Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Report, “Disrupting the Toxic Office”, Reveals Top Office Politics Challenges

Rumor Spreading, Sucking Up, Blame Gaming, and Backstabbing are Top Disruptors; Senior Management Best Positioned to Address Office Politics

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rumor spreading, sucking up, blame gaming, backstabbing, and credit snatching were identified as the top office politics behaviors in a new survey and report from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. The report, “Disrupting the Toxic Office,” seeks to identify the current status of office politics, top disruptors, whether office politics can be used for good, generational, and gender differences and how senior managers can address office politics in the U.S. workplace.

Based on a survey of self-identified managers and non-managers, nearly a third (29%) of respondents named office politics as a top challenge for getting ahead in today’s workplace – second only to communication problems (35%).

“Pepperdine Graziadio conducted this survey because we suspected many team and organizational problems stem from office politics. We know from research on toxic work cultures that there can be persistent communication breakdowns, disruptions, process deviations, compromised ethics, and employee stress– all of which can lead to recruitment and retention challenges,” said Dana Sumpter, PhD, Associate Professor of Organization Theory and Management, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “Senior-level executives and team managers will benefit from the novel insights, problems, and ideas identified in this report.”

From social distancing to video conferencing, the office environment has changed tremendously over the past three years. Pepperdine Graziadio Business School set out to determine how that change has impacted power and advantage in an office setting. Some key points from “Disrupting the Toxic Office” include:

Office politics is prevalent as more than two-thirds of office workers (68%) experience office politics in their office while one-third (32%) say it is not prevalent.

Office politics is also negative, debunking the idea that office politics can be a force of good in an organization. Two in five (42%) say “none” is the right amount of office politics while two in five (42%) say “a little every now and then” is acceptable.

Yet, office politics could change due to hybrid or remote working. Three in five office workers (59%) say being mostly/fully in the office creates more negative office politics compared to only one in ten who say hybrid (11%) and mostly/fully remote (10%) contributes to office politics. (Overall, almost two-thirds (64%) of office workers say they are all or mostly all in the office, one in ten (11%) are equally mixed between the office and remote, and one-quarter (25%) are all or mostly all remote).

Office politics is a barrier to getting ahead. Three in ten (29%) respondents said office politics is the most problematic in getting ahead - No. 2 only to communications problems.

Office politics is ugly. Rumor spreading (34%), sucking up (34%), blame gaming (29%), and backstabbing (27%) are the most commonly displayed behaviors in office politics.

Office politics is a participatory sport. Half of the workers (49%) surveyed say they feel pressured to engage in office politics, while more than two in five (42%) say engaging in office politics is just part of the job.

Office politics is a challenge to ethnic minorities and women. More than half (59%), say it is likely that women and ethnic minorities benefit less from office politics. Among those who say discrimination is a problem, almost three-quarters (73%) say racial discrimination is the greatest challenge in office politics. More than half (56%) say gender is, more than two in five (44%) say it is sexual orientation, more than one-third (39%) say it is age, and over one in ten (15%) say religious discrimination is a challenge.

Office politics could have much larger ramifications. More than nine in ten say too much office politics can cause ethical issues for companies (94%) and too much can create a toxic culture (93% while nine in ten (89%) say too much office politics can cause legal issues for companies.

“As organizational leaders consider returning to the office, understanding and addressing office politics will help organizations run smoothly, meet their goals and fulfill their mission,” said Kurt Motamedi, Professor of Strategy and Leadership, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “Pepperdine Graziadio Business School seeks to identify the top challenges, bring honest transparency to the problems, and inspire direct action. Raising the dialogue about office politics and testing solutions, can help make big problems small.”

Pepperdine Graziadio faculty members available to comment:

Dana Sumpter, PhD Assistant Professor of Organization Theory and Management

Kurt Motamedi, PhD, Professor of Strategy and Leadership

To download the report, “Disrupting the Toxic Office”, visit here.

Methodology

This is a survey of 800 office workers with 400 who manage people and 400 who do not. The survey is balanced to be representative of office workers by age and gender according to the U.S. Census. This survey was conducted online between November 16 and 21, 2022. If this was a pure probability survey, the sampling error for this would be +/-3% at a 95% confidence level.

About Pepperdine Graziadio Business School

For more than 50 years, the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School has challenged individuals to think boldly and drive meaningful change within their industries and communities. Dedicated to developing Best for the World Leaders, the Graziadio School offers a comprehensive range of MBA, MS, executive, and doctoral degree programs grounded in integrity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The Graziadio School advances experiential learning through small classes with distinguished faculty that stimulate critical thinking and meaningful connection, inspiring students and working professionals to realize their greatest potential as values-centered leaders. Follow Pepperdine Graziadio on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.