Organizational politics – Your Top Talent Is leaving You

organizational politics
I think I have never met anyone who does not complain of the organizational politics they face everyday. Encountering organizational politics is a routine matter in our professional lives. Whether you are working in a giant multinational or a small organization, this is something you can’t avoid & must face, if you wish to continue working in the same organization. Hence, having a political scenario around isn’t something horrible really, as everyone is facing it but the way you tackle it, is something not everyone is capable of. So, sit tight, as today we will discuss possible solutions to organizational politics.

How can you handle organizational politics?

Your workplace is your home where you spend your whole day so it must be a healthy place for you; worth living and worth growing. Breeding the seeds of politics in the organization eventually causes suffocation, leading to employee demotivation and high turnovers.

1) Positive mindset

Being in a culture with the negative vibes stretching out isn’t at all thriving for employee motivation and growth. Creating a positive work culture with everyone pulling others up is an ideal case which is mostly not present. So, if you join an organization with the hope of getting support from everyone, that is not the fact and you might feel demotivated when facing the reality. This whole process only requires you to understand that you have to be positive and it happens everywhere so you aren’t the only one facing it. So, the first tip to manage this workplace politics is shaping your mind, making it positive and preparing yourself to face the challenges. When you are motivated to react to the professional challenges positively, it always results in your growth.

2) Be a part of change

Coping with political behaviors in your workplace is never pleasant and if you are a victim, you are well aware of the grudges you begin to hold as a result of negativity of others. This is the behavior reshaping stage. At this point, if you make an effort to develop good relationships with the colleagues who are causing you harm, you for sure, can get rid of this suffocating situation. And don’t do this because you are afraid of them but do it for your own professional development which demands that you have to displace all the personal grudges and negativity and take part in creating a healthy work environment for everyone.

Once you become friends with your “workplace politicians”, you are all in power to reshape their behaviors. So, this is the time to get others accept you, including the ones causing you harm. Ignoring the negativity is never a good idea. Instead, gaining strength to bring a positive change is the best solution.

3) Managerial involvement

Involving your manager/ boss is not always a good option. Sometimes, it could harm you if the manager favors that political guy. Therefore, going straight to the manager and complaining about the organizational politics is not preferable in every case. In most of the cases, managers are themselves involved in or supporting politics at workplace. So, when you smell this pungent organizational politics odor, take your time and analyze every possibility. Sometimes sitting back and giving things enough time solves the situation itself. Things are really dynamic in organizations with many hidden agendas. So, only go for the managerial help if your manager is a real support.

4) Human resource policies

The best way to fight organizational politics is the formulation of HR policies by the top management. This ensures that everyone is bound to follow them and disciplinary actions could be taken against those violating the policies. This also makes it easy for the people to reach out to the human resource department through proper channel. A good whistle blowing policy covers the reporting of organizational politics confidentially, without damaging the reputation of employee and disclosing his identity. Being supported by the top management, such policies always prove to be effective in protecting employees in the long run.

Unfortunately, not many organizations have the whistle blowing policy in place since the top management is not still wise enough to understand the usefulness of such policies. Trust me, you can earn the trust of your employees if you act proactively and take such measures for their job satisfaction.

5) Training to encounter organizational politics

Training the people must always be a priority for good organizations in order to help them grow. Reinforcement of morality in organizations can be effectively done through trainings as they involve collective learning of all employees, thus, a cause of motivation to adopt the desired behavior.

Top talent largely leaves because of organizational politics

Do you know today researches suggest that around 80% of the employees leave because of cultural unfit? Organizational politics is one of the greatest contributors to this. And do you know that if you are a top performer, you are more exposed to organizational politics? Realistically, people develop fear when they see someone in competition. So, as you grow professionally, gain some strength to experience all such pressures.

Takeaways for the top management

So, I am confident that you wouldn’t mind me placing the entire burden of organizational politics on the top management. As a part of top management, you have the authority to make the best policies and implement them. Have the courage to take the blame if your top talent leaves you. Understand that you are not smart enough to retain competence. And most of all, accept your power: the power to take decisions and shape your organizational culture. Make it politics free. Yes! It can be.

Takeaways for the employees

Well, you just need to be positive and get going. Sit and make a decision: whether you can withstand the organizational politics or not? Come up with a yes and get going. Chances are that if you have organizational politics around, your top management is not interested in employee care. Work with peace till you get some other good opportunity. The key here is to find peace and keep growing because this is why the challenges exist: to make you strong.

Can we help you? 

You can seek our professional advice if you are facing challenges at work. Simply visit our Professional Advice page and get in  touch with us. Lets rediscover your peace.