Don't Let Office Politics Bring You Down

How do you survive an office of backstabbers and sycophants? Hemchhaya De helps you plot a safe path out of office politics.

- Hemchhaya De

Riya Roy*, 31, thought she had what it took to make it to the list of high-performers in the multinational IT company where she worked. And why wouldn’t the Pune based techie expect the Employee of the Year award? She had an enviable academic and work record. She worked hard to make a success of the company’s most prestigious projects and brought in serious money for the organisation. So, when appraisal season rolled around, she wasn’t prepared for the setback. The big promotions and raises went to a handful of people who not only lacked her experience but also could never match the quality of work she did.

So, where did Roy go wrong? She underestimated the fallout of office politics. She sounds almost bitter as she says, “I was quite naive in thinking that only hard work and true mettle would win the day for me. I should have factored in lobbying, self-promotion and being servile to superiors, all part and parcel of the game.” None of us is taught how to deal with a situation like this.

A study conducted by Co-op, a British consumer cooperative, recently, surveyed 1,000 workers aged between 16 and 25, and found that over half were not informed about how to deal with politics at the workplace.

Noting that office politics saps productivity and demotivates workers, the study added that young people often find it hard to express an opinion or put forward an idea at work for fear of being isolated by their peers. That renders them incapable of handling manipulative coworkers or domineering supervisors.