Richard Letcher, Managing Director of Profile Search & Selection, addresses the impact of organisational politics and its presence in workplaces across APAC.

For the last four years, Profile Search & Selection has carried out an annual survey of current HR and Talent issues in conjunction with The Roffey Park Institute, a UK-headquartered leadership consulting firm, and The Next Step, an Australian recruitment company specialising in HR talent.

This year, 2,800 people filled in the survey, 94% of which were based in either Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong or China. Roughly half of all the respondents were HR professionals with the other half from various functions from Legal & Compliance, to Sales & Marketing and Finance & Accounting. Most (84%) were Manager level to Board Director and, generation wise, 57% were Generation X, 29% Generation Y with the rest being Baby Boomers. 

Stressed Out

An interesting discovery of the survey is the effect of organisational politics in the workplace. One of the questions asked in this year's survey is "What do you consider to be the major stressors in your working life?" Respondents chose their top three from a choice of 11 options.

Here are the top choices of respondents broken down by geographic area. The blue circles indicate the top three stressors within that jurisdiction:

What do you consider to be the major stressors in your working life? % of respondents who indicated:

*Blue circles indicate top three stressors.

Although it appears politics aren’t currently that prevalent in China, it is the number one stressor in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. 

The results were similar in previous years’ surveys where we asked the same question. Last year, ‘Organisational politics’ was the top choice across Hong Kong, Singapore, and China (as we didn’t have data for Australia before the current year) and was number one or two in 2017 for the same three countries.

Organisational politics appears to be particularly prevalent within financial services; however, it is still an issue within Industry & Commerce. The graph below shows the results of this “major stressors” question broken down by industry sector.

What do you consider to be the major stressors in your working life? % of respondents who indicated: 

​Running for the Door

Another question we ask in the survey is "Do you have an intention to leave your current organisation in the near future?". The numbers are high in 2019 with Singapore having 74% of respondents intending to leave, followed by Hong Kong at 63%, China at 67%, and Australia at 64%.

Of those respondents who have one foot out the door, we asked them why they were considering leaving their current organisation. We gave people 12 options and below are the most frequently chosen reasons for looking to leave.

Why are you considering leaving your current organisation? % of respondents who indicated:
​ 

Although ‘Lack of career growth and development opportunities’ and ‘Lack of opportunity to make a difference’ are very important, politics is also a key reason why people are keen to leave an organisation. It is particularly prevalent as a reason to be unhappy in Singapore and Australia, where it is the number two reason for people considering leaving their company. In Hong Kong, it comes in at number four, and in China number six. 

Generationally, as one might expect, politics is particularly dominant as a reason for considering leaving an organization among Baby Boomers and Generation X. The blue circles below indicate the top three reasons for looking to leave an organisation, sliced and diced by generation.

Why are you considering leaving your current organisation? % of respondents who indicated: 

*Blue circles indicate top answers

As one might expect, politics tends to dominate among older professionals in more senior roles. Generation Y remains relatively unscathed.

The Face of Organisational Politics

And how does organisational politics actually ‘show up’ in an organisation? We asked all respondents to tick one or more of five boxes which gave descriptions of how politics could manifest itself within an organisation. 

How does organisational politics, in your current organisation, manifest itself? % of respondents who indicated: 

‘Organisational change through lack of transparency and power struggles’ as well as ‘Bias and favouritism’ are the top types of politics observed in workplaces across APAC. However, ‘Undermining peers through gossiping, bullying and backstabbing’ is certainly common.

Interestingly, further analysis of the data uncovered that organisational politics is more prevalent in larger organisations, with the additional layers of hierarchy and more people jostling for promotion to a finite number of senior roles.

Organisational Politics – Taboo?

Through our travels around the region, in presenting these findings and through conversations with candidates and clients, organisational politics doesn’t seem to be a topic of conversation particularly at the moment nor has it been in the past, either as a reason for leaving a company or as a stressor in one’s working life. 

A potential reason for politics not being on the agenda is that people often see it as a sign of weakness when they are at the losing end of it. If someone considers themselves a victim of politics, they might feel others might judge them negatively. For example, if passed over for a promotion due to political reasons, an employee might feel that others would perceive them as not advancing in their company due to poor performance. Perhaps, if an employee believes the senior management team is not being transparent with them, they may feel that others think they aren't senior enough to be included in more strategic discussions.

The survey is anonymous and respondents potentially may have been more honest than they might be during a job interview or an exit interview. In these latter circumstances, they are far more likely to make up or focus on other reasons for leaving.

Organisational politics is the cause of more staff turnover than previously thought and is having very detrimental effects on mental health and wellness. This is made even worse by the fact that people are not talking about it in the workplace. Leaders and HR functions need to be more aware of this. Organisational politics is incredibly difficult to tackle, particularly in large organisations, but it starts at the top.

Established in 2005, Profile is Asia’s leading independent executive search & selection firm. We provide collaborative solutions to financial services, commercial and professional services clients.