office politics: is it everywhere? 4

[KimWatson]

I'm at my 3rd job in 4 years. I quit my other 2 jobs because of the stressful 'office politics' situations. My current job is turning out the same. But I'm wondering if every workplace has these kinds of problems?

For example, CEO's having open affairs with secretaries, engineers acting snobby and not talking to technicians, technicians always griping about not being respected, scientific staff thinking they're smarter than everyone, gossipy women in the business office, lazy sloppy guys in the machine shop, snarky administrative people, etc. And it seems like half the people at each company are mad at their bosses because they never get raises or promotions, so everyone is always bitter.

I'm beginning to think that no workplace is perfect, and that I should stop changing jobs looking for a company where everyone is 100% happy. My husband thought he had the perfect job too, but after the first year he's starting to find that there are alot of issues there too: discrimination, intimidation, corruption, etc. Do he and I just had bad luck with finding good companies?

 

[abusementpark]

Wow, that place sounds pretty bad.

CEO's having open affairs with secretaries?? That's gotta be really bad for business for so many obvious reasons.

My last job, I worked a medium sized firm and there was a decent of amount of office politics. It was especially bad when they announced new principals and associates. The administrative staff was pretty gossipy. I hated it.

I work a small company. It is just the two owners, a cad technician, a part-time admin assistant, and me. Absolutely no office politics. Its great.

 

[zdas04]

The only company I've ever seen that doesn't have office politics is the one I'm in now--I'm all by myself so there is not a single back to stab.

Any company with 2 or more employees will eventually have people trying to jockey for personal advantage. Get used to it. Get over it. If someone is behaving unethically, illegally, or immorally (in your opinion) then you can either try to have that person disciplined (tough when it it is the CEO) or get the heck out of Dodge.

David

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Either you are very unlucky or you are waaaay too sensitive.

People are people no matter where you go. There will be some office politics in every office; some are very subtle, others are so "in your face" as to make life Hell. The trick is learning how to play the game ... or better yet how to control it. Learn when to ignore the idiots who are making your life miserable, and when to be the one creating their misery. If you find the right combination, Nirvana is possible ... and it is sweet.

 

[ajack1]

“For example, CEO's having open affairs with secretaries, engineers acting snobby and not talking to technicians, technicians always griping about not being respected, scientific staff thinking they're smarter than everyone, gossipy women in the business office, lazy sloppy guys in the machine shop, snarky administrative people, etc. And it seems like half the people at each company are mad at their bosses because they never get raises or promotions, so everyone is always bitter.”

Is any of the above actually office politics or just the fact that you do not think anyone works in the way you think they should?

 

[jmw]

Ignorance is bliss.
Never a truer statement.

This is the real world.

For the first several years at my first job it was idyllic. I got paid, I enjoyed what I was doing and I was doing well.
Nice people, nice environment.
I guess it took me a long to begin to recognise some of what was going and had been going all along.
I also realised that it mostly didn't matter to me. The only thing different was that I knew a bit more about what was happening.

Actually, it was quite entertaining the day the chief engineer and the receptionist separately ran off and hid when his wife came storming in to confront them both. It was the first time I realised something was going on between them and I'd have suspected it of neither of them.

Indeed, it wasn't till I left that I discovered that one of the field sales men had been having an affair with the chairman's secretary, and anyone else female and alive. I discovered the same way everyone else did, he was featured in the tabloid newspapers under the front page headline "Dirty Len!" or something! (News of the World, I think).

Most, if not all, should not be a problem especially as none of it is anyone's business but their own.

Unless things are really bad, then yes, do change your job but in all probability you aren't going to find that nirvana any time soon and as like as not you will create your own by learning to be ignorant or tolerant of some things.

The law usually lays down standards of behaviour that many companies are very careful to enforce when necessary because otherwise they lay themselves open to law suits.
In those cases, keep a diary, consult professional advisers and learn how to handle it without it having to escalate. If it gets to a law case someone somewhere hasn't handled it right.

But, there are no laws about CEO's having affairs with secretaries. Maybe it affects their work. To bad.

For the most part much of behaviour around you is irrelevant. It may offend you, but you have to show some tolerance and just get on with your work. However, there are some people around who are dangerous to you and your career. Brown-nosers are one category. Those who like to spread malicious gossip can be another. Team members who don't pull their weight or who drag down the work standards of the group. There are always some people whose work is so bad you wonder how they keep their jobs, but they do and there is a lesson in that, you can't do too much except make sure you protect yourself.

You need to come to grips with this problem because 3 jobs in four years is starting to look bad. You can get away with it when you are young and new but you will pretty soon have to show signs of being a stable and dependable employee. Otherwise, it is only going to get tougher. Some day you may need to get a new job and you don't want any clutter in your CV or any unexplained job changes.

In the world as it is your reasons for the job changes just wont be understood and most companies will reckon its only a matter of time before you start suing some company and they'd rather it wasn't them.

Just for interest, what reasons did you give to your present employer for leaving our previous?

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[flamby]

What I believe is that politics is not necessarily a bad thing. After all countries are run by virtue of it, and doing quite well. What matters is the difference between acceptable and ugly display of it.

Ciao.

 

[ash9144]

Have you read the Dilbert comic strips?
Some of what you describe is common material for that strip. It has been popular for many years because people can relate to it. It happens everywhere.

 

[bvanhiel]

CEO sleeping with secretary = gossip/drama, not politics. Office politics is the brown-nosing and credit-stealing that "successful" employees do to get promoted.

The difference is that you can choose to participate in the gossip/drama if you'd like, but you'll be happier if you ignored it. Failure to participate in office politics will cost you promotions.

To me it sounds like your spending too much time getting involved with your co-workers lives. They're not your freinds. It shouldn't matter to you or anyone else who their sleeping with.

-b

 

[dvd]

I've never encountered any of these issues in 22 years of engineering. Maybe you need to look within and ask your self why you keep ending up at these kind of places.

 

[tickle]

In my experience in work and sports clubs. The same issues come up time and time again, "they do not go to training", "I always have to load the photocopier".

The best way to survive/thrive is to not participate. Only say things that you would not mind being said about you. i.e. only say good things. If someone is having a whinge about something to you, then give them a positive or a simple solution - "you are helping X out by doing that and they will help you out later". Rise above it, do not act snobby, do not gossip... Be the example and bring people up to your level.

Remember the saying - do not sweat the petty things.

But that said a good whinge is the best remedy. But do it out of work.

 

[HDS]

The office politics that causes the most problems is when there is chaos and instability. At least the rumors are not of the "sky is falling" type. One of the reasons I left my last job was because I was tired of coming in each morning and waiting to see what would go wrong.

"engineers acting snobby and not talking to technicians, technicians always griping about not being respected, scientific staff thinking they're smarter than everyone, gossipy women in the business office, lazy sloppy guys in the machine shop, snarky administrative people, etc. And it seems like half the people at each company are mad at their bosses because they never get raises or promotions, so everyone is always bitter."

That is VERY common. Think about the other organizations you have been in. How often were they only filled with the very best doing what they loved to do and enjoying it? Don't stop looking for that if it what you want but be realistic how uncommon and short lived those situations are. The best thing about the place I am at now is not that there are not issue, there are plenty of them, but that everyone really does want to do their part to make the company succeed. People have agendas but they don't feel like they can only get ahead by making others fail.

The previous comments about the differences between gossip and politics are good.

If you do go to another job only go there if you have inside information through friends and colleges about the environment. You only get that by maintaining relationships with the best people at the previous jobs as they move on to new jobs.

 

[mechengdude]

All offices have "office politics" because you are dealing with the human condition when you interact with others; greed, envy, feelings of inadequacies, etc. Theres always someone that thinks the place sucks and wants to move to greener pastures.

I don't consider discrimination, intimidation, corruption office politics. I and most states consider those things illegal. I have been fortunate to never have to deal with the illegal ones. I think if I did, I would look for a new job.

 

[Gymmeh]

That sounds like an interesting job, as long as its not effecting you getting raises, doing good engineering work, and you can laugh and say its just like high school, Why worry about it?

As already noted: unless your working alone there will always be politics. If they are doing something illegal, there are a lot of other companies that are legit.

The only real office politics I have run into that i didn’t find funny, is being spied on a manager which is not in charge of me. As long as it doesn’t affect my boss’s opinion of me I just don’t worry about it.

 

[KENAT]

People are imperfect (some more so than others perhaps) so there will always be issues. As long as you are working with others there will be some issues.

A lot of what you put is typical at some level. In fact perfectly describes my first place except it was the Company Secretary & and wages clerk not CEO & Secretary.

Turns out with the benefit of hindsight that was a much nicer place to work than pretty much any other place I've been.

"I'm beginning to think that no workplace is perfect, and that I should stop changing jobs looking for a company where everyone is 100% happy. "

You honestly believe that place exists where everyone is 100% happy, presumably all the time? I take it they have a coral for their unicorns rather than a parking lot;-). Don't stay somewhere where you're miserable but expecting your work/work place to make you totally happy all the time is ridiculous.

So yeah office politics is in pretty much every office, and the equivalent is in just about every other group of humans.


KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[plasgears]

It might be appreciated by higher authority to blow the whistle and inform them. It's unpleasant for all people involved, but the atmosphere needs to be cleared.

 

[SylvestreW]

Had a job for a while I thought was great. 2yrs into it, learnt that ppl were complaining, boss was sleeping with an admin, racial/sexual jokes were common-place etc etc.

Personally it didn't affect my job at all, and what adults do with their lives is their business. Some people used to complain all the time about the going-ons at the company (which is a nice way of saying "spread the gossip") but really, when asked directly, it never affected their jobs.

Sometimes you just have to realize people don't need to be saints to get a job done. Unless it is directly affecting your work (i.e. people aren't around) then really, who cares?

-
Syl.

 

[rtmote]

I am totally clueless. I have one colleague who knows all the cubicle gossips and dramas and another who knows all the office politics.

Every now and again they update me and I get blown away by the stories. At the end of the day, I don't care and I don't worry, I have a job to do and that's why I am there. Some people have a real need for the extra-curricular activities or are desperate for recognition.

Unless it affects your job, see it as a free pass to the human zoo. It's changing all the time, sometimes more dramatic than others but mostly its mundane stuff.

Robert Mote

http://www.motagg.com

 

[Maui]

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire." - Aristotle

Maui

 

[KENAT]

It might be appreciated by higher authority to blow the whistle and inform them.

Unlikely, possible but very unlikely. Anyway if the CEO is the one carrying on then unless it's affecting the company such that the Chairman/Board get involved who are you going to tell?

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...