To the office for some  politics!

That office politics plays havoc with corporate performance is too clichéd a comment to deserve repetition. But sometimes one needs to keep shouting from rooftop to be heard. Even then there is no guarantee that it will really impact office politics addicts. So deep rooted is this mal-practice.
But who are the die-hard practitioners of office politics? The incompetent and the undeserving, driven by unreasonable ambition and envy, are masters at it. Unable to make their mark on merit, they seek to rise up the corporate ladder through politicking in their departments, divisions and the organisation. So good they are at this game that many a time they succeed in their designs too. What a tragedy!
Decades of experience in running businesses in Nepal has brought me in touch with counterparts and partners in the sub-continent as well as in more advanced countries. I find office politics to be all pervasive. It seems to be driven by the baser instincts among humans. However, it is not that intense where merit is the touchstone of success and where processes and systems inhibit individual discretion. The man on the top too plays a big role in keeping office politics in check.
Analysing this universal phenomenon in depth, I feel it is inevitable to some extent. (You cannot rule or wipe out office politics but can certainly contain it.) After all, persons from diverse social and educational backgrounds work in an office or workplace. Their goals and interests too differ. Yet, organisational success lies in aligning individual goals with the organisational goal. Given what human nature is all about, this is easier said than done. 
Engaging organisational and rank and file’s interest on the same page needs massive change in corporate culture and professional skills. An organisation is formed when all its stakeholders, particularly employees, organise, that is work towards a common goal.
It is imperative that employees work in unison with full faith in the goals decided for the organisation. These goals may differ from time to time in keeping with the business environment. Therefore, there should be the willingness and flexibility to accept change and mould the way of working. However, that happens only when the top leadership is able to convince the employees that the organisational goal takes full care of their (employees’) interests also. This calls for a win-win orientation and transparency which, in turn, can ensure a positive ambience.
Let’s come back to the prevalence and root causes of work-place politics. Why does office politics arise and then strike roots? Simply because undeserving employees resort to misusing their power to gain undue attention and popularity at the workplace. They perceive this as a means to move up the ladder. Little do they realise that this does not help in the long run. Merit ultimately prevails. But in the meanwhile well-meaning employees get hurt and feel compelled to seek jobs better administered companies.
The organisation suffers. Attrition rises. Invariably, the competent ones are the first to flee. (The rotten apples remain because they have no takers; they continue to swear by loyalty).  Replacing a good worker with a new one costs the organisation dearly in more ways than one. The entire work cycle gets disrupted and takes time to return to normal. Persons with the required competencies are not easily available. Overall staff morale takes a hit. The top management is viewed as callous and apathetic to the genuine needs of efficient and competent employees. ‘Yes men/women’ seem to be the winners. Indeed, a very dangerous image for a corporate.
Typical masters at office politics show different behavioural patterns. Let me roughly categorise them.
Limelight seekers: They hate working hard. They resort to nasty politics by creating a negative image of their competitors, in specific, and all co-workers, in general. The objective is to be in the good books of the bosses. Unfortunately, they often succeed especially when the bosses are immature, inefficient and feudal-minded. The feudal mind-set is in evidence even in the leading Western companies. This is more individual-centric than culture-centric.
Personal relationship exploiters: Though it is quite difficult to keep personal bonds entirely out of the workplace, their undue interference in office can play havoc. People tend to favour their friends, relatives and neighbours. Intimate personal relationships in the workplace have often led to major scandals, big loss to the company because of the consequent lapses made, long-term damage to the company’s reputation which keeps potential competent employees from joining the organisation, et al.
Trust skeptics: Trust between the employer and employees as well as among employees is the bedrock of organisational efficiency and productivity. But, because of an organisation’s inherent culture, often, doubt, apprehension and skepticism emerge stronger. Employees, mainly senior managers, choose to remain in their silos or shall I say ivory towers. Flow of vital workplace information gets disrupted. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Therefore, coordination, which is the mantra of organisational success, becomes dysfunctional. The office-politicking types exploit the situation to their advantage and manage to sow seeds of suspicion. A mature management team can salvage the situation by building a trusting organization. The bosses can do this by slashing hierarchy, making the company flatter or more horizontal, conducting open houses, creating secured digital channels of communication, and most, importantly abandoning their false egos.    
 Naughty guy’s tools: Manipulation, bullying, pulling strings with the “managed and massaged masters”, blame game, gossip, backstabbing, leg pulling, stealing credit, demeaning others’ achievements, etc. are freely put to use by seasoned  office politics players. Very soon, friends turn foes. Team members stop helping each other. Team spirit goes for a toss and with it also the very concept of organisation. Tension, conflicts and jealousy flourish. Uncalled for criticism and cribbing become the norm. The joy of work is lost and the smallest of daily assignments start become drudgery. Negativity strikes roots and the company starts heading for decline and perhaps doom.  
Hollywood movies like Boiler Room, The Working Girl, Up in the Air, 9 to 5, Office Space, Smartest Guys in the Room and The Intern have managed to capture workplace politics, warts and all. In fact, I feel these are a must see for working and aspiring corporate executives. 
But the million dollar question is: how to keep office politics within permissible and tolerable limits at least in our part of the world. It has to be admitted that the existing management style in Nepal is not much to crow about. 
First and foremost, we need to understand and accept the importance of human resource development (HRD) function in Nepal’s business and industry. Alas, the prevailing mind-set of business heads is not exactly amenable to this idea. They prefer to continue in their arbitrary and ad-hoc manner.
As such, Nepal is a resource-scarce country. It does not have either the means or the regulatory framework to import and install state-of-the-art technology in its factories. Besides, the size and scale of our manufacturing units is too small compared to even the neighbouring countries. So that leaves us with just one resource to grow our businesses. And that is human resource (HR).
But Nepal hardly has any truly qualified HR managers, let alone experts. Our HRD policies and systems are archaic and have little relevance to the changing business scenario around us. Containing office politics is a skill which most of our HR managers have yet to even discover. Instead the HR office, being whatever of a power centre it is, functions as the fountainhead of gossip. Confidentiality and trust-building do not figure prominently on HR teams’ agendas. The cane-wielding head master continues to be their ideal. 
Making things worse is the feudal approach of the top management. Yes men are preferred over competent and qualified professionals. Strangely enough even the company promoters and owners tend to do this though they have no reason to be insecure of their hired managers. Elsewhere, business tycoons take pride in recruiting and retaining professionals smarter than themselves in specific functions. This is the first step towards corporatization of business. Nepali business seems to be afraid of taking this first baby step. 
No wonder, sycophants and hangers-on continue to occupy major positions and perpetuate office politics. Nepal needs a paradigm shift in the way it does business.