Is Office Politics Good or Bad? Is it Prevalent Everywhere? Obviously Yes.- Article 4 (MBA-Course Module: MN7234ES- People and Organizations: Principles and Practices in Global Contexts

 

Is Office Politics Good or Bad? Is it Prevalent Everywhere? Obviously Yes.

Well. Let us first put the context of what actually is Office Politics.

Source: (Nzalambi, No Year)

Corporate Politics is the use of power, influence and networking within an organization to achieve personal or group goals often at the expense of others or the overall organizational goals. Moreover, it has a greater impact on organizational climate, employee morale, decision-making processes and career development opportunities within an organization (LinkedIn, 2023). Now that we have see what actually is Corporate Politics, let us now delve into the interesting aspect. Is workplace politics actually good?

Is there something called Good Office Politics? Yes, there is.

Good politics is all about building networking and building stakeholder relationships around the corporate hierarchy and across the industry (Corporate Finance Institute, No Year). All across the organization work in tandem in the hierarchy structure for the success of the organization. Everyone is respected regardless of their status. Generally, this is how it will be in an ideal corporate environment (Griffin, 2018).

What we need to understand is that the existence of workplace politics is always there?. We as individuals must learn to face the challenges that the environment throws at us to further our development. Simply, that is when you will come up in the corporate ladder. At work, there will always be complex issues such as to do with productivity and performance, diversity and team interactions, trust and relationships, discrimination, biases and backstabbing. All this are part and parcel of the organization's environment which we refer as corporate politics. A thoughtful individual who understands this will be the future leader who will climb the corporate ladder and one day end up being the CEO, CFO or Managing Director. Finally, this is all part of the experiential learning of the individual. This is what we refer in Maslow’s Motivation theory's last stage called Self-Actualization. So we see that when we refer or talk about office politics usually it carries a negative connotation. But, there is a positive aspect to it. Next, we will discuss about the bad politics which we are generally aware of?

Oh Bad Politics!!!

 Actual corporate situation whether be it globally or in Sri Lanka has changed dramatically in the recent past. Office politics is about one person referred to as the Boss dictating everything in the organization. He is the one who makes all the decisions, design rules and systems within the organization. Everyone in the organization has to follow him/her blindly. In such a situation, the workplace becomes toxic. In a toxic workplace, there will be favoritism, blame culture, no constructive feedback, no fair treatment in terms of pay, discrimination based on demographic factors. Moreover, there will be no trust, teamwork, and collaboration. Ultimately, this will result in poor productivity and organizational performance (Sandhu, 2023).

Furthermore, some situations I have observed across my professional life are: there are individuals who will pretend or act as loyal followers both to the Boss and within the team. These individuals will try to play the dirty game. They will either fabricate bad news or report it to their boss. Otherwise, these individuals will try to blame their mistakes on someone else and report it to their boss. Such individuals feel they have impressed their bosses and that they will get rewards and other benefits for their loyalty. Such is the practice of bad organizational politics. This is why there are generally a lot of negative connotations to it.

My Takeaways from This Research

Before I started to write about this topic, I thought that it was about an abusive environment created by a few individuals to advance their wishes and climb up the ladder. But, having done quite a research for writing this blog, I came to realize that it is not bad. It is about networking and building relationships across the corporate hierarchy and industry. As professionals, we all must challenge ourselves. We should always remember that office politics is universal across all institutions. For an individual, it is all about understanding, learning, and navigating the corporate political culture to reach the top. Well like an individual trying to sail a boat through rough winds and deep oceans to reach his destination which we call Self-Actualization.

References:

Corporate Finance Institute (No Year) Office Politics. Available at:

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/office-politics/  (Accessed: 25 November 2023).

Griffin, J. (2018) ‘Why Office Politics is a Good Thing?’, Forbes, 15 June. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jillgriffin/2018/06/15/why-office-politics-is-a-good-thing/?sh=7fef172159ab (Accessed: 25 November 2023).

LinkedIn (2023) Corporate Politics. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/corporate-politics-emarketingads (Accessed: 27 November 2023).

Nzalambi, N. (No Year) ‘Play Office Politics to Win’, Standard Media, No Date. Available at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sunday-magazine/article/2001338484/play-office-politics-to-win (Accessed: 25 November 2023).

Sandhu, P. (2023) ‘9 Signs You are in a Toxic Work Environment- and What to Do About It’, The Muse, 24 January. Available at: https://www.themuse.com/advice/toxic-work-environment (Accessed: 25 November 2023).