Lord Vader In Corporation

In reality, the best way to increase productivity in a company is to remove politics. Nothing destroys employee morale and performance more than corporate politics.

Workplace politics is a form of manipulation by projecting an image that is not true, or does not give the true picture. Describing a few of the more popular games people play in the office will not only illustrate politics but also why it destroys performance.

Taking credit for the work of another employee is one. Often it takes the form of a line manager taking credit for the work of a subordinate. The subordinate will, sooner or later, stop performing without recognition and reward. Indeed I know of more than one employee who even began deliberately inserting errors into their work to get a boss into trouble.

Another insidious game is attacking a rival by attacking his or her reputation. This is usually done by a form of targeted gossip. The reason this is destructive is because the rival clearly is the better performer and the politician, being a lower performer, has to use politics to attack his rival.

The last example that I will give is of the corporate bully. Such a person derives authority from fear rather than respect. There are many tools available for the bully but the main one is isolation, specifically to ensure that the target of the bullying is not able to perform.