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Victim of Office Politics

Was there a point in time in your career that you are victim of office politics? How did you handle it? Share your experience in this discussion.

I have been in the COMELEC for a number of years already. Power and politics in organizations are common. In most cases, each concept is necessary and executed with skill and precision. Unfortunately, power can lead to conformity from those around us, and this occurring conformity can breed corruption. The amount of power you have has strong ties to how much others depend on you. If you are deemed a valuable resource within an organization, then you are able to wield that dependability to make demands and get others to do what you want. Besides having an innate or acquired control over particular resources, there are several social aspects of power to draw on. (https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_organizational-behavior-v1.1/s17-power-and-politics.html).

I am a victim of office politics. Last 2019 National and Local Elections our Director III asked me if I want to join in the Committee of Random Manual Audit Team (RMAT) as verifier to verify the integrity of the result in the election. I was excited and I said "yes ma'am at your service". Being part of this Committee is another learning experience for me. One of my officemate, asked me if I am part of RMAT and I told her that our boss ask me to join them. After two days, my excitement turns into disappointment because our Director III told me that I am not included in the RMAT because another staff from our department replaced me. Legitimate Power derived from the position you hold within a hierarchy. With Legitimate Power, subordinates instructed because they believe in the legitimacy of the role you hold. It is underpinned by rules, laws, and even social norms (John R.P. French and Bertram Raven 1959) .. As a verifier you are allowed to get honorarium. The person who asked me if I am part of the RMAT talked to my supervisor and ask for her help to be part of RMAT Committee. She is friend of my supervisor.Our supervisor talked to our boss to replace me. "Power is simply the ability to get things done the way one wants them to be done."Salancik, G., & Pfeffer, J. (1989). In that scenario my immediate supervisor has the ability to change the decision of our boss. In that moment, I feel the office politics. It leads me into depression, anxiety and increased stress in my workplace. It also degrades my trust and comfort to my colleagues. My productivity level was downgrade and exhausts my morale. It results unproductive work environment. I am seriously thinking of leaving because it seems to be losing my optimism at this point.

Office politics exist everywhere. I file leave to lie low the past few days and kept quite some time. It was noticed my supervisor and she apologized what she did to me. One of the simplest ways to avoid politics at work is to maintain good relations with everyone (Krishna Reddy). "In any career, there is a moment when you are no longer need to be pushed up from below, but rather pulled up from above. Know when that moment comes and adjust your strategy accordingly." Clifford Cohen.