How Can We Detect and Stop Office Politics Before It Escalates? Seeking Advice from Experienced Professionals

Dear Seniors,

Please let me know how to stop internal politics in the office. By the time we were aware of it, it had already taken a big shape, and solving such issues is like handling sensitive matters.

A few days back, we were forced to terminate two employees. Keeping employee careers in mind, I requested my management and asked the employees to submit their resignations. We relieved them on the same day. We didn't find any other way except letting them go.

Both of them started acting like bosses, creating unnecessary rumors about their department heads, HR, and the management. They demotivated their subordinates, argued with co-workers over silly issues, and created their own rules and regulations. Initially, the management didn't take it too seriously as they were our old employees, and they trusted them rather than HR. We kept the management updated timely after such issues came to light, but it was of no use. In the end, we were the ones who got blamed. The blame was that we didn't know at the early stage. Hmm...

Detecting and Addressing Internal Politics

Kindly let me know how we can sense politics (of any sort) at an early stage. What steps can be taken to cut it down then and there? How to handle and convince management if they are not ready to listen to what we say as they trust their old employees. Actually, a few old employees take the liberty of the importance that management gives them, and it becomes difficult to deal with such people.

Seniors, I need your advice to handle such crucial and delicate situations. Ours is an IT company with 150 employees. Please help.

Regards,
Babu

Dear Babu,

My replies are given in black font:

A few days back, we were forced to terminate 2 employees. Keeping their careers in mind, I requested my management and asked the employees to put in their resignation. We relieved them on the same day. We didn't find any other way except letting them go. You should have conducted a domestic inquiry before accepting their resignation. You should have given them a chance to defend their case. Later on, you could have terminated them. Now, since you gave the short shrift to this basic process of discipline, they have acquired sympathy from other staff. However, what has happened in your company happens in most companies, and conducting a domestic inquiry in an IT company and then terminating someone is unheard of.

Both of them started acting like bosses, creating unnecessary rumors about their department heads, HR, and the management. They demotivated their subordinates, argued with co-employees over silly issues, and created their own rules and regulations, etc. This is the failure of your leadership. How can anyone make their own rules? Your management should have demarcated areas of authority—where it starts and where it ends. When this is not done, problems of this kind crop up. The incident speaks of the culture in your company. Why did none of the juniors ever raise this matter or rather raise grievances against these senior staff? Do you have a well-articulated grievance handling machinery in place? If yes, have you communicated it to your staff? If you have communicated, then how many grievances come up every year?

Initially, the management didn't take it too seriously as they were our old employees, and they trusted them rather than the HR. We kept the management timely updated after such issues came to light, but it was of no use. At last, we were the ones who got blamed. The blame was that we didn't get to know at the early stage. Hmmmm... "Fish stinks from the head," goes the age-old saying. This is what happened in the case at hand too. If someone vitiates the organization's culture, leadership should have stepped in timely. The delayed action has resulted in this fiasco. To be people-oriented is one thing, and tolerating indiscipline is another.

Kindly let me know how we can sense politics (any sort) at the early stage itself. What steps can be taken to cut it down then and there? How to handle and convince management if they are not ready to listen to what we say as they trust their old employees. Actually, a few old employees take the liberty of the importance that management gives them, and likely it becomes difficult to deal with such people. You need to have measures of performance well in place—measures of performance individually and for the department also. Measures of performance bring focus to everyone's work, and politics gets sidelined automatically. Secondly, employee retention should be based on the ability to perform to the desired level. In your case, the employees work because they did not resign.

Secondly, there is nothing like convincing management. Management should be mature enough to understand the implications of detrimental politics. Your management is more driven by heart than head. I don't know whether you have studied the Mouton-Blake Management Grid. If you have, then you will find that your management style borders on the quadrant of "Impoverished Style" and "Country Club" style.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Hi Dinesh, thanks a lot. Whatever you said makes a lot of sense. I do agree with you. But there are a few matters left undiscussed, so let me make it clear. Actually, without proper inquiry and records, we, the HR people as well as management, would have never arrived at such a crucial decision. I personally hate terminating anyone.

We had a meeting with both employees to hear what they had to say to defend themselves, but to our surprise, they insisted that neither HR nor management could interfere in their team issues. One of them said, "I am the project manager of my team, and the other is the Tech Lead. It's our team, and we can formulate anything we wish to. For you, we have to deliver the work on time, that's it. If you feel that employees leave because of our set rules, then bring us new ones. After all, you people are here for that. We are the key people in this team, so if you want us to continue, then don't interfere in our team issues. Never and ever teach us what to do." They were not in a position to hear what we said as they didn't like to be questioned, and moreover, the management didn't support them.

Suddenly, management interrupted them, saying, "If you are sticking to what you say, then we don't need you anymore. We terminate you on grounds of a bad attitude and violating the policies." The management left the place, giving no chance for them to speak.

We called all their team members for a meeting to find out why they didn't speak out when issues started to arise from the early stage itself. Their reply was, "Sir, management including HR always say that these two are like pillars to the company. We know the level of importance that you have for them. We don't even know the way you people react as that is the level of trust you have in them. Moreover, we are junior people, and we have to think ten thousand times before we point out our seniors. Even if we raise the issue, you will never come to a conclusion based on a personal issue, and for sure, we cannot expect others will have the guts to speak out. What evidence can we show and so on..."

After all the discussions held, I came up with a suggestion to have an internal portal where employees can lodge their issues, and the same has to be monitored weekly to arrive at a decision. This will put an end to these sorts of issues, and employees can trust that justice will be done for them. Actually, I didn't have confidence that they would accept my idea as I am a junior person in my team, having joined just two months back. Even then, I made up my mind to make an attempt and approached them. Luckily, they accepted it.

Now, all issues raised by our employees are given high priority, and we solve them then and there without mentioning the names of the employees. Employees are now feeling free to reach management via this internal portal to escalate and resolve such issues. If an employee raises silly matters and tries to project them as issues, we call him/her for a meeting so they understand and don't repeat it.

This incident has been an eye-opener for our management too. I just wanted to know if there are any other ways to sense the politics happening within a team or between employees. Please share your experiences too.

Regards,
Babu

Hi All, We can never root out internal politics, but we can fight it with the help of Skip-level meetings.

What is a Skip-Level Meeting?

A Skip-level meeting is a meeting where HR or management meets juniors or new joiners one by one or in a group where their managers are never invited. To make it transparent, you can send emails to their seniors and ask them to send their juniors for Skip-level meetings.

Warm regards,
Shraddha
HR Executive

Thanks for your inputs. Quarterly, we conduct one-to-one sessions with our employees, but they hardly open their mouths to comment on the current issues. I hope they are scared of their seniors. However, now that my management has come down and had a session with all the employees, they feel free to bring all the issues to our notice.

Thanks to all friends for their inputs.

Regards,
Babu