Office politics, the politics between coworkers in the companies, is all about the actions an employee takes to make one’s vested rights and position safe and to eliminate one’s competitors.
+ The Patterns of Office Political
1. The struggle on promotion (43.7%)
2. The quarrel on decision of intention (29.4%)
3. The human relations (grasp low) (26.8%)
4. The quarrel between cliques (24.2%)
Because of Korea’s political history with many vicissitudes, many people have thought of “politics” with collusion and flattery. Consequently, people regard “good politics” with criticism, but our recognition on office politics obstructed profits which was covered by prejudices.
Although you have outstanding abilities, if you do not secure confidence and popularity, you do not have acknowledgment from others. However, office politics influence a balance in companies through promoting restraint. The development of organizations were promoted by office politics. People who blame office politics say, “I’m a person who does not lie” or “My personality is candid”. These words might also mean, “Not conditioned to timing and atmosphere” or “Shortage of consideration and conversation skill.”
In addition, in the Harvard Business Review (a management technical journal from Harvard University), Abraham Zaleznik said, “All people have a propensity to be offensive. So, trouble is a common condition. Therefore, a CEO should promote cohesion and morale in workers through management of workers.” Namely, office politics is a common phenomenon.
But, in Korea was exception. Although “Office politics” is a prevailed word in the U.S.A. and Japan, a concept of office politics was not noticed in Korean. Experts in Korea individually knew it, but they did not regard it as a subject for study.
A reason of this disregard related to the climate in enterprises, which avoid acknowledging office politics in their firms. They hide their problem. But, a survey from INCRUIT (the employment information website), in 2006, said office politics subsisted with expressing “Politics in the firm existed”(73.8%). Many people closely feel office politics. This contradiction made opportunity to bring out the disorder of an organization in the depths. Workers have considerable stress, but no actions to solve it.
In overseas this management was used to stability and development. Overseas “Office Politics Consultant” is in great demand for agonized workers, who are suffering from human relationship problems and office politics. But, in Korea, there are no solutions such as “The Office Politics Consultant”. In this situation, seeking clues to solve the problems in human relationships is difficult. This is another reason why people regard “Politics” with “negative” feelings.
+For your positive Office Politics
1. Grasp your position
-If you are excessively aggressive about your position and influence, you could get attack from someone unexpected.
2. Do not grasp clique for support
- Grasping to a clique means you are all in that group, and this concept is dangerous to your position if your people, do not fit well with the company overall. Also, remember that promotion exists with demotion, and members of your group can turn on you if you do not maintain an even progress with the others in the company.
3. Utilizing one´s superior with obedience
4. Show your skills
- Skills remain faithful to people.
5. Learn communication skills can bring benefits to you
- Egoism within departments exists. If you have a positive opinion such as, “It is a good idea if improvement is added”, you can gain others to your side.
6. Publicize your “road map”
-publicize yourself and your thinking. If a vacant seat within the company opens that relates to your idea happens people will think of you.
7. Don’t let people see you leave
-Enterprises select the best-suited people. A condition of the best-suited people is long labor.
There are ethics in office politics. Mean actions generate attacks. A relief does not exist because you lose benevolence from mean actions. An actual standard of office politics is not different from morality. Offices politics is not simply negative, but learning laws that keep your company together. For the positive side of offices politics, we have to open our viewpoints and actions to our faults and mend them with the help of an “Office Politics Consultant”.