Office politics
is something which is an indispensable part of any organization across the
globe but unfortunately there is no anti-virus software which can reduce threats
caused by political viruses. It exits at each level and in every possible form irrespective
of the industry or the nature of business. Most of the entities today are
reeling under skyrocketing rates of attrition, but still don’t agree/introspect
the existence of politics which is dampening their glossy power point slides
with unrealistic and imaginary growth numbers. It’s really important to decode
the root cause of this epidemic which is not apparently visible but costlier
than any tangible asset owned by an entity.
The strangest
fact, which is very hard to digest, is that the element of politics is induced
and fueled by an entity itself but the so called “professionalism”, doesn’t
allow it to accept it. Every single entity visibly/invisibly has gamut of
policies, procedures, code of ethics and so on which is obviously made to set
protocols for minutest possible thing being done on a day to day basis. However,
in reality there are countless situations where an entity has to get pragmatic
and to deviate with the set ground rules. These deviations are done, agreed and
sealed at higher levels in closed glass aquariums where it is assumed that no
one can see their fish mouths moving but the seeds of political epidemic are
sown from this stage. These seeds are watered by the same people in the closed
glass rooms as they need something do discuss with their besties. These besties
are normally at the same level and were not present in the room & this
chain of discussion goes on which spreads like wildfire in a forest.
Although
everyone is in the impression that they are senior members and the specific
information is known to them only but alas, it’s like dealing in shares based
on some tips/advice assuming you are the only member of the executive group who
have access to this information. Now it’s implied that if deviations are known
to the ones who love shortcuts in their life, they find an alternative route to
success and start joining/forming the cartel of filth i.e. politics. These
cartels start working on their objective i.e. rotting the iron roots of an
entity under the cover of professionalism. Although their motive is apparent to
everyone but as we all know justice is blind so prima facie nothing can be done
as these astute stupid’s can consume tons of burger without leaving ketchup
stains at any place. As an entity grows, these cartels also mushroom as the
current members need more morons to operate a separate entity within an entity
with their self-written rules and regulations.
The domain of
office politics is mammoth and is spread more than just doing favoritism to few
non-eligible people and making them at par or even better than the best people
in the organization. This epidemic has casted shadow on every possible thing
i.e. hiring, yearly appraisal, wrong projection of few members who have good
skill set apart from work, recognizing the wrong talent, unfair distribution of
work load, giving preferences for better opportunities, passing on filthy work
to non-bootlickers and last but not the least and the most dangerous of all is the
ego. In every organization there are numerous people who are very high on their
ego, so called self-respect and attitude. Their only motto is to survive with a
fake identity just like the poor quality of veneer pasted on any furniture
which may make it look glossy at the start but very soon it will come apart and
then nothing can fix it.
The worse
affected are the ones who love their job and day to day work. They can smell
lot of things and even being optimistic and positive they see negativity
hovering around them & headless chickens flying high. The worse of all is
to see new joinees who will be at par or even senior to them but in reality
they have lesser experience. They were hired just to meet number targets for
the upcoming financial year without even realizing that an entity is digging
its own graveyard. It resembles to real life scenario where a family member is
concerned with the smallest possible thing happening in the whole world but
don’t give a damn as to what is happening at home. I think that’s the reason it
is being said that an employee leaves an entity for a person/group of people and
has nothing against an entity per se.
In reality, any
problem can be solved only when it is identified, understood, acknowledged,
diagnosed and rectified. If the problem is created by the entity itself as a
ticket to enter the kingdom of successful organizations, then surely the
element of politics is going to foster & bloom like anything. There is no
dearth of smart people who have their own way of playing politics in a very
sublime way. That means in real the competition is for the best politician and
not the best talent. Today every single entity devises ways of cost cutting by every
possible means, but what about the cost which can alone take care of all the
targets set for the years to come. If the entities still want to walk in dark
and ignore the monster standing at the end of tunnel, days are not far when
political bankruptcy will outshine financial bankruptcy, when the financials of
an entity might look quite robust and bright but in reality the entity might be
on the verge incurring huge losses which are not even envisaged. If an entity keeps snakes in their backyard
and expects them only to bite the outsiders, it’s not going to happen. So think
before you are at the brink of getting sinked!!!
