I hate office politics. That is one of the reasons why I decided to start my own business. I never realized that no matter if you employee four or 300 people, there is no getting away from the “drama.”
Through the years, I have worked for dozens of offices and it’s always the same. There were negative people, upbeat people, over producers, under producers and people who just talked badly about everything. Another commonality I saw between offices was that there was always one person that no one liked!
I remember my last job; my boss was that person. He was very rude and everyone was afraid of him. He would make fun of people in public and embarrass them. Everyone was so unhappy and yet no one talked with him about why they were unhappy. Yet, no one left. They all stayed on for years and years.
Sometimes I wonder if happiness or unhappiness relates to turnover. I look at other businesses and I can’t understand why there isn’t more turnover? In my business, we have a lot of turnover and yet, I go out of my way to do good by my staff. Does that make sense?
One time I rented a house in east end and invited my entire staff to join me. We went to the wineries. We went for a nice dinner. We played golf the next day. And yet, a week after the trip three people resigned.
How can bad feelings be eliminated? How can one reduce turnover? Is it that in this computer age we forget how to communicate with one another? If people talked with each other about their feelings, could office politics be eliminated? Would people feel more part of the team?
Before I started my own business, I imagined an office environment where everyone loved coming to work and enjoy every moment of the job. Now, after 16 years of being in business, I not sure if an environment like that can exist. But I can keep trying…. Can’t I?
