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The workplace is one of the places you should look to if you want to understand what really goes on in politics. That is what the stories of these three young people prove. Office politics isn’t a new event, but it’s really not been talked about as much as it should. In this article, I poked into workplace culture to identify the many loopholes, and people’s experience with office politics seems to be the climax.
From sabotaging employees to preferential treatment, things are happening. And the consequences are dire. These events breed scornful relationships between colleagues, alleviate toxicity, and affect a worker’s psyche even after moving to work elsewhere. Just like Dunni, a lawyer who had worked as a legal writer/editor before joining a law firm. Her experiences at her former place of work made her paranoid at the law firm where she currently works.
Once I see that you’re becoming friends with the boss or a senior executive, I just give you space -Dunni, Lawyer.
“Previously, I worked with this private firm where we write legal documents. We were just six on the team with the owner of the place, and I left because I couldn’t cope with office politics again. Let me start from here; the company had no structure asides from the fact that we all knew our job descriptions. There was a particular staff who seemed like a favorite. Whenever anything happened, he knew first. If the boss had to pass any message across, instead of sending a mail, she would inform him and let him inform the rest of us. That wasn’t even an issue for me until I began to notice that everything we did in the office got to the notice of the boss (she is not based in Nigeria), and it all felt like child’s play.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was one day when we needed to get something urgently at the office and the guy was like “you better appease me now so I can speak with oga to send funds”. I don’t know about anyone else, but that was when I began to write my resignation letter. Other things happened after, but it didn’t get to me because my mind was already made up. Now, once I see that you’re becoming friends with the boss or a senior executive, I just give you space”
Andy’s experience other the other hand was a clear sabotage of his chance at promotion. The effect for him was not missing an opportunity to grow his income, but also disrupting his mental health and self-esteem.
I have stopped being the softie anyone can cheat at the office -Anderson
“When they start calling you Andy instead of Anderson, be careful o. That was on a lighter note, but it’s the truth. I am a single father and a softie. I’m not the type to get all defensive when someone offends me or something, and I guess that’s why I got treated that way. There was this promotion at work that I deserved, and I was even looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my line manager influenced the decision and someone else was given. Ordinarily, I’d just pass and move on, but I confronted him, and he told me he did it because I won’t be able to handle the new responsibility as a single father, so he deemed it fit to recommend someone else. And that someone else was a colleague who wasn’t doing as much as I was. Frankly, there were rumors that the both of them were having an affair but it’s not my business. If I had a different personality, I’d have changed it for him, but I didn’t.
I can talk about it now because it’s in the past, but it was really painful. I discussed this with an older cousin of mine, and he was like people do that to me because I give them the chance. Even though he didn’t say it, I knew he was referring to my relationship with the mother of my child. That was when I decided to stop being a softie at work. Of course, I can’t be a different person overnight, but that era of being the one everyone can ride is over. That promotion still hurts”
And for Folasade (who had shared a job loss experience with me in a previous post), office politics is something she’s not new to and even expects whenever she’s resuming a new place.
Just know how to protect yourself, do your job well, and do above the barest minimum if you can -Folasade
“This your question, where do I even start? Is it how HR wouldn’t do anything when you complain about someone? Or the preferential treatment? But the most recent one I had was not with me. So, in my current company, I had this really close friend and colleague who resigned recently. I really don’t know what exactly transpired, but she had to resign when her duties were being assigned to someone else. It started the time she had this small disagreement with someone in her team, and we all thought it was resolved. Then, she discovered she was being sidelined from any big task or new thing on going. Calmly, she left the company, and barely two weeks after, someone else was hired to fill the role.
I have also had my experience. My former place of work didn’t pay salary when it was time and I was laid off because I complained, like I was the only one who did. Everything boils down to having a favorite employee, which is unhealthy but I think it’s unavoidable. Even at home, parents tend to have a favorite child, so it’s not surprising to see that a boss would place an employee above others. Just know how to protect yourself, do your job well, and do above the barest minimum if you can. That way, they won’t be able to defend any politics they want to play at you”
Bottom Line
Office politics are unavoidable. Everyone comes to work every day first to do their job and be productive. Most of the time, however, workplace politics get in the way of doing your job and being productive. In order to deal with the issues at work, employees need to identify and understand what's going underneath. That way, you can stand out and act accordingly.
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