I am working in a Korean MNC in the HR team. In my organization, every person plays politics. As I am new here, or a fresher, I am unable to understand the purpose behind why they all are behaving like this. Although I have asked for guidance from my immediate senior, he is also saying that it's a trend and we have to behave like this.
My question is, is it right to play politics in the organization? Why are they acting like this? Why are they not supporting? They always try to make issues and cause trouble so they can enjoy. They don't appreciate our work, but when they get in trouble, they lie or shift their responsibility to another person so they can enjoy.
Now, what should I do? How to handle this corporate politics?
From India, New Delhi
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38My question is, is it right to play politics in the organization? Why are they acting like this? Why are they not supporting? They always try to make issues and cause trouble so they can enjoy. They don't appreciate our work, but when they get in trouble, they lie or shift their responsibility to another person so they can enjoy.
Now, what should I do? How to handle this corporate politics?
From India, New Delhi
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Dear HR Mind,
Corporate politics is not an unusual thing. The situation you are facing prevails in almost every organization. As a fresher, I have only one piece of advice for you: WAIT AND SEE. Do not hurry to comment, suggest, or interfere until you have understood all aspects. Do not get stressed; slowly and gradually, you will understand every aspect of office politics and learn how to deal with it.
Regards,
From Pakistan, Karachi
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Corporate politics is not an unusual thing. The situation you are facing prevails in almost every organization. As a fresher, I have only one piece of advice for you: WAIT AND SEE. Do not hurry to comment, suggest, or interfere until you have understood all aspects. Do not get stressed; slowly and gradually, you will understand every aspect of office politics and learn how to deal with it.
Regards,
From Pakistan, Karachi
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What to do when they intentionally provoke for a comment on anything they ask, like "What is your personal opinion on this?" After some time, they use it as an official comment. If I am not replying to anything, they say, "You are mature for anything; you are not fit for the corporate world."
From India, New Delhi
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From India, New Delhi
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Dear HR Mind,
As a fresher, when you join an organization, you may initially feel uncomfortable, but after a few months, you will likely become more accustomed to the environment. To achieve this, it is important to remain calm, be patient, and refrain from engaging in any informal discussions that you feel are untrustworthy. It is advisable to maintain a polite demeanor and avoid participating in gossip, as others may misconstrue your words and present them as facts to seniors, colleagues, or juniors.
Regards,
Mohit
From India, Delhi
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As a fresher, when you join an organization, you may initially feel uncomfortable, but after a few months, you will likely become more accustomed to the environment. To achieve this, it is important to remain calm, be patient, and refrain from engaging in any informal discussions that you feel are untrustworthy. It is advisable to maintain a polite demeanor and avoid participating in gossip, as others may misconstrue your words and present them as facts to seniors, colleagues, or juniors.
Regards,
Mohit
From India, Delhi
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what to do for those people who provoke me.. and creating negative feedback about me.... top management getting wrong feedback about me that i am not capable and not doing right things ...
From India, New Delhi
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From India, New Delhi
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Hello HR Mind,
Like the other members mentioned, this is quite usual in any setup where there are people—not just corporates.
However, this is not to say that it's 'normal'.
To sum up the situations you are facing—you are just gathering corporate experience.
Coming to your statement 'they intentionally provoke,' let's look at any such situation from a different perspective.
While anyone or everyone can try to provoke, it's up to you on how to respond.
For example, let's say someone has abused a person (could be you). One person can just ignore the abuse and walk away. Another can give a serious look and still walk away. Yet another can retort 'verbally' and get away. Still yet another could get physical and bash the guy who abused. While another may go into a shell—not knowing how to respond.
Looking at the basic situation—it's the same, yet the response of each of the others who faced the abuse(s).
So, to repeat, it's up to you on how to respond to the provocations. You can't apply the same response mechanism to all the provocations you face—you will need to 'calibrate' your response according to the person who is provoking, according to the situation, according to the issue at hand, etc.
When you are asked for a 'personal opinion,' you gave it but realized that it was being used as your 'official opinion.' Now you have learned how to handle such situations better than in the past, if they repeat (which you can bet they will). One way could be to say 'what you think' doesn't matter—and give an opinion that's in the company's best interest, with a rider that you aren't experienced enough and may be wrong.
Frankly, it's impractical for anyone to give you a list of responses for various situations you would face—since what suits me may not suit your psyche to respond in the same way. Mahatma Gandhi could show the other cheek smilingly when slapped—not all can do that, I guess. Hope you get the point.
All the Best.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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Like the other members mentioned, this is quite usual in any setup where there are people—not just corporates.
However, this is not to say that it's 'normal'.
To sum up the situations you are facing—you are just gathering corporate experience.
Coming to your statement 'they intentionally provoke,' let's look at any such situation from a different perspective.
While anyone or everyone can try to provoke, it's up to you on how to respond.
For example, let's say someone has abused a person (could be you). One person can just ignore the abuse and walk away. Another can give a serious look and still walk away. Yet another can retort 'verbally' and get away. Still yet another could get physical and bash the guy who abused. While another may go into a shell—not knowing how to respond.
Looking at the basic situation—it's the same, yet the response of each of the others who faced the abuse(s).
So, to repeat, it's up to you on how to respond to the provocations. You can't apply the same response mechanism to all the provocations you face—you will need to 'calibrate' your response according to the person who is provoking, according to the situation, according to the issue at hand, etc.
When you are asked for a 'personal opinion,' you gave it but realized that it was being used as your 'official opinion.' Now you have learned how to handle such situations better than in the past, if they repeat (which you can bet they will). One way could be to say 'what you think' doesn't matter—and give an opinion that's in the company's best interest, with a rider that you aren't experienced enough and may be wrong.
Frankly, it's impractical for anyone to give you a list of responses for various situations you would face—since what suits me may not suit your psyche to respond in the same way. Mahatma Gandhi could show the other cheek smilingly when slapped—not all can do that, I guess. Hope you get the point.
All the Best.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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Thanks TS for framing the example for me. Certainly, this will give my thoughts a new approach to handle the situation. Since I am new in corporate life, this will take time.
One more thing, once in my general discussion with one of HR seniors, he suggested me, "You have to smell the air" - what is going around you. How is it possible? Could you please frame one example for me? This will be very helpful for me and give me a strategy to prepare myself in this corporate life.
From India, New Delhi
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One more thing, once in my general discussion with one of HR seniors, he suggested me, "You have to smell the air" - what is going around you. How is it possible? Could you please frame one example for me? This will be very helpful for me and give me a strategy to prepare myself in this corporate life.
From India, New Delhi
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Dear HR_Mind,
Already, a few seniors have given their opinions. Nevertheless, I would like to state the following:
a) Yes, politics is a part of every organization, but when you say that "every person plays politics every time," then clearly it is excessive.
b) This is a failure of your organization's leadership. They have allowed things to come to such a pass. Now changing the organization's culture is quite difficult.
c) Excessive politicking could be taking a toll on employee satisfaction or even customer satisfaction. This would mean low morale and not getting better ideas from the employees. It could be fostering employee attrition as well.
d) Changing the organization's culture is beyond the realm of your duties. So, better be a part of it. However, let me tell you that in this organization, you may not learn much.
e) If at all your leadership wishes to bring change, then the first thing they need to do is to conduct organization-wide training on the 7 Habits. The second training should be on Patrick Lencioni's "5 Dysfunctions of a Team." The third thing they can do is to foster value-centric decision-making.
f) The last but important thing your leadership can do is to foster a culture of feedback. The feedback should be given on whether the organization's values are being followed or not.
Final comments: This is a nice case study for the people who go ga-ga over working in "MNCs." Korean or otherwise, many MNCs have their own Augean stables. These may be located in some corner, but the stench pervades the entire organization!
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Already, a few seniors have given their opinions. Nevertheless, I would like to state the following:
a) Yes, politics is a part of every organization, but when you say that "every person plays politics every time," then clearly it is excessive.
b) This is a failure of your organization's leadership. They have allowed things to come to such a pass. Now changing the organization's culture is quite difficult.
c) Excessive politicking could be taking a toll on employee satisfaction or even customer satisfaction. This would mean low morale and not getting better ideas from the employees. It could be fostering employee attrition as well.
d) Changing the organization's culture is beyond the realm of your duties. So, better be a part of it. However, let me tell you that in this organization, you may not learn much.
e) If at all your leadership wishes to bring change, then the first thing they need to do is to conduct organization-wide training on the 7 Habits. The second training should be on Patrick Lencioni's "5 Dysfunctions of a Team." The third thing they can do is to foster value-centric decision-making.
f) The last but important thing your leadership can do is to foster a culture of feedback. The feedback should be given on whether the organization's values are being followed or not.
Final comments: This is a nice case study for the people who go ga-ga over working in "MNCs." Korean or otherwise, many MNCs have their own Augean stables. These may be located in some corner, but the stench pervades the entire organization!
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Hello HR Mind,
I guess no examples are needed for it— for the simple reason that it's tough. Since you are in HR yourself, you know that the first and foremost trait any HR person needs to develop and inculcate as a part of his/her psyche is to focus on 'how it is being said' than 'what is being said'—meaning learning to read the body language along with listening to the content of what's being said.
And this is something that takes time— all one can and needs to do is to keep up the effort to learn. After all, that's what experience, I guess.
All the best.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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I guess no examples are needed for it— for the simple reason that it's tough. Since you are in HR yourself, you know that the first and foremost trait any HR person needs to develop and inculcate as a part of his/her psyche is to focus on 'how it is being said' than 'what is being said'—meaning learning to read the body language along with listening to the content of what's being said.
And this is something that takes time— all one can and needs to do is to keep up the effort to learn. After all, that's what experience, I guess.
All the best.
Rgds,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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Hello,
It is said that when in Rome, one should do as the Romans do! This is a survival strategy and NOT a growth strategy, and therefore, I am not going to advise you to follow the same.
But to get to the basics, please note that:
1) The Organization and People are mutually dependent for survival and growth in a competitive environment.
2) Industrial Organizations are essentially economic organizations and justify their existence only when the output is greater than the input!
3) To ensure this, people, technology, and management skills are needed besides many other skills and inputs.
4) The hierarchy controls and coordinates the process of surplus generation by optimum and skillful usage of all resources, including human resources.
To that end, what is necessary are:
1) Clarity of GOALS.
2) Effective Leadership.
3) Trained manpower at all levels.
4) A strong communication culture, worthwhile motivational inputs, and effective interpersonal relationships.
To ensure that all this is well orchestrated is the responsibility of the Head of the Organization by whatever name called. He must enlist competence, create work designs, establish an inspiring, supportive work culture. If he fails to handle his responsibilities, the Organization is doomed, and with it, the people working there. If anyone feels he is above and greater than the organization, then he is most likely to fail.
Having said all this, the question remains: what can an individual do when the Organization is already affected as described above? Well, the individual has a defined scope of work and responsibility to serve the organization. It is an empirical reality that one works best when he is aware of the directions and goals of the organization. And if he is in a situation you describe, it would be a delusion that by getting some tips and pointers from well-wishers, he will be able to cause the desired transformation.
If the leadership fails in its task, I cannot make it an excuse and fail myself also.
At every forum, one must courageously speak his mind, and so long as he is seen to be holding the organization's interests above everything, sooner than later, he will be noticed. But while speaking his mind at every available forum, he must NOT be judgmental and should avoid the temptation to criticize in an exaggerated manner.
The first time one speaks like this, people may not clap or appreciate. There may be suspicion about your intention, and if some people feel threatened by your expressing your thoughts freely and firmly, one may even encounter opposition - open and secret!
One must be diplomatic, committed, studious, and restrained but fearless in stating his viewpoint/s. One must become proactive and keep up this style of performance for at least a year or so, and if the "powers that be" are still refusing to consider the reality being presented by you, you must take a responsible and conscious decision and start looking for alternate employment at a more cultured organization.
Playing politics and squealing to superiors levels above yours will never help in the long run!
The moral of the story is, try to change the environment for the better from within in a strategic, diplomatic but honest and committed way for a reasonable time, and if nothing happens to generate hope for improvement, then look for alternatives and move over.
Please remember that the time, talent, and resources you have deployed to change things for the better are NOT a waste since during this journey also you would have enriched yourself with additional experience that will stand you in good stead in the future!
Regards,
Samvedan
October 27, 2013
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
It is said that when in Rome, one should do as the Romans do! This is a survival strategy and NOT a growth strategy, and therefore, I am not going to advise you to follow the same.
But to get to the basics, please note that:
1) The Organization and People are mutually dependent for survival and growth in a competitive environment.
2) Industrial Organizations are essentially economic organizations and justify their existence only when the output is greater than the input!
3) To ensure this, people, technology, and management skills are needed besides many other skills and inputs.
4) The hierarchy controls and coordinates the process of surplus generation by optimum and skillful usage of all resources, including human resources.
To that end, what is necessary are:
1) Clarity of GOALS.
2) Effective Leadership.
3) Trained manpower at all levels.
4) A strong communication culture, worthwhile motivational inputs, and effective interpersonal relationships.
To ensure that all this is well orchestrated is the responsibility of the Head of the Organization by whatever name called. He must enlist competence, create work designs, establish an inspiring, supportive work culture. If he fails to handle his responsibilities, the Organization is doomed, and with it, the people working there. If anyone feels he is above and greater than the organization, then he is most likely to fail.
Having said all this, the question remains: what can an individual do when the Organization is already affected as described above? Well, the individual has a defined scope of work and responsibility to serve the organization. It is an empirical reality that one works best when he is aware of the directions and goals of the organization. And if he is in a situation you describe, it would be a delusion that by getting some tips and pointers from well-wishers, he will be able to cause the desired transformation.
If the leadership fails in its task, I cannot make it an excuse and fail myself also.
At every forum, one must courageously speak his mind, and so long as he is seen to be holding the organization's interests above everything, sooner than later, he will be noticed. But while speaking his mind at every available forum, he must NOT be judgmental and should avoid the temptation to criticize in an exaggerated manner.
The first time one speaks like this, people may not clap or appreciate. There may be suspicion about your intention, and if some people feel threatened by your expressing your thoughts freely and firmly, one may even encounter opposition - open and secret!
One must be diplomatic, committed, studious, and restrained but fearless in stating his viewpoint/s. One must become proactive and keep up this style of performance for at least a year or so, and if the "powers that be" are still refusing to consider the reality being presented by you, you must take a responsible and conscious decision and start looking for alternate employment at a more cultured organization.
Playing politics and squealing to superiors levels above yours will never help in the long run!
The moral of the story is, try to change the environment for the better from within in a strategic, diplomatic but honest and committed way for a reasonable time, and if nothing happens to generate hope for improvement, then look for alternatives and move over.
Please remember that the time, talent, and resources you have deployed to change things for the better are NOT a waste since during this journey also you would have enriched yourself with additional experience that will stand you in good stead in the future!
Regards,
Samvedan
October 27, 2013
From India, Pune
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