Office politics - does your workplace have them?
- Thread starter Jon
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They can be brutal, literally affecting every aspect of your life. I spent nearly ten years in a dangerous and hostile environment before finally deciding that bankruptcy was an acceptable option in comparison to one more day there. Luckily, I was able to live off savings and find a new job before I lost it all but I have a different challenge: learning to work in an environment where my life is no longer in literal danger and the people are nice. I work for a small company led by a husband and wife team that believe in servant leadership and developing people to thrive in their company even if it means doing different jobs over the years.
I never thought I would have to adjust to not fighting with people and waiting for the next industrial accident. It is surprisingly difficult to adjust to what most people would consider "normal" or even desirable conditions.
I never thought I would have to adjust to not fighting with people and waiting for the next industrial accident. It is surprisingly difficult to adjust to what most people would consider "normal" or even desirable conditions.
It was a hazardous waste treatment facility that was purchased by people who refused to follow safety and legal limitations. There were those who tried to keep the place going and those who blindly followed orders. The blind usually ended up with titles like "defendant" and "workers compensation case". There were two occasions where I was happy that I was injured and had to stay home because one day an accountant ended up with burnt lungs and the other would have killed me if I had been in my office that day. Losing all my possessions or even being homeless looked like better prospects. The feeling of being trapped between needing to provide for your family and working a job that makes suicide sound like a good idea is hard to manage. At one point I was calculating the benefits my wife would receive if I did do it; that's when it was clear that I had to leave regardless of the consequences.
It was a horrendous employer and I am waiting for the federal case to proceed against two of the owners. The place is now closed down.
It was a horrendous employer and I am waiting for the federal case to proceed against two of the owners. The place is now closed down.
OMG that sounds terrible. I thought a company like that would be closed before it got that bad. Were there no checks and balances? Health & safety inspectors? Was it a large company?
Do you think you will get compensation if the federal case goes ahead for constructive dismissal or is it just a criminal misconduct case against them?
It is hard when you are reliant on an income, having to weigh up the pros and cons of leaving somewhere.
Do you think you will get compensation if the federal case goes ahead for constructive dismissal or is it just a criminal misconduct case against them?
It is hard when you are reliant on an income, having to weigh up the pros and cons of leaving somewhere.
I won't be compensated but I can make the difference between a slap on the wrist and ensuring these people never have the chance to put people and the environment at risk again.
As for government oversight, we had the city, county, state and federal governments paying very close attention at the end. They were shut down three times while I was there before the final move. The company spent $2 in attorney fees for every $1 they avoided in fines and associated jail time.
So now I am practicing mindfulness and doing cognitive behavioral therapy with a PTSD specialist because I apparently share many symptoms with police, soldiers etc. in terms of being in a nearly constant fight or flight mode. Maybe these can become topics for the forum, not a mental health support forum but rather an educational forum on the topics and techniques involved.
As for government oversight, we had the city, county, state and federal governments paying very close attention at the end. They were shut down three times while I was there before the final move. The company spent $2 in attorney fees for every $1 they avoided in fines and associated jail time.
So now I am practicing mindfulness and doing cognitive behavioral therapy with a PTSD specialist because I apparently share many symptoms with police, soldiers etc. in terms of being in a nearly constant fight or flight mode. Maybe these can become topics for the forum, not a mental health support forum but rather an educational forum on the topics and techniques involved.
Al, that sounds horrendous. I recognise the fight or flight thing. It's caused me to change careers a couple of times. The first time, I worked for the railway in the UK in quite a high position. After an accident where 31 people were killed, I was in a room full of lawyers and loss adjusters, all arguing over who was going to pick up the tab to crane the train wreck off the tracks. It didn't seem to register with them that people had died and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I left a 6-figure salary job with nothing to go to... Scary times, but there's no price on my integrity.
The second time, I was production manager for a small company manufacturing bespoke snooker and pool tables. Their attitude to health & safety was abysmal. The carpenters in the workshop smoked weed openly, while using bench saws and lathes without any kind of machine guards on them. I was not about to end up in court because of an accident - so again, resigned, with no job to go to. Three weeks later, a major fire devastated the showrooms after someone threw a cigarette butt into the spray shop (where all the chemicals were kept). Close shave.
Now, I work in local government and you'd think it would be very political - but refreshingly, it's not. My team works well together and I think it's because there is a mutual trust and respect. We solve problems together, we make mistakes, we learn from them and do better next time.
Just yesterday, there was an accident at work where a member of staff was injured. Before I'd finished taking the details, the team swung into action to mitigate against future accidents arising. I say often that I'm lucky to have them, but in reality, I'd hope that they are the norm and the bad experiences I've had are the outliers. I really like your idea about using the forum to educate on and improve mental wellbeing.
The second time, I was production manager for a small company manufacturing bespoke snooker and pool tables. Their attitude to health & safety was abysmal. The carpenters in the workshop smoked weed openly, while using bench saws and lathes without any kind of machine guards on them. I was not about to end up in court because of an accident - so again, resigned, with no job to go to. Three weeks later, a major fire devastated the showrooms after someone threw a cigarette butt into the spray shop (where all the chemicals were kept). Close shave.
Now, I work in local government and you'd think it would be very political - but refreshingly, it's not. My team works well together and I think it's because there is a mutual trust and respect. We solve problems together, we make mistakes, we learn from them and do better next time.
Just yesterday, there was an accident at work where a member of staff was injured. Before I'd finished taking the details, the team swung into action to mitigate against future accidents arising. I say often that I'm lucky to have them, but in reality, I'd hope that they are the norm and the bad experiences I've had are the outliers. I really like your idea about using the forum to educate on and improve mental wellbeing.
Insane_AI, I sympathise with your situation. Your idea of a mental health section is excellent. Let me create that for you now.
The Mind Tavern is evolving into areas I did not previously consider. But in hindsight, they are highly relevant.
Edit: New Mental Health forum section found here, credit to Insane_AI for the suggestion: https://themindtavern.com/community/index.php?forums/mental-health.13/
The Mind Tavern is evolving into areas I did not previously consider. But in hindsight, they are highly relevant.
Edit: New Mental Health forum section found here, credit to Insane_AI for the suggestion: https://themindtavern.com/community/index.php?forums/mental-health.13/
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I work in Local Gov too - and considering it's a political environment, I totally agree with Bee. Perhaps it has something to do with the job being about providing a good service against the odds, that everyone has to pull together to get as good a result as they can. We admit where there are failings and get on with trying to do something about it with no money to help us achieve it, just our dogged determination.
I worked as a contractor for the U.S. Navy for 28 1/2 years. Office politics within a given group wasn't that bad, but from division to division we had what we called "rice bowl politics." As in, you keep your chopsticks out of my rice bowl. Finding qualified employees who could meet federal security standards was often a nightmare. Literally dozens of times we had candidates who had skills out the yin-yang (as we used to say) but who, due to a youthful indiscretion, could not get a security clearance. It's hard to tell a young person that their membership in that radical socialist group during their college days poisoned their chances for a career in government. But what that situation did is that if anyone DID get a qualified employee, the "stealing" started. You'd think it would be great, but it wasn't. You see, with the government, getting recruited to another project didn't get you a raise if you were still doing the same kind of work.
The OTHER side of "rice bowl politics" is that for a while, the Operations group refused to cede complete control of certain systems admin duties even though they didn't have time to quickly respond to user account update requests. I was the designated admin, but I still needed their permission to patch a system. Think about that. Eventually, the government stepped in and kicked ass. Stopped short of taking names since they didn't want to disqualify the employees; they were too hard to find because of the clearance issues. Eventually I was acknowledged as the "real" administrator, which was convenient since I was the only one on staff with a vendor certification for that particular mainframe O/S.
It got so bad during some parts of the user admin duties that if someone gave me faulty application forms, I as a contractor could not reject them even if they weren't as good as used toilet tissue. The worst case was when someone's paperwork was ten years old (which means the security clearance had expired) but I couldn't kick the person off the system or take any protective action. Eventually, the security people had to step in on that one and lay down the law. But it was because of inter-office politics that I had to lay back and keep my mouth shut despite many violations of federal policies.
The OTHER side of "rice bowl politics" is that for a while, the Operations group refused to cede complete control of certain systems admin duties even though they didn't have time to quickly respond to user account update requests. I was the designated admin, but I still needed their permission to patch a system. Think about that. Eventually, the government stepped in and kicked ass. Stopped short of taking names since they didn't want to disqualify the employees; they were too hard to find because of the clearance issues. Eventually I was acknowledged as the "real" administrator, which was convenient since I was the only one on staff with a vendor certification for that particular mainframe O/S.
It got so bad during some parts of the user admin duties that if someone gave me faulty application forms, I as a contractor could not reject them even if they weren't as good as used toilet tissue. The worst case was when someone's paperwork was ten years old (which means the security clearance had expired) but I couldn't kick the person off the system or take any protective action. Eventually, the security people had to step in on that one and lay down the law. But it was because of inter-office politics that I had to lay back and keep my mouth shut despite many violations of federal policies.