The Boss is Always Right: Does upward ingratiation always work?

Dr Sumagna Bhowmick, Assistant Professor - Department of OB/HR, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management

Ingratiation refers to behaviours that are illicitly enacted to marque the people idiosyncratic similar you oregon deliberation good of your qualities. Often involving deliberate flattery, ingratiation is simply a almighty dramaturgical tool, and the astir communal content absorption maneuver utilized by subordinates to negociate relationships with their supervisor astatine the workplace. In an asymmetric powerfulness narration coupled with high-power region culture, upward ingratiation is often tolerated and reasonably exploited successful hierarchized enactment organizations.

In the discourse of Indian workplace and the imaginable integration of middle-class values specified arsenic ‘sneh-shradha’, the instrumental dependence proneness of Indian subordinates connected their supervisor involves cultivating a ‘personalized’ enactment narration with their supervisor, which prompts them to prosecute successful ingratiatory behaviours. Ingratiation, thus, becomes a legitimized socio-cultural instrumentality that promises assured returns of advancement. Since the supervisor holds important decision-making autonomy and controls coveted resources, a subordinate whitethorn employment ingratiation tactics oregon “butter up the boss” to summation favourable vocation outcomes.

Past researchers person suggested determination are 3 superior ingratiation tactics. These are “other enhancement”, involving connection of enhancing oregon affirmative evaluative statements to the people person; “self-presentation”, presenting oneself to summation the likelihood of being liked oregon rendering favours to induce obligated reciprocation from the supervisor; and “opinion conformity”, readily agreeing with the people person’s opinions.

Specifically successful the Indian context, further ingratiation tactics travel into play. These see “name dropping”, wherever the ingratiator suggests their resourcefulness to the people successful an different resource-limited organization; “changing with the situation”, involving a conscious signifier of opportunism to delight the people alternatively than consistently behaving based connected principles, value, ideology; and “instrumental dependency”, wherever the ingratiator appears wholly babelike connected the people idiosyncratic to summation favours.

Is the contextualization of ingratiation wrong the high-power model of a collectivist civilization problematic? Maybe yes, due to the fact that it seems we are the lone ones to carnivore the load of taste guilt successful trying to food up the boss. However, it has been recovered that ingratiation, contempt having immoderate hazard successful the Western society, is egocentrically validating crossed cultures and organizations.

Ingratiation is specified a potent instrumentality that it surpasses the dilemma of whether it is genuine oregon insincere. In a probe insubstantial that progressive 4 experimental studies, a affirmative interaction of flattery was found, adjacent successful situations wherever a wide ulterior motive existed. The affirmative interaction of insincere ingratiation remained intact connected implicit attitudes, suggesting the pervasive effect of ingratiation.

In high-pressure enactment contexts, flattery tin beryllium a large strategy to summation influence. Hence, the value of specified deliberate societal interactions is profound, with ingratiation playing a important relation successful satisfying supervisors.

Another survey recovered that ingratiation resulted successful much adjuvant behaviours from subordinates, subsequently starring to accrued supervisor satisfaction. This restitution enhances the attractiveness of subordinates, often associated with favourable outcomes specified arsenic likeability, omission of punishment, affirmative show evaluations, promotions, and vocation success.

Additionally, ingratiation erstwhile practised extracurricular the workplace, besides has a affirmative interaction connected one’s vocation success. In a survey involving 252 supervisor-subordinate dyads, ingratiation extracurricular the workplace resulted successful high-quality leader-member exchanges, starring to accrued chances of promotion and bonus allocation. As a result, it mightiness look beneficial to prosecute successful ingratiatory behaviour some wrong and extracurricular of organizations.

While immoderate are already convinced of the benefits of ingratiation, others whitethorn take to beryllium successful denial. A caveat to this is that ingratiation tin beryllium beneficial for initiators and their organizations lone if employees with superior governmental skills appropriately flatter their supervisors. However, it is important to beryllium mindful of however 1 uses ingratiation tactics, ensuring the avoidance of mimetic isomorphism.

Below are a fewer points of caution that tin beryllium adjuvant to managers and elder leaders.

1. Pitfalls of Excessive Flattery – Too overmuch flattery tin beryllium dangerous, arsenic revealed by a survey involving 3,895 responses from apical managers implicit 3 years, examining their interactions with CEOs. The findings bespeak that heightened ingratiation by apical managers is associated with accrued resentment towards their CEOs, starring to a higher level of disapproval of CEOs successful interactions with journalists. This effect is much pronounced erstwhile CEOs are women oregon belonged to radical minorities. This serves arsenic a informing for CEOs to beryllium mindful of excessive flattery successful their nonrecreational relationships.

2. Unseen Risk of Third-party Observer – The process of ingratiation is often constricted to the position of the ingratiator who initiates the ingratiation, and the people person. However, erstwhile examined from a third-party viewpoint, a survey revealed that observers tin ostracize their ingratiator colleagues, perceiving them arsenic a menace to the future. Managers indispensable admit the perchance destructive interaction of ostracism successful organizations and connection due enactment to third-party employees facing specified challenges.

3. Tarnished Reputation of Leaders – A probe crossed 7 studies and six supplementary studies (N = 4,612) recovered that leaders who autumn for flattery whitethorn hazard a alteration successful their perceptions arsenic leaders. Observers comprehend specified leaders arsenic little competent, and their committedness to these leaders and organizations arsenic followers besides drop. Leaders should measure the naivety of flattery and signifier their reputations by refusing favours oregon flatterers without due justification.

4. Resource Depletion and Counter-productive Behaviour – Ingratiation tin pb to the depletion of resources. Individuals who prosecute successful ingratiation usage a important magnitude of their idiosyncratic resources to heighten their self-presentation. For example, a batch of clip whitethorn beryllium spent by a subordinate successful readying tactically however to explicit connection some verbally oregon non-verbally to impressment their boss. Unfortunately, this is taxing, prompting ingratiators to prosecute successful counterproductive behaviours to safeguard and forestall further harm and nonaccomplishment of their resources. Managers should strive to make an open, transparent, authentic, communal trust, and accusation sharing moving situation that tin punctual employees to trim their efforts successful ingratiation.

5. Efficient Monitoring of Long-term Gains – Some forms of manipulative flattery whitethorn execute ad-hoc success, but successful the agelong run, flatterers go objects of contempt, resulting successful debased status. This creates revulsion, starring to a judgement wherever some the flatteree and the flatterers are perceived to beryllium of debased character, lacking self-respect, and babelike connected others to execute immoderate communal benefit. Managers should show the existent performances of their subordinates, irrespective of the perceived ingratiation, and nexus the aforesaid with affirmative benefits similar performance-based pay. This tin trim the impulse to prosecute successful ingratiation due to the fact that of precocious accountability of show goals.

The author, Dr Sumagna Bhowmick, is Assistant Professor - Department of Organizational Behaviour / Human Resources astatine KJ Somaiya Institute of Management.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the writer and ETHRWorld does not needfully subscribe to it. ETHRWorld volition not beryllium liable for immoderate harm caused to immoderate idiosyncratic oregon organisation straight oregon indirectly.