"This can be important when upper management may not be able to spend enough time with staffers and get to know them well, and sometimes who you associate with is who you become to a boss or manager.” “It's easy to get labeled as part of 'that group' and then it becomes part of your identity," Hoover says. About 13% of workers said the presence of office cliques has had a negative impact on their career advancement. There may be some advantages to joining a clique at work-but it can also be extremely detrimental to your career. Additionally, 17% of those who consider themselves to be introverts are members of an exclusive social group at work, compared to 27% of extroverts. Former class clowns, geeks, and athletes are most likely to belong to one, while respondents who chose not to identify with one of the above personas are the least likely to be part of an office group. The CareerBuilder survey found that workers who fit a specific stereotypical archetype in high school-like “athlete,” “cheerleader,” “geek,” “class clown,” or “teacher’s pet”-are more likely to be in an office clique. “Another disadvantage is being branded and known for your friends, not for who you are.” “Cliques tend to lack diversity,” she says. She says having friends or a group of people who you like to hang out with at work can help you relieve stress and allow you to form lasting friendships-however, being in a clique may mean that you’re spending so much time with one group that you miss out on what other co-workers have to offer. This can be difficult because clique members may ostracize you if you refuse to join.” “You want to act friendly without becoming friends. “We always encourage someone faced with the choice of joining a clique to keep a healthy distance,” Elster adds. “While they wield social power, they can decide who is popular and who is not – and they are not usually respected professionally.” Very few cliques are populated by the highest performers in a company, they say. They are like office gangs that emerge to fill in the void of leadership.”īut Crowley and her co-author, Kathi Elster, recommend steering clear of cliques. ”We find that office cliques tend to form most in corporate environments with weak management. “At work, joining a clique can give you a feeling of security, a sense of identity,” says Katherine Crowley, co-author of Mean Girls At Workand Working With You Is Killing Me. Meanwhile, one in seven (15%) said they hide their political affiliation, 10% percent don’t reveal personal hobbies, and 9% keep their religious affiliations and beliefs a secret to avoid being excluded. Only 11% of respondents said they feel intimidated by cliques at work-but one in five (20%) have done something they’re really not interested in or didn’t want to do just to fit in with a particular group.Ībout half of this subgroup attended happy hours 21% watched a certain TV show or movie just so they’d be able to discuss it with co-workers the next day 19% made fun of someone else or pretended not to like them 17% pretended to like certain food and 9% took smoke breaks to fit in with an office clique.
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