Office
politics can be harnessed to the benefit of your business, and it is HR’s job
to "tune in" to those individuals skilled at playing that game.
Speaking
at the London HR Connection networking event last week, Linda Holbeche,
director of research at Roffey Park Business School, said office politics often
get in the way of value-based organisations.
"Politics
is often the main determinant of what the organisation ends up achieving,"
she said. "It is largely covert, which is why some people are unaware that
decisions have been made until they have happened."
Holbeche
said the negative effects of office politics included low morale, increased
conflict, lack of trust, lowered productivity, loss of valuable talent, and
high stress levels.
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She
urged HR professionals to be "wise owls" and not "inept
donkeys", and "identify the people within organisations it needs to
develop relationships with".
"If
you can tune into those political members of staff and inform and influence
those individuals, you can benefit the organisation," she said.
