Knives in the water: politics '90s style.

Difficulty in getting information. The world will end before human beings give up gossip entirely, especially in the office, but times have changed. Instead of people regularly exchanging intelligence, we hear that the grapevine has long periods of silence. There seems to be no news--or at least none than anyone bothers to repeat. What's going on? Our best guess is that it takes really big news to elicit enough energy from the stressed and stretched populace to repeat it. If so, a lot of cues, clues, and small warnings aren't being passed on.

In the past, most organizations wanted to discourage gossip. They feared rabble rousers. Now, several managers have told us that they can't count on the grapevine to carry important news. "If I want people to know something, I have to memo or E-mail them. It's time-consuming and tedious but if I don't do it, I get blank stares when I drop news that not so long ago everyone would have heard via the grapevine."

Creeping workloads. Sometimes called "involuntary task transfer," the off-loading of tasks and responsibilities to someone who can't refuse is an excellent way to drive him/her out of the organization. And it doesn't have to be a boss! A coworker who feels overworked can make the case with n boss that "Joe can do it better." Or, he can threaten to talk to the boss and torture Joe that way. Coworkers in many companies are so suspicious of each other they work at looking busy. It's happening everywhere. Workers have to be vigilant about what their responsibilities are. What makes involuntary task transfer a particularly dirty trick is that the victim has a hard time refusing without looking like a slacker. You can defend yourself but only with facts and figures. Most overworked employees decide that looking for another job is easier.

Relocate, but no guarantee. A woman working for a managed care company was told that she,d be promoted if she relocated. She knew her company was trying to acquire several HMOs in that market. If they succeeded, her job would be redundant. When she asked for relocation back to the home office if that happened, her boss, boss feigned outrage that she'd even bring it up. Her boss told her she was taking "too inflated a view of the position." Translation: Stranding her 1,000 miles from home with a few months, severance would trouble her, not them. A coworker agreed to take the job. Within three months, the company had purchased two HMOs and the coworker was out.

You have no choice. "Take it or leave it" are usually not the first words out of a boss, mouth, but they might be the last. Here's an example of the ultimate power play, a combination of off-loaded guilt and manipulation: "We've created a new role for you, and you'll love it. Can you start Monday?" When you try to ask questions about the job, negotiate, or talk about your present job's demands, you're told not to worry about it. The job may be a promotion, it may have possibilities. What's a fact, however, is that if you don't agree, you're out. This is never articulated but strongly implied.

If one employee is "offered" a deal like this, the grapevine will never stop chewing on it. If the person to whom the offer is made says, "I'll leave," s/he gets no severance or outplacement. Many companies have found ways to make such offers seem like anything but a sudden death playoff. The rule: If you can't refuse without losing your job, you're a political victim. You haven't been offered a choice. A variation on this is title deflation or job downsizing. You're moved down from director to manager or part of your responsibilities are given to someone else. If everyone at your level is "demoted," that's one thing. If you're the only one, it's politics.

Cover ups. If your sub-standard boss or his/her boss routinely expects you to cover up errors, omissions, etc., you're being set up. Organizations, even not-for-profits, have less tolerance than ever for non-performers. However, even if someone is legally protected from dismissal--an alcoholic, for example--many companies will still expect a subordinate to do the work and cover for the boss until management decides how to handle the situation.

The problem is that if you cover successfully it will take longer to get rid of the boss. For many people, there are also moral and ego issues. "Why should I cover for Fred when he's lying under his desk? He's ripping off the company." Or, "Why should Fred get credit for work I've done. He's useless."

The grapevine knows all about Fred but if it carries a single criticism from his abused followers, it's in trouble. Even the Employee Assistance Program (EPA) folk have trouble with this one. When top management is engaged fulltime in covering up a variety of sins, the politics will be not only vicious but extremely cynical. It's time to go.

Economic uncertainty and employee insecurity produce the most destructive politics. The minute you sense that the politics have turned up in heat and down in direction, develop an exit campaign. Even massive infusions of capital might not save the organization.

Why do organizations engage in such tactics? Forget creeping evil and think cash. If someone resigns, it costs the organization nothing. Political tactics are cheap and generally effective.

Marilyn Moats Kennedy is Managing Partner, Career Strategies, Inc., Wilmette, Illinois, and long-time member of the ACPE faculty. She may be reached at 1150 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091, 708/251-1661, FAX [phone].