To improve employee performance and conduct, companies must reduce the presence of political elements in the organizational environment and invest in procedures that prioritize transparency and merit-based rewards. The analysis is in an article published by researcher from the São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP) Joana Story, in collaboration with other authors, in the magazine “British Journal of Management”. 

Through cognitive and emotional mechanisms, heightened perceptions about the different policies found in work environments lead workers to act in a less authentic way and, consequently, to reduce their performance. The visible interference of politics in compensation programs contributes to professionals feeling more emotional stress, increasing misconduct – such as violations of company rules and regulations. 

The authors explain that the perception of organizational politics by workers is subjective and is related to the understanding that colleagues and supervisors behave with selfish motivations, based more on their own benefit than on the collective. To understand how companies' organizational policies negatively affect employee behavior, the authors investigated the impact of general and remuneration policies in the context of call centers. Two dimensions were analyzed – performance and deviant behavior of employees – and the respective mechanisms through which this influence occurs: authenticity and emotional exhaustion. 

To address the issue, three studies were conducted. The first consisted of applying questionnaires to 132 pairs of employees and supervisors from a call center in a large organization, seeking to identify the company's political levels and the rates of authenticity, emotional exhaustion, performance and conduct of employees. The second and third experiments simulated situations of presence or absence of the perception of work policies with, respectively, 157 and 158 American individuals, seeking to understand the behavior of workers in each condition. 

The researchers concluded that the level of perception of general policies and retribution is related, respectively, to performance and conduct violations on the part of employees. This influence is mediated by two mechanisms: in the first case, the repression of authenticity in the workplace as a way of adapting to business culture; and in the second case, emotional exhaustion and behavioral deviations – such as reduced work pace and longer breaks, for example – as a strategy for coping with the decision-making process related to payments and promotions centralized in organizations. 

To deal with the situation, the authors highlight the importance of managers recognizing the negative influence that organizational policies can have on employees and taking action to overcome the situation. Examples of strategies include maintaining a positive work environment, including feedback to employees about behaviors supported and encouraged by the company and transparency in the processes of salary increases, promotions and bonuses. 

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