Organizational politics and HRM involvement

What is organizational politics?

Organizational politics refers to informal, unofficial, and occasionally covert actions taken to advance ideas, influence organizations, consolidate power, or accomplish other specific goals. Politics has existed for thousands of years. According to Aristotle, politics is a result of a variety of opposing interests that must be reconciled in some way. When interests are fundamentally at odds, "rational" decision-making alone may not be effective, which leads to political behaviours and influence methods.

Working in companies today demands the ability to manage competing agendas and evolving power structures. Successful politics is about keeping connections while accomplishing objectives, not about winning at any costs. Organizational politics are not always bad, despite how they are sometimes depicted. Therefore, in order to reduce organisational politics' detrimental impact, it's critical to be conscious of their potentially damaging elements.

Of course, people within such organisations might squander time by acting too politically. According to research cited in HR Magazine, managers squander 20% of their time on politics. To the contrary, as John Kotter noted in Power and Influence, "without political understanding and expertise, we face the inevitable prospect of becoming immersed in bureaucratic infighting, parochial politics, and destructive power struggles, which significantly impede organisational initiative, innovation, morale, and performance." 

There is a hierarchy in every organization, and this hierarchy results in an unequal allocation of power. This authority is more frequently sought for by some employees than by others, which is regarded as political activity at work. Organizational politics, often referred to as workplace politics, refers to each employee's agenda inside a firm and the actions they take to obtain, grow, and exert authority and resources in order to achieve a desired result. Most businesses have organizational politics. During their careers, all employees are affected by organizational politics, whether in a good or bad way. For some, it is participating in workplace rumors or behaving in a clique, while for others, it entails moving up the corporate ladder and being as effective and productive as they can be at work.

Understanding organizational politics can help reduce negative or dysfunctional influences, support employees, and engage in positive political behaviors that benefit the organization as a whole..

What are the objectives of organizational politics?

• Gaining power
• Boosting productivity
• Gaining recognition
• Resolving disputes
• Promoting personal objectives
• Protecting self-interest
• Earning money and income
• Developing power contacts

What are the types of organizational politics?

Self-promotion	When an employee acts to further their career without regard for the impact on others around them. This includes things like taking credit for the ideas of others and putting coworkers down to build themselves up
Office politics	When one employee or group attempts to influence another employee or group through persuasion, manipulation, influence, or pressure. This can be positive if it means getting a group of skeptics on board with an organization's vision or project, but the downside is that it can lead to tension and arguments if someone believes that the win is coming at their expense.
Factionalism	A group becomes split based on common tasks and common interests, and these smaller groups form alliances that align with their goals. In larger organizations, this can help to increase innovation and agility. However, it will often have negative consequences as each faction commits to winning at any cost.
Gatekeeping	An employee or group of employees who already have a certain degree of power block other employees and ideas. They do this to maintain their power and avoid being challenged. However, this stifles innovation and prevents talent from rising through the organization.
Territorialism	An employee becomes extremely attached to a certain role or task and will not allow anyone else to undertake it. For example, a manager who refuses to hand over the reins of a project.

The impact of organizational politics

According to studies, workers with political savvy are more effective at influencing others, are better at handling stress, are more productive, and have a bigger influence on company objectives. Organizational politics may even be the reason a business survives as it expands.

But, if left uncontrolled, corporate politics may completely devastate an organisation. Some typical adverse consequences on workers include:

• Increased stress due to fear of strangers or losing their job
• Loss of concentration and productivity as attention is distracted by politics
• Increased cynicism leading to low morale and job satisfaction
• High employee turnover can lead to a lack of qualified employees and a knowledge and skills gap
• Miscommunication as employees or managers are not fully aware of what is going on
• resentment

How to manage organizational politics

Although it is impossible to eradicate organizational politics in a large organization, there are several steps that HR professionals, managers and leaders can take to minimize its negative impact:

• • Improve your people skills
• • Communicate openly and honestly
• • Put yourself in your employee's shoes and understand the                 landscape
• • Collaborate respectfully across departments
• • Maintain positive working relationships with all colleagues
• • Don't have favorites or give preferential treatment to anyone
• • Change your approach if something isn't working
• • Make sure employees feel valued and cared for and know they         have opportunities
• • Track any problems you see
• • Encourage employees to get involved with issues
• • Access when needed
• • Set a positive example for your team to follow

Conclusion,

As the author of the study, I focus on discussing what is organizational politics, how the HR department is involved in managing office politics, the objectives of politics, the types of business politics, and finally the role of the HR department in managing politics. Managing Politics can be identified as informal, attempts to influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted goals. Organizational politics is a natural part of organizational life. Politics driven by unhealthy political behavior affects employee organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and performance, as well as higher levels of job anxiety and depression. The HR department has the most important role in effectively managing organizational politics to minimize damage to the business.

 

References

Drory, A. and Vigoda-Gadot, E., 2010. Organizational politics and human resource management: A typology and the Israeli experience. Human Resource Management Review, 20(3), pp.194-202.

Edwards, T. and Kuruvilla, S., 2005. International HRM: national business systems, organizational politics and the international division of labour in MNCs. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(1), pp.1-21.

Vigoda-Gadot, E. and Drory, A. eds., 2006. Handbook of organizational politics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Kacmar, K.M. and Baron, R.A., 1999. Organizational politics. Research in human resources management, 1, pp.1-39.

Abubakar, R., Chauhan, A. and Kura, K.M., 2014. Relationship between perceived organizational politics, organizational trust, human resource management practices and turnover intention among Nigerian nurses. Human Resource Management Practices and Turnover Intention Among Nigerian Nurses (May 14, 2014).

Cropanzano, R. and Kacmar, K.M. eds., 1995. Organizational politics, justice, and support: Managing the social climate of the workplace. Greenwood Publishing Group.