Office politics

jobthejogger

I'm working in my supposed dream job but I ain't finding it easy at the minute.
Its not a case of me not being able to do the actual job, but rather the politics involved.
Maybe I'm the one at fault, but It's been made clear to me that I am seen as a threat/disliked and people who are here two years or more view me as a threat.
Im business like in that I tend not to engage in the gossip, I just do my job, don't socialise with work people because we don't have a lot in common and go home to my mates and the like.
Basically I don't feel as if I can trust anyone in there..anyone ever experienced this or is this rampant and fairly common in the workplace?
Due to family commitments packing the job aint an option but to anyone who was in my shoes, how did you handle things?
Describe what the atmosphere was like?
How did you develop an attitude to get you through?
And more importantly are you in a better job now!?

BossArky

Doing a great job and being a loner, versus being the heart and soul of the party and someone that people would rather talk to/spend time with are two things you have to balance.

You need to do at least a half decent job to get on in the company and get promoted.. but if you are not a people person then management are not going to want you up there at the top... because you will not inspire others with your personality.

From my experience personality counts more than actual skills. At the end of the day, the higher up the management chain you go the more your personal skills come into play.. i.e. making contacts within other companies to sell business, etc.

leeroybrown

I can't say that I've been in your situation but I have worked somewhere where I had almost nothing in common with my colleagues and wouldn't have been able to socialize with them even if I had wanted to. It had nothing to do with being disliked or colleagues feeling threatened, I was just working with a completely different group of people who had their own things going on. It does make your job more of a drain in the medium to long term. In my case I had an awful job that didn't interest me. I ended up leaving after less than a year and have a much better job now. I wouldn't say that I put any effort into developing a particular attitude, I just put up with it knowing that I would leave when an opportunity arose.

My suggestion would be to go along to any work socials coming up (a Christmas party for example), especially if you would normally skip them. Even if you don't have a huge amount in common with your co-workers you should be able to get talking with some of them over a few pints. If they get to know you a bit better then maybe they mightn't feel threatened. I always like to go along to work socials because they generally help the atmosphere in the office.

This situation doesn't sound like it's your fault but I can see how some colleagues would feel threatened by someone who works very hard and is very cold/professional about it all. It's not particularly nice but it's natural.

Aoife-FM104

I had that problem, although I was a little bit more sociable.

I started working in a company full of lazy people. I was good at my job, which as a result showed that they had been sitting on their asses doing nothing. They took this personally and as a threat.

The new people who joined became my good friends, whereas the older people just got bitchier and bitchier.

Eventually bullying started, and it got messy.

I would recommend you try to iron out your difference with your workmates. There has to be a middle ground which you can reach. If you can assure your workmates that you're on their side, and that you'd like them to teach you the way the office works, maybe things will improve.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is things won't get better unless you do something about it...