Topic: Negative Office Politics

Topic: Negative Office Politics
Author: Dr. Carla Pennington
Date: 1/18/20

Are you a leader who engages in "negative" office politics?

   If you are unfamiliar with the title of this post, negative office politics includes offering a position/promotion to someone who is not qualified for a position because they are your friend/family member when you have internal candidates more qualified for a position. This topic arose this week when I had an individual to inquire about services my company offers.
   Office politics can lead to a loyal employee hating their job and disengaging in what was once a dream job. Office politics lead to a toxic work environment, difficulties with employee retention and cause the dissatisfied employee to experience health issues from frustration of a toxic work environment. Jeffrey Pfeffer, an organizational behavior professor and author of Dying for a Paycheck, found in his research companies with poor management are responsible for approximately 8% of annual health cost and approximately 120,000 deaths related to employees feeling trapped at a job with a toxic work environment (Torres, 2019).
   Employees are seeking companies that allow internal promotion and acknowledgment of a job well done. Employees seeking career growth and development do not stay at organizations who do not offer professional development or employee engagement actives.

For Employees / Job Seekers: How to avoid becoming a victim of an organization that engages in negative office politics:
(1) Seek new career opportunities related to your career goals
(2) Interview current employees of organizations you're interested in to see what the office environment is like
(3) If you land an interview with an organization, ask the hiring manager what their leadership style is like
(4) Before accepting a position, inquire about growth opportunities and provide a timeline of where you wish to be within the organization, and ask if they can meet your desires
(5) Hire a career coach to help you polish your resume, provide business/interview techniques to land the job of your dreams


For Leaders: 5 ways to improve your leadership style if your company engages in negative office politics?
(1) Immediately change your office environment by offering internal candidates promotional opportunities and alleviating an environment where rumors are started and people are not informed of important organizational changes
(2) Keep your company website updated so current employees will know what opportunities are open at your company
(3) Interview all qualified candidates in a peer setting so everyone can engage and learn about the candidate and the candidate can learn about the company from various current employee perspectives.
(4) Offer exit interviews so you can listen, learn and understand why an employee has chosen to depart from your organization
(5) Offer professional development opportunities for employees to continue to learn. This alleviate employees from getting bored and feeling like they are complacent in their career.

Sincerely,
Dr. Carla M. Pennington
1/18/20

Reference:
Torres, M. (2019). This Is What Happens to Your Body When You Hate Your Job. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hate-your-job-body-symptoms_n_5c40a314e4b0a8dbe16e8373


About the Author: Dr. Carla Pennington is a researcher and subject matter expert in job satisfaction, management and leadership. She owns Prestigious Communications, LLC which is a communication agency that provides services such as organizational management, leadership, and business communication. For more information, visit www.prestigiousevent.net.