What are the signs that your organization is overly political?

The difference between running a nation and running a business may not be as vast as HR might expect. The same issues that cause problems in government --selfishness, greed, petty bickering, lust for power --can creep into your company's culture and interfere with productivity at all levels. HR must keep a constant, sharp eye out for such "political" problems at all levels of the corporate culture.

A successful HR will transform a company into the kind of organization in which politics can't take hold and thrive. In this type of organization, that elusive sense of ownership that drives employees to innovate constantly, to execute relentlessly and to work with a sense of passion will keep a company ahead of the competition.

Joanne G. Sujansky, PhD, CEO and founder of KEYGroup, lists the following nine signs that your organization is overly political:

• Gridlock. Your company being at a standstill because no one can agree on what to do may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Bureaucracy. Employees being so bogged down in paperwork, red tape and stifling rules that their progress is hindered may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Grandstanding. Employees paying lip service to leaders' ideas to flatter and curry favor, but having no real commitment to implementing them, may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• The two-faced two-step. Employees talking out of both sides of their mouths, saying what they think the people they're talking to at the moment want to hear, may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Passing the buck. No one taking responsibility for anything and employees always shifting the blame to someone else may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Laziness, clockwatching and low work-ethic. Employees having a sense of entitlement or working with the attitude that they just have to "put in face time until they can go home," may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Indirect communication. Instead of talking to coworkers directly when they have a problem, employees complaining to supervisors and talking about coworkers behind their backs may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Pork-barreling. Influential employees pushing through expensive projects that serve only one small part of the company may be a sign that your organization is overly political.
• Corruption. Employees who are actually embezzling, fudging reports and engaging in other unethical or illegal behavior, may be a sign that your organization is overly political.