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Work related Politics, Promotions – Manager, Lead – USA vs. India ?
I have a good friend who used to work for a good company. He came to US through them, worked here for over 2 years for them and then quit. He quit the company almost after 5 years… when I asked him the reason to quit, it was not money or anything else….it was just internal politics at work regarding promotions, salary hike.…he is a great guy with great work ethics and very straightforward…he does not believe in kissing someone’s a** just for the sake of promotion or hike. I think career growth and work politics are critical issues to consider for peace of mind. Based on my experience, they are different in India vs. America. Let me share few thoughts. This is part of series: : Settle in US or India? Life in USA vs. India? Move back?
Work related Politics for Promotions like Manager, Lead or Salary Hike :
Let’s go back to roots of Indian society, we are a male dominated society and very hierarchical in nature. The second part is very key, every person is respected based on his role in society and people treat with respect. Unfortunately, though we are so educated, some of us still carry the inherent characteristics of hierarchical society and we expect others who work for us to respect us in a different level….Also, if someone tries to flatter or apple polish people just take it because it feels good for ego. Unfortunately, it is not the right thing to do and not everyone are clever to do it by kissing someone’s a** . Anyways, the point I am trying to make is, Managers without proper external exposure carry these characteristics and show favoritism towards someone who apple polishes them…which is a bad sign. Not trying to generalize here, but significant number of them unknowingly carry this bias.
On the other hand, if we look at western culture, it is not hierarchical…there are no deep roots here…Everyone calls other person by first name…very few occasions people refer by Mr . The point is, work culture is very casual, there is no need to apple polish someone and people do not expect anything. In fact, it is against work ethics to show favoritism. I am not saying it does not happen, but the possibility of getting someone by apple polishing is not very common. Most of the Americans do not like to hide anything or lie, they say upfront. If they do not agree with their boss, they will say I disagree…but in Indian culture, it is considered impolite and we do not do that…so there are fundamental differences. The overall point is, there is no need to kiss someone’s a** here to get promotion. Your work is well recognized.
Also, when it comes to work related politics, there is too much of politics in Indian companies…colleagues or friends who are always as a group try to help each other for onsite chances, hikes, promotions, etc…and in the process some of the good people who are not part of the group gets hurt. There are politics everywhere, others complaining about you in secret to your manger about something for getting impression, similar childish behavior. I am not trying to tell stories here, these are real incidents I heard from friends….On the other hand, in US it does not work that way. Most of the times, people do not complain behind your back, there is less chance of group trying to suppress anyone. In America, if you work hard and show your work, you are recognized by your boss and will be rewarded. You do not need to do anything like in India….Overall, there are less work politics in US…
Decision about promotions and Work related politics :
Personally, after talking to my friends and after my little work experience in America, most of the times, it is very positive and less politics. Work related politics are real frustration and kills your creative energy and decreases morale. You do not want to inhibit your growth and face all this frustration when you are young and trying to enjoy life. I would prefer to work in America for at least next 10 years or even more until the playing field becomes more leveled with maturity in mangers and lesser politics at work….
What do you think ? Do you have any work politics story ? What is your opinion ?
Image Credit : http://www.bottomsupcomic.com/comics/2009-10-21-Office-Politics.jpg
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
I have 5 years of work exp. in India and then 5 years of work exp. in US. What I can tell you is this: If you work in Bay Area then Indian managers behave the same way the behave in India. Here they are worse because they know that they can exploit people who are on H1 for their own benefit. Once I was asked to complete one month’s work in a week because my stupid manager had committed it to the upper management. This was at Juniper Networks. Although, I did the work in 1 week (day and night), I never felt good about it. On the other hand, the same thing can happen in India but there managers are fearful that if they make demands like these then employee will quickly leave as they do not have to deal with H1 issues, etc. Also, Chinese managers behave the same way they would behave in China, and so on. It is not about US or India or China, etc. It is about where your manager is from?
Amit
If you see it simply from office culture wise, there are only slight differences between India and US. Because of Indian culture, Indian employees give more respect to their manager when compare to US employees. But there is no considerable problem because of it.
If you work in some MNC in india, you can see that only first name used to address any employee in organization irrespective of their position. You will never see words like sir or madam. Promotions and hikes are MOSTLY (may be completely) based on individual work efficiency. If you are efficient, office politics can’t touch you irrespective of geographical location. i seen same thing in US also.
If some body believes that he is efficient and working hard for company and still not getting promotion, it simply mean that he is cheating himself. This is because, the obvious question .. why he still working in that company?why he is not able to find new job? India job market works with simple rule .. demand and supply.
The major difference is, for indian employees work is life. That is not the case for US people.
Yes, we cannot directly compare both as both have their own identities… just trying to explain both sides of world. Well, respect is important everywhere….the bad part is with stupid politics and flattery that people expect …
I forgot to mention about the ‘fear culture’ in Asian companies. It is a paternalistic culture that is still prevalent among many organizations. In my decades-long experience working in India and Indonesia, I have often seen that lower level staff are afraid to enter their superiors’ offices even for routine work. They somehow tend to treat their bosses as demigods. At times, I wonder if the bosses inwardly relish creating a fear psychosis among their staff. This is intolerable, in my opinion. Further, strangely, ‘Culture Development’ is often directed towards the lower level staff and workers, conveniently forgetting that in fact, it is they, the bosses, that should first become role models!
First time, I come accross the term ‘apple polish! I don’t know much about the work culture in the U.S. From what I have observed, it looks that the people there do speak to each other quite informally, irrespective of one’s age, rank, status. At times, they speak bluntly. No one calls the other ‘Mr’. For us, from Asian society, such a behavior is considered rude and in fact, we are shocked beyond belief. Asian culture is totally different, and not comparable with U.S. Elders expect respect; bosses demand respect in India. It’s difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong! Youngsters generally adapt to situations.