Can Data Eliminate Office Politics?
Posted May 18th, 2017
Office politics can be a significant burden in the workplace, building a sense of mistrust, cultivating resentments, and leading to higher turnover. But there are ways to combat the misconceptions that can lead to damaging internal politics, and many of them center on using data the right way. Here are just a few of the ways using internal data can improve corporate culture and lessen the ill-effects of office politics.
Eliminate Biases
While most organizations have strong policies against biased decision-making, unconscious bias still regularly comes into play, even if it is often unintentional. However, using data to gain insights into employee actions can help eliminate these factors from key decision areas, such as salary assignment and the availability of promotional opportunities.
By examining hiring and retention practices from a purely analytical standpoint, businesses can identify any patterns that may be unknowingly occurring. Then, if a bias appeared to have affected an outcome, corrective measures can be taken to right any missteps.
Support Transparency
An easy way to limit the impact of office politics is to improve the level of transparency in how a company operates. Choosing to make information about how promotions are awarded and how employee performance is evaluated removes any questions that can lead to misunderstandings or the spread of inaccurate information. Create clear benchmarks that workers must achieve to move forward, and make sure they are measurable and not subjective. Then, when one staff member wonders why another received an opportunity, the answer is fairly set in stone.
Performance Accountability
By choosing to use data to drive decisions about how an employee advances in their career, it makes these opportunities accessible to anyone who performs well in their position. Many companies inadvertently encourage office politics when making the right connections is more important to forwarding one’s career than doing a good job. When data is given priority over who a person knows there is a stronger change those with the most solid performance will be rewarded over workers who aren’t contributing as much to the business.
Using Data the Right Way
In many cases, decisions shouldn’t be made based on analytics alone. Instead, the information should be considered a starting point for deeper discussions and more thorough examinations. But, by choosing to review data first, you guarantee top performers are being seen based on their contributions, giving you the data you need to recognize those who may otherwise fly under the proverbial radar due to their workplace personalities or a slight separation based on their position.
Ultimately, the goal is to use data to remove misconceptions and stop a situation before it becomes toxic. By doing so, you can create a strong culture that rewards those doing the best work and creates clear guidelines on who others can forward their career by doing the same.
If you are looking for new employees to join your team and support your newly developed office culture, the customized solutions offered by Bayside Solutions can help you do just that. Contact us today and let use find the right employees for your open positions.
