Power point presentation on Organizational Politics by Emmaline Datey, PHR (Leadership and HR Consultant)

1. Organizational Politics
Adapt or die?
Emmaline Datey, PHR

2. Learning Outcomes
 Audience will have detailed knowledge of both positive and negative organizational
politics and their impact on organizational performance.
 Audience will gain knowledge, applicable for both staff and Management, on
dealing with organizational politics.
 Audience will have insights to the dynamics of power and politics in the business
world
 Audience will be able to learn from experiences gained in different contexts
 Audience will develop the confidence to deal with organizational politics for
maximum impact.

3. Introduction
 Organizational politics otherwise referred to as office politics is a
reality of the workplace. It will never go away. It's a part of company
life.
 Organizational politics play a huge role in business, from governing
how decisions are made to how employees interact with one another.
 Organizational politics may directly influence who has the power and
determine whether the overall culture of the workplace encourages
productivity.
 In a February 2010 "Bloomberg BusinessWeek" article, Beth
Weissenberger asserts that everyone engages in office
(Organizational) politics. Even if you are an employee who keeps to
your small group of co-workers and tries not to be noticed, you are
attempting to remain in your position, and you therefore have an
agenda.

4. What is Organizational Politics
 Organizational politics refers to a variety of activities
associated with the use of influence tactics to improve
personal or organizational interests.
 Organizations are political structures which provide
opportunities for people to develop careers and therefore
provide platforms for the expression of individual
interests and motives.

5. Why Politics is Inevitable…
Two factors leading to why employees engage in political behaviours are:
 Individual antecedents of political behaviour. These include political skill,
internal locus of control, high investment in the organization, and
expectations of success.
 Organizational antecedents. These include scarcity of resources, role
ambiguity, frequent performance evaluations and promotions, and democratic
decision making.
With organizational politics, individuals ally themselves with like-minded others
in an attempt to win the scarce resources. They’ll engage in behaviour typically
seen in government organizations, such as bargaining, negotiating, alliance
building, and resolving conflicting interests.

6. Is Organizational Politics Always
Cancerous to Businesses?
 Effective politics isn’t about winning at all costs but about maintaining
relationships while achieving results. Although often portrayed negatively,
organizational politics are not inherently bad.
 Employees who learn to navigate the politics of an organization are more
productive than those who are left out of the loop.
 The development of a political culture easy for employees to understand
encourages productivity.
 Establishing clear policies and chains of command makes it easier for
employees to find the answers they need and spend more time on producing
quality work.
 Conflicting or diverse points of view, when managed well, leads to healthy
debate which yields innovation and exchange of creative ideas and solutions
for business improvement.

7. Signs of a Negative Political Environment
 Mind games and manipulation
 Lack of inspiration and support in managerial approach
 Setting up people to fail
 Not sharing information that is relevant in order to maintain control
 Responsibility avoidance and dilution
 Not hiring and promoting strong performers to protect one’s position.
 Favouritism and nepotism
 Backstabbing, Spreading rumours to damage someone’s position.
 Preference of obedience over loyalty
 False representation of accomplishment to make oneself look better then others.
Taking credit for other people’s successful work.
 Micromanagement and excessive control

8. Effects of Negative Organizational
Politics
 Disengaged and low performing staff: Research has it that employees in a
negative political environment are less committed to the organization, have
lower job satisfaction, perform worse on the job, have higher levels of job
anxiety, and have a higher incidence of depressed mood.
 Loss of great talent: Negative Office Politics make BEST PEOPLE quit.
 Huge financial loss to the business: According to the American Management
Association, there is a business case for making the necessary changes to
reform office politics where you work. Consider: the estimated productivity
loss because of stress-related factors is more than $100 billion in the United
States alone. While that statistic itself is alarming, most companies will not
be moved until they truly understand the connection between Politics and
Performance.

9. Managing Workplace
Politics
• Research reported in HR Magazine, found that
managers waste 20% of their time managing politics.
• Today, work in organizations requires skill in handling
conflicting agendas and shifting power bases.
• John Kotter wrote in Power and Influence, “Without
political awareness and skill, we face the inevitable
prospect of becoming immersed in bureaucratic
infighting, parochial politics and destructive power
struggles, which greatly retard organizational
initiative, innovation, morale, and performance”
(Kotter, 1985).

10. Don’t get involved in toxic workplace
politics. Get ahead of it.
 Be professional. Don’t pitch camps
 Focus on your focus. Shoot your shot. Be consistently consistent.
 Develop and Maintain the MVP status. Be a performer.
 Follow laid down rules, ethics, processes and procedures.
 Understand how the informal network works. Do not be scared of politically
powerful people of the organization.
 Approach negative politics players with a sense of emotional intelligence

11. CONCLUSIVE REMARKS
 Business decisions need to be supported by data and a compelling business
case.
 In a well-run organization, facts and principles are worth more than titles and
personalities. What gets people ahead is looking for ways to work smarter,
faster and better.
 It’s important to be aware of the potentially destructive aspects of
organizational politics in order to minimize their negative effect.
 Individuals with political skills tend to do better in gaining more personal
power as well as managing stress and job demands, than their politically
naive counterparts. They also have a greater impact on organizational
outcomes.

12. SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT

13. REFERENCES
 An introduction to Organizational behaviour:
http://open.lib.umn.edu/organizationalbehavior/chapter/13-4-
organizational-politics/
 The 4 Types of Organizational Politics by Michael Jarrett
 The Impact of Power and Politics in Organizational Productivity by Stacy
Zeiger
 American Management Association:
http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/the-organizational-cost-of-office-
politics.aspx
 Power, Influence & Politics in the Workplace by E.M. Rawes
 Office Politics make BEST PEOPLE quit by Oleg Vishnepolsky