HR Strange But True

Are Cliques Common in Your Workplace?

In general, cliques are associated with high school. Cafeteria tables for “the jocks,” “the nerds,” the “popular girls,” and so on. However, a new survey suggests this culture carries over into later in life—even into the workplace.

A new CareerBuilder survey found that 43 percent of workers say their office or workplace has cliques and that these social groups can affect the workplace in a variety of ways.

While only 11 percent of respondents said they felt intimidated by office cliques, 20 percent said they’ve done something they’re really not interested in or didn’t want to do just to fit in with coworkers. What did they do to fit in? Forty-six percent in this subgroup simply went to happy hours to fit in, and 21 percent watched a TV show or movie to discuss at work.

In a page out of Mean Girls, 19 percent of respondents made fun of someone else or pretended not to like them.

Moreover, about 1 in 7 said they hide their political affiliation to fit in, 10 percent don’t reveal personal hobbies, and 9 percent keep their religious affiliations and beliefs a secret.

The survey found that not all managers succeed at staying neutral. Nearly half of those workers whose workplaces have cliques (46 percent) say their boss is a part of a clique with some of his or her employees.

The nationwide survey (full press release can be found here) was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.

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