Neuroscience
Psychologists in America have called on organisations to train their staff in political skills. Vickie Gallagher and Mary Laird made their recommendation after reporting evidence that the job satisfaction of staff with low political skill suffers when they are operating in what they perceive to be a highly political work environment - that is, one where employees tend to form pacts and to make organisational decisions that are in their own interest.
Gallagher and Laird asked 220 staff at a financial-management firm about their political skills, their sense that organisational decisions are taken politically, and their job satisfaction.
Political skill was measured by participants' agreement with statements like "I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others". A sense that the organisation's decisions are influenced by internal politics was measured by participants' agreement with statements like "I have seen organisational decisions based on things other than business necessity, like the wants of a certain few." Finally, job satisfaction was measured as you'd expect by agreement with statements like "I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job."
One hundred and five staff (average age 44 years) returned their answers to these questions. Among staff with high self-reported political skills, a sense that decisions were affected by internal politics had no association with their levels of job satisfaction. By contrast, among staff with low self-reported political skills, a perception that organisational decisions were affected by politics was associated with their having lower job satisfaction.
The researchers said political ability remains an under-researched area in organisational psychology and that their findings have practical implications for the training, selection and communication procedures of organisations. "By taking proactive measures to develop employees' political skill, considering the skills and abilities of new hires, and communicating the nonpolitical reasons for decisions, organisations can help individuals to maintain a productive level of job satisfaction," they concluded.
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Vickie Coleman Gallagher, Mary Dana Laird (2008). The Combined Effect of Political Skill and Political Decision Making on Job Satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38 (9), 2336-2360 DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00394.x
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
Employees should be taught political skills
Psychologists in America have called on organisations to train their staff in political skills. Vickie Gallagher and Mary Laird made their recommendation after reporting evidence that the job satisfaction of staff with low political skill suffers when they are operating in what they perceive to be a highly political work environment - that is, one where employees tend to form pacts and to make organisational decisions that are in their own interest.Gallagher and Laird asked 220 staff at a financial-management firm about their political skills, their sense that organisational decisions are taken politically, and their job satisfaction.
Political skill was measured by participants' agreement with statements like "I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others". A sense that the organisation's decisions are influenced by internal politics was measured by participants' agreement with statements like "I have seen organisational decisions based on things other than business necessity, like the wants of a certain few." Finally, job satisfaction was measured as you'd expect by agreement with statements like "I feel fairly well satisfied with my present job."
One hundred and five staff (average age 44 years) returned their answers to these questions. Among staff with high self-reported political skills, a sense that decisions were affected by internal politics had no association with their levels of job satisfaction. By contrast, among staff with low self-reported political skills, a perception that organisational decisions were affected by politics was associated with their having lower job satisfaction.
The researchers said political ability remains an under-researched area in organisational psychology and that their findings have practical implications for the training, selection and communication procedures of organisations. "By taking proactive measures to develop employees' political skill, considering the skills and abilities of new hires, and communicating the nonpolitical reasons for decisions, organisations can help individuals to maintain a productive level of job satisfaction," they concluded.
_________________________________
Vickie Coleman Gallagher, Mary Dana Laird (2008). The Combined Effect of Political Skill and Political Decision Making on Job Satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38 (9), 2336-2360 DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00394.xPost written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Having Strong Political Skills Can Be A Handicap In The Workplace
If you overheard someone at work refer to you as "a real political operator", would you feel complimented, or alarmed? The latter turns out to be a sensible reaction, as new research suggests that supervisors and colleagues have less faith in the performance...
- Maybe More Satisfied Employees Don't Perform Better After All
Contented employees perform well, unhappy ones don't. It seems simple enough. In fact, the association between "job satisfaction" and "job performance" has even been dubbed the "Holy Grail" of organisational psychology. But now Nathan Bowling at Wright...
- A Misogynistic Workplace Is Bad For Male Employees Too
Witnessing the harassment or uncivil treatment of women at work is bad not only for female employees, but for the productivity of the whole organisation. That’s according to Kathi Miner-Rubino and Lilia Cortina in America, who surveyed 871 female and...
- When A Good Leader Is A Bad Thing
For organisations that have an excellent customer service ethos, strong team leaders can actually have a detrimental effect. That's the paradoxical finding of Harry Hui and colleagues who investigated 511 employees comprising 55 teams at a range of...
- Political Candidates - How Do You Choose Yours?
How do we judge political candidates? By how closely their political views match our own, or by characteristics such as their integrity and conscientiousness? Jeffery Mondak and Robert Huckfeldt at Florida State University and the University of California...