A NEW twist in the domain of workplace politics is the tussle between the ex-perienced and the freshly hired staff within most organisations. No matter how much any management denies it, work-place politics is a reality in almost every corporate entity.

There are employees who are honest and hardworking with years of service to the organisation under the belt, but they do not get the promotions that they deserve. In contrast, there are employees who have just been recruited, are less experienced, less qualified, and have frequently switched jobs, but they move swiftly up the pecking order. The heart-burn is obvious.

Some of the managements claim that the freshly recruited ones have studied the current curriculum and the new generation is more tech-savvy, but their hypocrisies become evident when the affected employees upgrade their edu-cation to go with their experience.

Then there are managements which believe the increased salary of experienced employees would be a ‘burden’ on the organisation if they are promoted; rather, they prefer to recruit a fresher or promote a less experienced employee with a low salary.

Not every senior manager or department head is comfortable with good ideas, upgraded education, and social networking of subordinates. Some of them actually see that as a ‘threat of replacement’ for themselves, while others consider it their ‘right’ to be unfair to their subordinates only because their seniors had done the same to them in the past.

Sadly, encompassing discrimination, favouritism, groupism and manipulation, workplace politics severely affects employees’ mental health. The affected employees start doubting their competence and skills if they are ignored for promotions because of favouritism and lobbying.

These sidelining, demotivating, back-stabbing, disgracing, under-appreciating and overburdening attributes of those in the upper hierarchy give rise to mental stress and anxiety. Ironically, these managers are the ones who often deliver motivational lectures on employee owner-ship, cooperation, and other such topics across corporate platforms to add to their personality hype.

The sentiment of ‘ruling over someone’ more qualified, more competent, but lower in designation is a source of satisfaction for some managers. Their superiority complex, or perhaps inferiority complex, gives rise to groupings within the staff. It is undeniable that such negative emotions and behaviours are part of human nature, but, then, every personality parameter carries self-control.

Hiring authorities really need to remind themselves that trustworthy employees are rare, and their dedication to the organisation should never be overlooked. The human resource management must conduct periodic surveys while keeping employees’ identities anonymous.

Also, a whistle-blower policy must be implemented across the board. Conver-sations about mental health in the work-place should be normalised.

It must be remembered that cuts and wounds can be seen, the intensity of pain can be measured, but mental health and stress are not easy to see and diagnose.

Dr Durr-e-Shahwar Siddiqui
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2026