PREVIOUS : Negative Corporate Cultures #2

SITE : “How a Positive Work Culture Improves Customer Satisfaction“

NOTE: POWER topic will resume on 8/29/22

POSITIVE Characteristics
Defining what you want your company’s culture to be is the 1st step toward building a workplace you’ll love. The following are component parts of the best corporate cultures. No company has them all, & not all apply to your needs – but it gives you an idea of what to look for.

🪴Autonomous
Since most people resent being micromanaged, workers find autonomy an attractive quality. EXP: Netflix encourages independent decision-making by employees, fostering freedom & empowerment at work

🪴Casual / Relaxed
Employees in the 2020s (especially millennials & Gen Z-ers) expect the workplace to be relaxed, with a casual vibe & dress code. A relaxed work environment provides freedom to work in ways they’re most comfortable & productive

🪴Challenging / Curious
Organizations need to explore new processes, progressive ways of thinking, & innovative approaches to problem-solving. So employees who want to learn, grow & evolve will welcome being pushed & challenged in the workplace

🪴Connected / Collaborative
Employees in a company with a connected culture are encouraged to feel accepted & valued. Sharing common goals, free to express ideas quickly & work together easily provides a sense of belonging.
Greenhouse celebrates group dynamics, strongly emphasizing the sharing of concepts & effort, to promote the birth of great ideas

🪴Empathetic / Engaged
Both ideas & emotions are valued & acknowledged – by active listening, open communication, & providing support in difficult situations. Employees are highly invested & inspired to do their best work for the company, so are more likely to stick around. Recruiterbox assesses candidates during interviews to determine which are the most empathetic

🪴Flexible
The workplace has become very different. Fewer employees ‘go to the office’, as working mainly from home has become the new norm, which includes flexible hours. As a fully remote company, HubSpot  consistently emphasizes the importance of work-life fit

🪴Fun / Happy
Who says work can’t be fun? It’s no longer enough for employees to just produce. They also want to enjoy what they do. Companies that create opportunities for fun on a regular basis are more likely to engage & retain employees.  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh emphasizes employee happiness & have a work-life balance within the organization.

🪴Innovative / Nimble / Progressive
“Nimble” companies are agile & adaptable, constantly willingness to course-correct & rethink strategies, processes & approaches – to keep growing & thriving. High-growth startups often have more progressive work environments. Marriott focusing on shaping the ‘future of travel’ through technology, continuing to upgrade & modernize

🪴Inclusive / Diversity
Staff diversity & inclusion is a hot topic in HR & recruitment, especially where it has become a requirement by law. Diversity across all categories — including gender, religion, age, race, ethnicity & culture — are critical to establishing positive work environments. Without these, businesses risk losing important innovations, ideas and perspectives.

🪴Rewarding / Nurturing
Managers acknowledge employees when they go above & beyond expectations (a shout-out, gift card, small party, write-up…) & are also encouraged to celebrate each other with peer-to-peer recognition activities. The right environment energizes & motivates employees to achieve company goals

🪴Respectful
Employees are encouraged to express opinions & ideas without interruption, & coworkers are expected to listen courteously.

🪴Transparent / Trusting
This about implementing a formal, mature communication program within the company in order to enhance trust – which is a vital component in building strong working one-to-one relationships & teams.
Messaging company news to the workforce should be structured, planned & honest at all times.  Employees & customers alike greatly value transparency in the workplace, by providing key information & decisions.

🪴Welcoming
In companies with a welcoming culture, employees are friendly, more likely to build internal employee networks, & plan team events to spend time with coworkers outside the office. The onboarding process will be the first impression employees have of a company, with the potential for setting them up for success.

NEXT: ACoAs – DISSOCIATION

PREVIOUS : Corporate Cultures – PROBLEMS (#1)

SITE : “Is a toxic workplace warping your sense of what’s normal?”

Toxic work cultures express a disregard for employees, who are treated as objects that fulfill the company’s needs, not as people who have their own lives & families. It prevents employees from thriving. And while it may not kill them literally, it will negatively effect physical health (depression, burn-out, headaches….), as well as workplace ‘illnesses’ (lower productivity, infighting, complaining….), eventually driving them to look for a job elsewhere.

EMPLOYEE PROBLEMS
1. Candidates Judged for Culture Fit
❗️ Hiring for culture-fit is an outdated recruitment strategy that will cost you top talent. When looking foe carbon copies of your current employees, your culture will remain stagnant or start to decline. Like-minded individuals are great at agreeing, but tend to butt heads when it comes to pushing the envelope.

2.There’s a Culture of Unfriendly Competition
❗️ Having competition as the focal point of your culture will breed animosity between employees. It can also lead to a negative culture founded on competition and animosity between employees.

3.Employees NOT Acknowledged & Rewarded
❗️ Only occasionally rewarding a few individuals (like a top sales rep of each quarter) will make the majority of the workforce feel undervalued & under-appreciated – doing your culture a disservice. It can also lead to competition & animosity between employees.

4.Employees Are Often Tardy or Absent
❗️ Excessive lateness &/or high rates of absenteeism are clear signs of a poor company culture. Employee’s tardiness indicates either that they’re lazy or disengaged. If they’re often out-of-office (remote or flex-schedule employees being the exception) they’re likely disinterested & not passionate about their work.

5.People Work Through Lunch
❗️ If employees often work through lunch, it’s either because they feel they don’t have time to stop working, or believe management doesn’t condone taking breaks. Not only is it a surefire way to turn employees away, but also poor business logic — 81% of employees who regularly break for lunch are active members of their organization.
Expecting employees to perform well while working eight hours nonstop is unrealistic & ridiculous. Besides, it signals that leadership only values their work output, not their contribution to the culture or personal commitment to the organization.

6. People Work Late or on Weekends
❗️ If the work day ends at 5:00 p.m. but the majority of your team regularly stays well past, that should be cause for concern. This indicates that your staff are either juggling too many responsibilities, or managers have unrealistic expectations for their direct reports. Quotas help ensure your growth plan stays on track, but impractical objectives will lead to employee burnout.

7. Office Gossip Runs Rampant
❗️ It wasn’t cool in middle school, & certainly isn’t appropriate in the office. Gossip leads to unwanted cliques that divide the workforce, turning employees against each other, which creates a culture of distrust.

8. Teams Are Siloed
❗️ Lack of communication is a definite indicator of a toxic culture. Across teams or between managers & direct reports, the way information does or does not flow can impact a company’s culture as well as its bottom line. When employees aren’t communicating properly, it can hurt productivity, stifle ideas, & create a less desirable working environment.

9.Teams See High Turnover
❗️ High turnover is almost always a guaranteed sign of a toxic company culture. Not only will it drive employees away, it will also deter job seekers from taking your organization seriously. More than one-third of U.S. employees say they would turn down the perfect job if they thought the culture wasn’t a good fit for them. If you’re saying goodbye to employees left & right, they’re probably looking for a less toxic work environment.

ALSO – The Company Doesn’t Give Back to the Community
❗️Problem: If the company doesn’t have a matching program for charitable donations, doesn’t offer a yearly day of service for volunteer work, never issues calls for donations in the wake of a devastating hurricane or other disaster….  you’re sending the message that as a company, you just don’t care about the outside world.

NEXT : Corporate Cultures – Positive

PREVIOUS : Corp. Cultures – #2

SITE: Culture: Your Environment for People at Work

COMPANY CULTURE
‘‘Company Culture’’ refers to a firm’s overall characteristics & shared ideals, with sub-cultures that are formed by rewards. It dictates the company mission, leadership style, ethics, goals & expectations. It therefore identifies how employees connect with each another, the values they hold & the decisions they make.

People shape their culture in the environment that surrounds them at work all the time. Like personality, it’s made up of the beliefs, underlying assumptions, interests, experiences, upbringing, & habits that form employees’ daily rituals & routines. It’s difficult to change but can be modified. When needed, some strategies for upgrading it are: Improving communication, Feedback, & Recognition of work well done.

HOWEVER, Toxic work cultures are institutional-centric. Policies & procedures are designed with the company in mind, not its workforce – including outdated work policies. When employees feel their company is not doing a good job in various areas, a crisis may be inevitable – people will become disengaged, passive-aggressive, & let work quality slip.

PROBLEM AREAS
✒︎ High-pressure environment – When leadership is not vigilant about managing its environment, resulting profits & growth come at the expense of values & ethics.

✒︎ Inadequate investment in People – When management doesn’t live up to its end of the hiring agreement (compensation, career development & benefits in exchange for work) they’re less inclined to live up to theirs

✒︎ Lack of accountability – When the company consistently does not hold specific people responsible for misconduct. So when other employees see that consequences are handed out unevenly or are non-existent, they may not bother reporting poor behavior (why bother?), & use it as a reason to be less careful about their own actions.

✒︎ Lack of diversity, equity & inclusion – In spite of the #MeToo movement, certain industries are known for their culture being non-inclusive & prejudicial.

✒︎ Poor behavior at the top – When company values don’t exist, aren’t known, or aren’t enabled or enforced by systems & processes. OR When executives don’t act in line with with company values. Because of intense pressure to deliver results & the rewarded on what they achieve, leadership doesn’t care how they get there.

Start by ASKING:
☛ How big is the organization?
☛ How intense is the inertia?
☛ Who are the influencers?
☛ What can I do about it?
☛ Should I stay or leave?

LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS
1. An Absence of Core Values
❗️A very basic sign of a bad company culture is a lack of company core values. They are the driving force behind an organization — without them the culture is likely to lumber along without any sense of direction. Unwanted sub-cultures will then form & undermine business success.

 2. No DEI Policy
❗️Not promoting employee diversity smacks of corporate ignorance, contributing to a toxic culture. It telegraphs to employees that management Just. Doesn’t. Care.
EXP: an active, effective way to recruit, hire & retain women, include gender-fluid people & people of color.

3. Managers Don’t Follow Core Values
❗️Employees look to managers for direction. If senior & middle management aren’t following core values, employees won’t either. Even worse, they’ll come to distrust leadership for exempting managers from office rules. Authority will be discredited, with a clear divide will form between leadership & staff.

 4. Managers Don’t Promote From Within
❗️If all new hires are from outside the company, especially at a management & leadership level, you’re sending the message that current employees either don’t matter or aren’t good enough to be promoted. Either reason contributes to a toxic culture that stymies growth.

5. Managers Publicly Criticize Employees
❗️Employees make mistakes, sometimes bad ones. A toxic work culture makes a big deal out of these errors by calling out employees by name & mistake, in a public forum.

6. No Good Reviews of the Company Culture
❗️ If employees are frustrated with the management style, cut-throat competition between peers or discouragingly high turnover rate – as posted on anonymous review-platforms – job seekers will be the first to know, & your company will earn a negative reputation.

NEXT : CORP culture PROBLEMS #2

PREVIOUS : Culture TYPES #1

SITE : “Understanding & Developing Organizational Culture”

CULTURE TYPES (cont)

4. HIERARCHY or Control
Traditional organizations, especially large ones, tend to be hierarchical. Management is made up of various levels & there’s a clear difference between employees & leaders. Emphasis is on planning & evaluation in all business activities. Decision-making comes from the top, a careful process with great attention paid to details & at what worked before – to minimize risk. These characteristics make a hierarchy culture ideal for industries where safety or security is of utmost importance.

Employees are comforted by the clarity which a control culture provides. To eventually receive a promotion all they need to do is obey the rules, follow procedures, & meet their responsibilities. And managers like being in charge because the workforce is efficient & productive.
The downside to this reliability is that these companies are less dynamic other cultures, which makes Hierarchy unsuitable for industries where innovation is paramount.

5. MARKET or Compete
The Market culture has a very competitive climate, who’s whole aim is to dominate their field. Leadership measures success by market share & the return on investment, rather than the achievements of any individual. All decisions are based on what will bring the
business closer to meeting these 2 goals.

It’s one of the most intentional types, unlikely to arise by accident, since it requires everyone’s commitment to ensure consistent quality in products & services. It’s dynamic – if adapting will likely help the company reach its targets, changes will take place immediately, because it’s less risk-averse.

Since Market culture companies tend to attract competitive employees, it’s common for workers to be high performers, striving to outshine coworkers. It also helps that leadership encourage employees to push for management positions, and are incentivized to work hard with large bonuses & other monetary rewards. However, some people feel that basing their success purely on money is unfulfilling, & find that work may become less meaningful over time.

6. PURPOSE Culture
In a purpose culture, employees strive to achieve a goal for the greater good. This could relate to human sustainability, the environment, or human rights. Employees are driven by a higher cause than personal accomplishments, all sharing similar values – wanting to make a difference in the world.
It’s commonly seen in non-profits, but some for-profit companies with deep values may also fit this category. Like in the Clan culture, this style may pose the problem of groupthink, which can stifle innovation.

7. ROLE-BASED
In this culture, Power derives from a person’s place or role within a highly structured organization. It attempts to reduce the amount of confusion & redundancies by giving each worker a specific set of roles & tasks for which they’re responsible. Little importance is on whether someone is a manager or subordinate, so employees lead projects based on expertise rather than position.

To thrive in a role-based culture, a finely-honed skill set is required. Each employee is the only person able to do their specific job, & may even be among the best in their field. On the one hand, this rigid system of work distribution doesn’t work well in small companies with few employees, who regularly have to take on a variety of duties. On the other, this culture appeals to specialists because it provides high wages & emphasizes excellence. However, it’s hard to get into such companies, as the person needs years of experience & demonstrable skills, rather than just ‘paper’ qualifications.

8. STRONG LEADERSHIP
A strong leadership culture emphasizes the importance of solid management & a commitment to helping employees progress. In such companies, there are plenty of opportunities for training & coaching from many mentors. Managers often take the initiative to invest in subordinates they feel have the greatest potential, putting them on the fast track for a higher position in the company.
There’s no need for many layers of hierarchy to function well – what matters is that workers have the freedom to develop their leadership skills & so progress in their careers.

9. TASK-ORIENTED
In some ways, task-oriented culture is the opposite of Role-based, since every day is completely different. Team members hold meetings to figure out what needs doing, then assign tasks according to the skills of each employee, rather than job title. The one similarity is that hierarchy is of little (if any) importance. A common trademark is the use of small, collaborative teams to tackle inbound issues. Much of the day to day operation consists in getting in conference rooms and other collaborative spaces and hammering out team-specific strategies.

This culture is particularly common in startups, where a few staff members need to take on a variety of responsibilities. To be hired by such a company, a person needs to prove they have a good knowledge of their whole industry, & be task-flexible. Employees must have the ability to work well with each other, so potential hires are interviewed by most or all members of their team to make sure they’ll be a good fit

NEXT : Corp. Culture – PROBLEMS

PREVIOUS : Positive Biz Politics

SITE : “Authenticity & coherence, Key to a solid corporate culture”

⬅️ OCAI CHART  (3 combined)

See OTHER OCAI charts

CORPORATE CULTURES
Work cultures can stagnate or improve, morph or evolve – & so are different from a company’s core values, which largely remain the same over time.
Culture is based on a set of principles governing every aspect of an organization’s functioning, & should act as a beacon to attract talent & customers who share the same fundamental outlook & values.
It impacts everything from interpersonal relationships to partnerships to marketing to customer service.

While we can’t see or touch Culture, it’s strongly present in the artifacts, activities, & metrics of the company. From hiring practices to how people work, make decisions, resolve differences of opinions, & navigate change, the culture defines unwritten but very real rules of behavior.

KEY COMPONENTS
The Mission Statement, Vision & Values, a common Language (acronyms, catchphrases), Decision-making style, having the ‘Right’ leadership & staff .

BEST PRACTICES for Management
⛲️ Be transparent. Be flexible
⛲️ Set clear department Goals. Promote Organization’s goals
⛲️ Promote Diversity & Inclusivity.  Allow for HUMOR
⛲️ Prioritize Respect. Establish strict zero-tolerance
⛲️ Employee Reward Program. Plan social outings
⛲️ Accept & utilize employee Feedback (MORE ….)

POSITIVE Characteristics
🪧 Caring : support for employees during pandemic
🪧 Community : stick together through thick & thin
🪧 Fairness : rating equals compensation & recognition
🪧 Innovation : a safe environment to express ideas
🪧 Trust : in employees to work remote & flexible hours
🪧 Trustworthy management : generates workplace satisfaction, employee retention, motivation to give extra effort (MORE….)

SUCCESSFUL Work Cultures can include :
🎗 All stars = the hiring process is highly selective
🎗 Customer Service = “Customer is always right”
🎗 Employee empowerment = everyone feels valued
🎗 Innovation = staying on the cutting edge
🎗 Mission -Driven = nonprofits, grassroots startups
🎗 Power-Driven = competition, survival of the fittest
🎗 Role-Playing = specialists are valued above all
🎗 Sales = product knowledge by all staff member
🎗 Strong Leadership = coach, Mentor, Train
🎗 Task-oriented = small, collaborative teams (MORE….)

9 TYPES – Modified FROM article by Laura Holton, business writer
1. ADHOCRACY or Creative
Derived from “ad hoc,” leaders in this type of company are highly flexible (AGILE) , pushing dynamic transformations. They hire the most innovative, entrepreneurial-minded individuals, daring risk-takers who embody the true traits of a visionary. Everyone is expected to constantly be experimenting with new ideas. Such a culture is useful in industries where taking risks can have huge payoffs, such as in tech or disruptive industries.

Adhocracy cultures emphasize company growth & bringing new products or services to the market – fast. Businesses, as well as the offerings themselves, are always changing. Employees are forward thinking & willing to ‘fail’. Following the rules & perfection are less important than learning from mistakes & adapting.

Employees know that expectations run very high in their fast-paced, high-growth company, but stay motivated by knowing the products or services they’re developing have the potential to change the market & the world.

Creative culture have an opportunity to see great profit margins, but there’s also the chance their products (even the entire enterprise) will fail completely. Another disadvantage is that the atmosphere can become highly competitive. Whereas some workers enjoy being challenged, others find the pressure too stressful.

2. CLAN or Collaborative
A company with a clan or collaborative culture feels like a family. All the employees know each other & consider coworkers their friends. They also tend to have many interests in common, sharing a similar worldview. Since employees tend to stay with the organization for a long time, workplace traditions crop up.

Clan cultures tend to have a horizontal structure, without many layers of management. Everyone is valued equally, given the chance to participate, with an opportunity to provide feedback. Teamwork is more common than individual projects & workers with more experience (not just management) mentor new ones to help them progress so they can reach their full potential.

Customers are also loyal & partnerships last. Employees enjoy working in a clan culture, which leads to great customer service & high productivity.

However, this kind of climate is better suited to small rather than midsize to large businesses. As companies expand, it’s much harder to keep such a close-knit feel, & even trying can cause confusion. Other problems include poor growth due to difficulty thinking outside the box & putting employees’ needs above the business.

3. CUSTOMER-FIRST 
A customer-first culture is another type where personal accomplishments are less important than a higher goal – in this case, of satisfying the customer. In this environment it’s likely that few employees ever communicate directly with users of their product or service. What matters is that everyone’s goal is to provide customers with the best service in the industry.

Employees in this culture are highly focused on how customers will interact with their products, so continually monitor what users say on social media & in reviews. They often have 24/7 support phone numbers, & respond to messages immediately. Surveys asking clients what the company could be doing better are also common.

NEXT : Culture TYPES #2

 PREVIOUS:
POSITIVE BIZ Politics (#1)

POST : Personal Core Values

INTRO:
ETHICS (a branch of philosophy )
— distinguishes between right & wrong actions
— establishes the rules & standards that govern the moral behavior of individuals & groups
— involves honest thought to & admission of underlying motives of actions
— identifies potential harm & agreement with established values & rules

MORALS are agreed upon judgments & rules of good conduct in society, identifying permissible / acceptable behavior which express basic values. Business ethics deals with the creation & application of moral standards in the business environment.

Values are professed statements of one’s beliefs, Ethics is delivering on one’s professed values, & morals are actions of good conduct as judged by the society that enhance the welfare of all human beings.

CULTIVATING MORAL POWER – for executives / managers….. (& everyone)
Influencing others without corrupting our own values lies in self-awareness. Those who strive for it will regularly talk to friends or a trusted counselor, take time for journaling, quiet reflection & prayer, reading ‘growth’ literature…..  looking  deeper into their own motivations which drive their actions. 

Ethical Awareness Exercises
🛎 Use these 3 statements as a baseline / mental checklist – to help you make ethical choices by evaluating your motivations when making work decisions
ASK:
1.  At work I desire… (choose all that apply)
— advancement, increased compensation
— collaboration, companionship, friendship 
— influence, control, stability, independence
— respect, public recognition, status …. (add)

2. At work I fear… (choose all that apply) 
— the ambitions of others, being shown up, competition
— being the last to know important news, being deceived
— being seen as incompetent, not being liked, not being respected
— losing my job, instability, the power of others, lack of control
— making a mistake, getting caught, asking for help  (add)

3. My most important values at work are…
Honesty, Integrity, Creativity
Success,  Respect, Loyalty
Trust, Kindness, Helpfulness…  (add) 

From each the above 3 categories, choose your top 2 interests, & write about how they show up in your work life
1 & 2 describe ways you may unconsciously influence others, & how others may be influencing you, & the 3rd are core working values.
EXP – by category:
1. At work I desire respect & stability ….
2. At work I fear losing my job & getting caught making a mistake ….
3. My most important values at work are honesty and respect…..

📕 EXERCISE TO help you recognize when you’re not acting in synch with your core work values. It also helps identify other / better ways to approach situations that trigger fears & impulses.

🔎 List situations where / how / when your most common fears & desires (# 1 & 2) affected your behavior & interactions. Identify what was motivating them (negative thoughts / unfulfilled needs, projections…),
then compare them to your core values (#3). What were the positive and/or negative outcome of each action / event?
EXP:
Situation: I made a minor mistake on a team report, but convinced myself & my boss it was the fault of a junior team member.
Fear: making mistakes
Desire: respect
Negative impetus: dishonesty & disrespect

Comparison: My fear of making mistakes & looking bad pushed me to go against my core working values & instead – I used my senior status to blame someone else for my mistake.
Outcome: While I didn’t have to admit to my boss that I’d made a mistake, I damaged the possibility of having a positive relationship with the junior coworker, & provided him / her with an example of unethical behavior in senior employees.

• ALTERNATIVE : Imagine a way you could have dealt with the situation without violating your core working values. What might have been the outcome?

EXP: I could have admitted my mistake directly, & given the junior team member public credit for his / her accurate work.

Outcome: I would have built personal credibility & trust through integrity.Also, I would have set a positive example for the junior team member, possibly increasing his / her loyalty, & creating the opportunity to provide mentorship.

REMINDER : Keep in mind that everyone acts unconsciously sometimes. Ethical growth is only possible when we consistently can take an “fearless”, non-judgmental  look at our behavior, to gradually learn from our mistakes.

NEXT: Corp. Culture Types #1

PREVIOUS : Positive BIZ Politics (#1)

SITE : “Effect of Organizational Politics on Organizational Goals & Objectives” (article from Adekunle Ajasin U, Nigeria)

POSITIVE Organizational Politics (orgP) for Leaders / Managers

√ Analyze the Organization Chart
Office politics often circumvent the formal organizational structure. Map the political power & influence in your organization rather than people’s rank or job title.
ASK: “Who are the real influencers?, Who has authority but tends not to exercise it?, Who is respected?, Who champions or mentors others?, Who is the brains behind the business?”

Appeal to motivations
Organizations want the best talents, investing immense resources to hire, retain & grow their people.
Yet in spite of available perks, many people still choose to leave. The reason is having to deal with bad office politicians who ‘rule’ through fear with criticism, threats or exclusion.

Everyone wants to feel that what we do makes a difference, that we’re contributing to something larger than ourselves, that our skills & talents matter.
So – positive office politics focuses on giving people the opportunity to showcase acquired skills & natural talents.
Find what motivates individuals & use that to inspire action toward company goals. Regularly providing public recognition goes a long way as a powerful motivator.

√ Be Brave – but Not Naive
It’s not smart to keep your distance from people who practice “bad” politics. The expression, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” works best. Be courteous but guarded, stay alert to undercurrents, & don’t shy away from conflicts.
Protect yourself as much as possible from anyone you suspect of Dark Triad characteristic – they’re clever & dangerous. Understand their goals so you can avoid or counter the impact of their negative politicking.

√ Build Your Own Connections
Reach across formal hierarchy in all directions – co-workers, managers & executive, & don’t be afraid of politically powerful people. Instead, get to know them & build high-quality connections that avoid empty flattery. Be friendly with everyone, but avoid aligning too closely with one group or another.

√ Develop “People Skills”
Notice your emotions, what prompts them, & learn how you handle them (self-regulate) so you can think before you act. Learn to listen carefully. Your emotional intelligence also helps to pick up on other people’s emotions, & so you understand what kind of approach they respond to best or least.

√ Look for win-wins
Harmful ‘office politicians’ consider the system a zero-sum game. Gathering support for their project comes at the expense of employees, so looking good to their boss can only happen when others look bad.

However, the best players go for win-wins. They bring together resources that can add unexpected value for all parties. Managers know that working effectively as a team not only makes them look better at the moment, but also puts them in a good position when things change. Staying constructive, solutions-oriented & collaborative is a powerful way to succeed

√ Make the Most of Your Network
Share your achievements, which can act as a “bridge” between you & colleagues, to create opportunities to shine – for you & your team
Also, be accountable for your actions, to indicate your integrity. Asking for feedback is a good way to find out what’s most important to people in your network, & shows that you value their opinions.

√ Neutralize Negative Politics
Don’t add fuel to the fire – avoid passing on rumors. When voicing concerns or criticism, be confident & assertive but not aggressive. Stay professional at all times – not taking sides, or getting sucked into arguments or recriminations.

√ Play with the players
Everyone has some insecurities, but people who play negative office politics have bigger insecurities. Identify what these workers want to achieve, a skilled manager will be better able to create a win-win situation for those employees, & will also help themselves move their career forward.

And when it comes to higher-ups, the No.1 rule is: Never make your ‘superiors’ look bad. To create an ally of a boss, come up with win-win situations – sharing useful ideas, enlisting others & becoming known as a force for good.

√ Understand Informal Networks
Examine people’s interactions & relationships. Find out who gets along with whom, & who finds it harder. Look for in-groups, out-groups or cliques, deciphering how influence flows between or among them, & whether there are any interpersonal conflicts, such as signs of bullying

√ Work cross-functionally – Ditch cliques
Belonging to the office ‘in group’ may gives people a sense of belonging, but it often turns into gossip fests, & marginalizing the less ‘cool’.
Managers who work across teams & roles of all types will benefit by making personal connections, building their reputation & minimizing groupthink, which can encourage creative solutions, and build supporters for their own ideas & goals..

NEXT : POSITIVE BIZ Politics (Part 2)

PREVIOUS : Organizational Politics – Effects (#2)

SITE : “Workplace Politics” (Wikipedia) Topics: Aims, Issues, Games, Gossip, Manipulation

POSITIVE orgP  – When a company is ethically well–balanced.it gains a competitive business advantage.  It can successfully be used to: serve the organization’s vision & objectives, develop teamwork & confidence, evade negative games, portray a professional image & publicize one’s accomplishments.

When leaders are political skillful they can successfully manage work areas that are under stress – by encouraging feelings of trust, confidence & sincerity in interpersonal relationships – to minimize injustice, unfairness & inequity. This can increase efficiency & expedite positive changes, benefiting both the organization & its members.  (MORE….)

NEXT : POSITIVE  BIZ P. (#2)

PREVIOUS:
Organizational Politics – TYPES (#3a)

SITE: Office Politics ARCHETYPES

NEGATIVES TYPES (cont)

☛ Nit-picker
This is a form of being a Control-freak – always finding fault with work an employee has been assigned to do, never satisfied. Or the one who starts doing your job for you, or telling you how to do your job, especially when they’re less senior. Because of their own insecurities, they purposely hold others back so no-one will become “as good as them.”

☛ Power Aligner
Attaching themselves with those who already have power, they take on the same values & goals as the boss &/or of the company, then champion them as if they were their own. They look at what the culture wants & promotes, then reflects it back to them. These people are strategically smarter than suck-ups – taking a social approach & thus having somewhat more power.

EXP: being the first one to report any issue that might affect the boss, push others down to make themselves look better by comparison, making the case in a team meeting with your boss that a customer was abusive, acting as if they’re the boss or presenting themselves as representing the company….  For effective ways of tackling them, check out Social Power, the section on workplace power.

☛ Saboteur
They work only to benefit themself. A grown-up version of the playground bully, saboteurs openly & consistently criticize & backstab other team members, rarely if ever taking responsibility for their own faults & mistakes. But they may back down when confronted.

Still, it’s important to keep your guard up when dealing with a saboteur. If confronting them doesn’t work, keep a detailed log of the interactions on a calendar or planner, in an emotionally neutral language when possible, & relay them to your boss or someone in Human Resources.

☛ Stickler For The Rules
They stake their claim to power with laws, regulations, & SOPs. They’re hot for office power & social status, but their rule is limited. They’re not the movers & shakers who make things happen, not being focused on improving the organization. Instead – they see the company as a big org chart where only official authority lines matter.

They can be very assertive, even looking confident & in control. But a boss has official authority over them, they ‘ll comply. If not, they love telling a co-worker where to get off.
On paper, they say they’re following procedures & making sure everyone’s on the right side of the law. But actually, they’re just piggybacking on to the rules for their own personal power.

☛ Shunner
More often payed by women, the shunning game is the office politics equivalent of stonewalling and gaslighting in intimate relationships. They usually gang up on people who they feel threatened by, but who are (still) weak enough to be victimized. They form a clique to socially exclude the target of their machinations, so marginalizing the target by being curt, detached, or ignoring them altogether

☛ Sociopath
These people follow the Pareto rule : FOCUS is 80% on office politics & 20% on actual work. Given how successful some of them are, we might even wonder what’s more important… They see the workplace as a big chessboard, considering themselves superior to everyone else & deserving of top management positions. With little or no empathy for others, it’s easy for them to manipulate & move people around as if they were inanimate objects.

☛ Tasker
The underlying power dynamic of tasking is: Those who assign tasks look like bosses, & those who execute look like subordinates. The habitually will say “Can you please do this — for me? Thank you” without ever considering the employee’s availability or consent.
This rule is only ‘legitimate’ if the assigner is the actual boss. Played by peer-employees (control freaks) – by telling others what to do, they position themselves above others, pushing everyone else down in the process.

☛ User
These people are really good at constantly asking others for advice & help, being the charming version of Victim. They act bumbling, insecure, & confused, but actually are conning others into doing their mental work for them, so the don’t have to put themselves out to learn the ropes of their job.

☛ Vanity Player
They believe (think) they’re very good, & want others to acknowledge them for it. Psychological addicts, their drug of choice is emotional validation – from others. While some may be NPDs, they’re mainly a combo of Histrionic PD , Low self-esteem & Entitlement mentality

EXP: Someone who demands “due respect” from people who don’t respect them much, attracts far more attention than they’re actual worth….
They’ll go to great lengths to get their fix, so when they don’t, throw tantrums & create office drama, making waves that prevent successful office functioning.

NEXT : Positive Business Politics

PREVIOUS: POSITIVE Business Politics (Part 3)

⬆️ 12 Types to Avoid – read explanations

NEGATIVES TYPES – create tension, inhibit employees’ ability to perform well, harming teams & employee morale. Most business with a staff can end up hiring one or more of these office politics personalities. If their skills are crucial to the operation, it will take a clever boss to cope with the harmful ones successfully.

☛ Credit thief
They will do whatever it takes to get ahead, such as stealing ideas from co-workers or passing other people’s work as their own.
To counter their false claims or avoid being their victim, boldly & often speak up – sharing your own ideas in front of colleagues in team meetings. Also, provide your boss with regular updates on your progress so they’ll never be confused about who should get credit for your work.
If talking in public is hard for you, check out team-building as an introvert.

☛ Flatterer / Fawner
They compulsively pass out compliments left and right, trying to win everyone over, especially those in authority. Besides pretty words, it may show up assaying co-workers by asking co-workers for help and ideas – but with little reciprocation if any.

They’re rarely very ambitious or highly driven, more likely motivated by fear & the search for security, wanting the boss to be their protector. But hard-core suck-ups are dependent on poor leaders, latching onto very successful narcissists who want to have yes-men around them.
If you’re not a sucker for flattery, you’ll recognize they’re not being real, so they can just be ignored.

☛ Gossip hound
These people are the know-it-alls about what’s happening around the office, & aren’t afraid to share every last detail with anyone who’ll listen. They love spilling secrets to co-workers or sharing confidential info on social media. They’re short on discretion, boundaries & respect for other’s privacy.

Around gossip hound, conversations must stay focused strictly on business plans, decisions & progress.  If the talk starts to drift to someone’s personal life, remove away quickly.

☛ Grumpy Players
They operate on the assumption that the fewer people who can task them, the more office status they gather.  Their office politics is played very defensively, protecting their desk-turf from encroachment & keeping as much of their time for themselves as possible. The 2 main types are the:
‣ Aggressives – the colleague who scare off others by always being on the verge of exploding &/or yelling at others
‣ Passive-aggressives – who are just protecting their “me” time, or trying to defend against very aggressive taskers but have no idea how to do it assertively.

☛ Lobbyist
This person is closest to the power centers at work. They campaign hard, aligning themselves with influence groups to sway opinions in their favor – to accomplish their specific goals.
A more intense version is the Office Crusader. The lobbyist could take lessons from these crusader types. They push even harder to get others on their side of just about any issue, often swaying opinions by attrition. While neither type appreciates hearing differing opinions, others need to explain dissenting viewpoints to – hopefully – open them to new ideas.

☛ Office joker
At first glance, these co-workers seem to get along with everyone, making light of everything. With some people, kidding around & laughing may be a genuine attempt
to relieve tension, but the constant joker has an ulterior motive.

Especially if they’re mainly ‘cute or clever’ around supervisors, it’s safe to assume they’re being manipulative. They’re trying to build connections with higher ups to get preferential treatment, or possibly damage others’ reputations to advance their own career by making jokes at the expense of co-workers.  They’re not actually funny, so stay clear & let the boss deal with with them

☛ Overachiever
Usually they’re high on personal drive & low on empathy. And whatever empathy they have gets trampled by their ambition, which is stronger than any consideration for others.
• Nurtured ones grew up in families with high expectations., & so feel pressured to perform & are more likely to be burn-out candidates.
• Inborn ones do it for themselves. Those who “enjoy their own drive” don’t get nearly as stressed out.

Overachiever types:
⚛︎ Dr. Jekylls – they can be nice on their own or when nothing is at stake, but turn into monsters around bosses, upper management or any opportunity to “shine”
⚛︎ 24/7s  – always “on”, they’re forever pursuing power-opportunities. You can’t be their friend, & they’re often lonely
⚛︎ Socially skilled – they’re the most dangerous – putting on a face of fairness & caring, but take any opportunity to ‘stab you in the back’ or ‘throw you under the bus’. It takes high emotional intelligence to sniff them out early

NEXT : orgP – TYPES (#3b)