

Compromising Yourself: Unlocking Personal and Professional Mastery in the Political

Arena; and Dana Walsh, Republican candidate running for the 8th California District

congressional seat and the president of Nob Hill Republican Women Federated.

Well in this segment of the show, I’d like to discuss best practices employers can

keep in mind for motivating employees to work. I’d like to discuss how to handle

various political issues that can come up in the workplace during election time. And

I’d also like to talk about when it is and isn't appropriate to discuss politics in the

workplace.

Some more data to set the stage.

A November, 2006 article by Inc.com revealed that a majority of states now

mandate that companies provide time for employees to cast their ballots.

While there are no federal laws requiring companies to give time off from

work to vote, a majority of states do have rules designed to ensure

employees can make it to the polls on Election Day.

Laws vary by state, but if polls are not open two or three hours outside

employee’s regular shifts, employers are generally required to provide them

with reasonable time off to vote. Lunch and other rest periods may not be

included as part of the time off for voting. The state laws are designed to

ensure employees are not disciplined or retaliated against for taking time off

to vote.

Many states also require that companies pay employees for time that they

are absent while voting. Most states allow employers to specify the time of

day employees may take off to vote. Generally employers may require

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employees request time off in advance of Election Day.

In a September 8, 2008 article from this year on Workforce.com, author Mark

Schoeff Jr., points out that despite declining membership, unions continue to

punch above their weight politically by getting their people to the polls. Now

corporate America is fighting back.

A Washington advocacy group, The Business Industry Political Action

eir Committee, is attempting to reach millions of potential voters through th

employers.

Several labor organizations recently filed federal election commission

ors to complaint charging that a Wal-Mart retailer told managers and supervis

oppose Democrats, including presidential nominee Barack Obama because

they support a bill that would make it easier to form unions.

Last piece of data before we jump into the conversation. According to Fischer

rs and Phillips, LLP, in a list of top eight election years dos and don’ts for employe

based on the professional experience of nationally recognized labor and

employment law experts:

Do evaluate motives

Do remain neutral and comply with state laws

Do ensure policies are objectively developed and enforced

Do monitor political discussion

Don't push for the goal agendas

Don't criticize, joke or jab

Don't solicit funds

And last but not least, don't gloat.

34:36 Tom Floyd Now i us off in this segment. A general

question first. From your experience, are more organizations encouraging their

employees to become involved in the political process and vote?

, T ffany, I’d like to start with you to kick

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34:48 Tiffany Adams ing

et them registered

to vote and encourage them to get to the polls. And then B, that they make an

’ve

for years on voter registration and voter education. Their

prosperity project has provided the tools to help our member companies and our

n informed

off your dos and don't lists, I said, boy there are two really

big things on there that he didn't say. And that was, don't endorse a candidate when

idate stands on

issues most important to you, your company and your family.

Absolutely, without a doubt. Here at the NAM we spend an awful lot of time do

two things. We want to make sure that our employers feel comfortable enough and

have the tools to reach out directly to their employees to A, help g

informed vote.

I was really glad to hear you mention the Business Industry Political Action

Committee, because the NAM is a founding member of that organization and we

worked with them

member employees, the companies’ employees to be better informed on

manufacturing issues.

I think these are two issues here. You have the issue of getting folks registered to

vote and to the polls, and then you have the issues of having folks make a

vote. When you reading

you are working in conjunction with a voter registration drive.

You did mention don't tell employees whom to cast their vote for. That’s important.

But it’s really a big picture item and it is two-fold. It’s voter registration and getting

out to the polls and again, educated votes, knowing how a cand

36:16 Tom Floyd Have you heard of any instances where companies are providing incentives to

employees for getting more involved, let's say locally for example?

36:23 Tiffany Adams I have not. And it’s not something that we encourage here at the NAM.

now

So we try to give them the tools to understand that information.

We want folks to feel compelled that this is their responsibility and they should k

who they’re voting into office.

36:36 Tom Floyd In general, what are some best practices that employers should keep in mind when

they’re engaging employees during election time?

23




36:43 Tiffany Adams I think you’ve got to stay completely nonpartisan. That’s number one. If you are on a

, that’s what it should be about; registering to vote

If it’s a voter education drive, then I encourage all of our member companies, all of

l

at you

ur member companies and employees to go to our website and look

voter registration drive, there should be no information about candidates.

If it’s just about voter registration

and then, of course, go to the polls on Election Day.

our manufacturing companies to provide what we call side by sides, or congressiona

accountability.

The NAM maintains a congressional voting record for each and every member of the

Congress, House and Senate over the course of a two-year Congress so th

can see and our employees can see and our member companies can see exactly

how a member votes on manufacturing issues.

We’ve also sent out a survey to all of the candidates that they can answer and we

post it word for word.

We encourage o

at that information and see how this candidate looks at issues that are most

important to the manufacturing sector. Make an informed vote.

We don't tell them who to vote for, but we give them all of the information that we

have right there.

37:53 Barry

Hermanson

That’s really funny.

37:55 Tiffany Adams

.

That’s really clear. The NAM as an organization doesn’t even endorse.

We certainly wouldn’t wrap that with a voter registration campaign

38:02 Barry

Hermanson

No, but anybody looking at your literature could tell how you would like people to

vote.

38:08 Tiffany Adams I can't tell that.

24




38:09 Barry

Hermanson

bad. Side by side comparisons and this person is really good and this person’s

38:15 Tiffany Adams

not a person that is good or bad, this is a voting record.

to make that very, very clear.

I think someone mentioned earlier, you know we talk about vilifying candidates and

This is not about individuals; this is about votes.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, I want to correct you there.

This is

I think we need

people are bad and bopping the on the head.

So let's make sure we keep that clear.

38:35 Dana Walsh Could I put in a couple of cents here?

38:38 Tom Floyd Sure, definitely.

38:39 Dana Walsh That has been my experience in

ve it’s called, and they basically just say

here’s how this person has voted, here’s how the other candidate has voted.

I cannot imagine how that would be construed as an endorsement, which she said

And I think it’s very important too to remember that for every Wal-Mart story where

someone has said, it probably is anecdotal, that they were told to vote Republican,

certainly as you were talking about, this incredible union drive, certainly they’re not

telling their union members to vote Republican as a rule.

So I would say, like every other part of politics, there are two sides.

But Tiffany’s remarks about it being side by side comparisons of facts versus

opinions and endorsements I think is just a wonderful service that they offer.

I just thought Tiffany’s remarks were excellent.

organizations like hers.

I’ve seen the side by sides of Ipac, I belie

they don't do.

25




39:39 Barry

Hermanson sts, whether it is labor or whether it’s manufacturing or

industry.

e we lose in that kind of an emphasis is to say where does this

particular candidate place themselves in terms of the wider community and the wider

l

ct on the larger

community. I’d like to see ways that we can begin to talk about that within our

So I would pick issues that were on the ballot that would maybe have some impact

on the merchant community.

And I would try to fairly present both sides of the issue within our newsletter and then

actually have some discussion during meetings. And if it was a very important issue

to the community, we would then take a vote on an issue. We never took a vote on

candidates, but we would take a vote on issues that were on the ballot. If, again, it

was of something of very significant importance to our community.

What I’d like to see is actually a wider discussion of issues. We end up in our society

with a lot of special intere

whether it’s retail or whatever. And so it is important to list side by side how a

particular candidate has voted or what their positions are related to that specific

But I think wher

group of issues that will ultimately affect.

So for instance, in manufacturing, you may not talk about somebody’s environmenta

record, which ultimately that’s going to have a very big impa

communities, within our merchant associations.

I used to do that when I was president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro.

41:24 Tom Floyd So if we’re talking about a specific issue, regardless that it’s the environment or

something else, what impact does a company taking a stance on a political issue

have on motivating its employees to vote?

An example that I’ll use, here in California this past year PG&E took a stance and

pledge $250,000 toward the No on 8 campaign advocating for the right for same sex

couples to marry in California.

Regardless of what the issue is, is it becoming more common for companies to do

that?

And what type of impact does that have on their employees to vote or not vote?

26




42:07 Donna Karlin I’d like to throw my two cents in.

42:09. Tom Floyd Sure.

42:10 Donna Karlin

Because if they’re going to vote against what their organization is supporting, then

nto

I think it’s detrimental to getting people out to vote.

they have this fear of being earmarked as somebody who will not be promoted i

leadership, et cetera, and will be discounted for specific projects, et cetera, because

of their political affiliation or slant.

So I think it’s very detrimental and I think it doesn’t ensure that people give their best.

It’s being filtered through certain fears and holding back because of their

organization’s position.

42:51 Tiffany Adams

g

t

it is we’re encouraging folks to be

I’d agree with you and I’d actually argue against that trend.

I don't see that amongst manufacturing companies that there is a trend toward takin

that kind of a staunch stand.

I mean we really do look at it as I think employees do value what they hear from their

employers, and they do want to be on the same page as they’re all working toward

the common good of their company.

But I have not heard where there have been really staunch and heavy stances in tha

regard.

And I think the point was made quite clearly, it’s a bit dangerous if that becomes

every singe role.

I think we’ve really got to be careful on what

involved in and why we’re encouraging them.

27




43:38 Tom Floyd And that’s what I’ve heard as well, regardless of what the issue is.

s like, in general, for me my experience has been there’s been a hesitancy by

a lot of companies to really want to take a stance on any issue regardless of what the

o

It seem

issue is.

I’m starting to hear the music for our next commercial break, so let's go ahead and g

on pause. Stay tuned everyone.

More Insight on Coaching and Getting Workers Out to Vote in 2008 when we return.

46:37 Tom Floyd

ny Adams,

a Karlin, Michelle Randall and Dana Walsh.

can help during election

time. I’d like to just jump right into the conversation.

ith you in this segment.

aching employers on how to handle political

are you there?

Welcome back to Insight on Coaching. I’m Tom Floyd.

Today the topic is Getting Workers Out to Vote in 2008. With me are Tiffa

Barry Hermanson, Donn

On this segment of the show I’d like to discuss how coaches

Michelle, I’d like to kick us off w

In a previous show we discussed the role that some coaches are playing in

developing and growing political leaders.

Are there coaches who specialize in co

issues like motivating employees to vote?

Michelle,

47:18 Michelle

Randall

Yes.

47:20 Tom Floyd You’re scaring me!

47:21 Michelle

Randall

No, I’m here. I was waiting for the question. I missed it.

28




47:26 Tom Floyd My question is that we’ve talked about the fact that there’s coaches who specialize in

motivating employees to vote?

developing and growing political leaders.

Are there coaches who specialize in coaching employers on how to handle political

issues like

47:41 Michelle

Randall

I don't know. Donna, do you know?

47:44 Donna Karlin Well, because I work on both sides of the coin, a lot of my corporate clients like me to

empower their staff to get

should be a personal choice.

do some work in that arena within the corporate climate to

out there and take responsibility, be leaders personally as well as professionally in

knowing what your candidate’s views are, et cetera.

So I do a little bit of that, but I also work with my clients to make sure that they don't

impose their opinions or their slants on their staff and to make it very clear that it

48:23 Tom Floyd how was

workplace and things like that.

ly be advocating for certain candidates in

the office?

The first part of that is really, is that display of affiliation appropriate in the office?

econd part is, how could a coach help in that situation?

So let me give you an example. One of the things I wanted to cover on the s

how to have the political conversation in the

So can either one of you talk to us about how a coach could help in a situation, for

example, where many employees may open

The s

29




48:58 Michelle

Randall not people can display what their beliefs

I think it’s useful because that’s how you

ic to who you are.

As long as it’s done in a way that is respectful of other people having different

opinions.

about a product rollout or

tive standpoint from the organization.

I think that it’s probably a corporate governance issue.

It’s a corporate culture decision whether or

are, what their voting is. I personally think it would be very useful.

And it may be an unpopular viewpoint, but

actually build community is being authent

And I go back to being able to respectfully disagree on something as deep as the

values that drive political choices.

It makes it a lot easier to disagree when you’re talking

something along those lines.

So I think that for an authentic workplace it has to be matched with healthy

communication and from an ac

So if you’re going to have one, you need to have it in concert with the other.

50:08 Tom Floyd Donna, anything that you would add?

30




50:10 Donna Karlin bserving when I’m coaching

s of today from

different sides of the table, so to speak, turn around and have this generative

n their environment,

n

worry about being censured for it in any way, shape or form, blatant or

ive in alignment with your passions.

t to

t party, et cetera, and their platforms just by listening

love to see

Well, I agree to a great extent because a lot of what I’m o

my clients in their crazy world is how do they generate the dialogue to create

something new that the two people who might be debating the politic

dialogue to see not only how do they process this, what is in it for them, personal

commitment, but just having that conversation shows people i

people around them that you can be passionate and still work for an organizatio

without any

otherwise.

It also shows that you’re allowed to l

And other people around them could turn around and say, “you know what, I wan

know more about this party, tha

to the dialogue.”

I think it’s healthy. I think it’s contagious in its enthusiasm and I would

more it.

51:18 Dana Walsh Tom, could I mention something?

51:19 Tom Floyd Sure.

51:20 Dana Walsh Actually a part of my business, I’m a certified interior designer, but I have a design

coach business, so I’m pretty familiar with coaching concepts.

51:28 Tom Floyd Oh fantastic.

31




51:29 Dana Walsh I don't think it’s productive. Again, I’m speaking from someone who lives in San

Francisco, California where certainly a Republican point of view would really p

at a disadvantage in many ways.

So I think having that dialogue in the office almost isn't appropriate.

But I do think what would be, and if far more in the vein of coaching, is that instead

telling the certainly how to vote, which I don't think anybody really does that, but to

talk about the process of voting.

And I love Tif

ut you

of

fany’s idea of information about how to register and all that sort of

t things. I

think that’s very, very instructive and much more in the vein of coaching. It’s helping

ne other thing about all of these benefits of voting and why we

should give them a day off and all this.

e lost track in this country of what an incredible right it is to vote and what

a responsibility it is.

g people days off and paid time to do something

uld embrace and that many states have made very easy to do in terms

of getting registered.

ould feel that more clearly and maybe that’s what a company could do

is just convey to the people how important their vote is and how hard fought it was

and it’s a responsibility of them as citizens of this country.

process information and the means of voting and finding out the facts abou

them take power to do it themselves.

And I’d like to say o

I think we’v

And I don't think we should be givin

that they sho

I feel very strongly that people have to understand it’s a right that wars have been

fought over.

I think they sh

53:06 Tom Floyd I am clapping on this end. You can't hear me, but I swear I’m clapping.

Tiffany, anything that you would add?

32




53:12 Tiffany Adams e

how a voter is educated.

I think this has been a most useful show today because it does remind folks that w

all need to not only be registered but be educated voters.

And everyone should have a say in

Everyone can be helpful and it doesn’t have to be partisan.

So I wish everyone luck on Election Day and I hope that we get more and more of

our voters to the polls.

53:36 Tom Floyd ow

u can look us up on the Voice of America

ite at www.ieconsulting.biz

So thank all of you for joining us today. The main lesson I’m taking in terms of h

employers can really help is enabling the registration and voting process and

reminding everybody that this is a pretty spectacular right that we have, and to get

out there and vote.

A huge thank you, as always, to all of our listeners.

For more information about our show, yo

Business Channel.

You can visit our webs .

You can always feel free to email me as well at [email protected]

Don't forget, you can also download the podcast version of this show through Apple

iTunes.

Just open up iTunes, go to the iTunes store, click podcasts on the left side of the

screen and enter Insight on Coaching in the search field.

Thanks again, everyone. Have a great week.

getting workers out to vote transcript

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