| IMHO, workplace politics can happen and be caused at any level of a company. I think it's a natural thing for some people to do. Especially at big companies, which kinda resemble small countries. You get "who likes whom", supervisors' pets, weird alliances, power struggles, backstabbing and other toxic stuff. What management (at any level) is at fault of is failing to actively weed out these behaviours or indeed straight up doing the same thing. Also, companies often fail to reward silent, but effective and solid people, and instead opt into creating a loud, noisy rockstar culture even if the overall quality suffers. This in turn motivates people to seek other means of being recognized, including workplace politics. I've seen all of it while being a manager. I hated it with a passion, and fell a victim of it quite a few times myself. And I agree that people playing workplace politics should either change their behaviour or be let go. |
>companies often fail to reward silent, but effective and solid people, and instead opt into creating a loud, noisy rockstar culture.
Excellent observations.
People think politics is inevitable when a bunch of people are put together. But if one has courage to retain only the right people, politics can be eliminated. I once worked for a company that achieved that - near zero politics among the managers. It left a lasting impression on me.