Flattering your boss might help to boost your career chances, but don’t expect to make many friends around the office.
According to new research, people prone to toadying-up to their superiors are also more likely to be rude to their co-workers.
They’re also more likely to skip meetings or waste time online, because their energy levels are so depleted from kissing up to their bosses.
This leads them to cut corners and do things they wouldn’t otherwise – however, they still benefit in the long-term from being a suck-up, the study found.
Sucking up to the boss might boost your career prospects, but chances are your colleagues will not be your biggest fans, as people prone to toadying up to their superiors are also more likely to be rude to their co-workers, according to a new study (stock)
Researchers from Oregon State University’s College of Business (OSUCB) followed the daily activities of 75 professionals in China over a period of two work weeks.
The study participants were mid-level managers in a large, publicly traded software company.
Participants were asked to complete a daily dairy about their workplace experiences and also took a survey measuring their ‘political skill’.
This refers to a set of social abilities that helps them effectively understand others at work, influence others in ways that enhance their own objectives, and navigate social situations.
They examined how they used two supervisor-focused impression management tactics – ingratiation and self-promotion.
Ingratiation, or sucking up, is just one of many behaviours employees use to create and maintain their desired image in the workplace.
Past research has shown that successful use of these behaviours can have benefits for employees, including stronger performance evaluations.
However, there is also ‘a personal cost to ingratiating yourself with your boss,’ according to Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management at OSUCB the lead author of the paper.
‘When your energy is depleted, it may nudge you into slack-off territory’, he said.
Suck-ups are more likely to be unkind to co-workers, skip meetings or surf the internet instead of working. This is because their energy levels are depleted, so they cut corners and do things they wouldn’t otherwise (stock image)
Researchers found the extent to which employees engaged in ingratiation varied widely from day to day.
They also found that the more employees engaged in sucking up, the more they lacked self-control by the end of the day.
‘It’s also important to note that the depleting effects of ingratiation are immediate, but the workplace benefits of those acts tend to build over the long term,’ said co-author Lawrence Houston III, an assistant professor of management at Oregon State University.
The researchers also found that ingratiation was less exhausting for employees with high levels of political skill.
They were less prone to engage in deviance after performing impression management than their peers lower in political skill.
The study’s findings suggest employees should be mindful of the potential effects of sucking-up.
‘Also, if you’re feeling depleted you may want to take steps to restore yourself – take a walk, talk to a friend, eat a snack,’ said Dr Klotz.
‘That’s typically better than the allowing the depletion to manifest in other ways, like skipping a meeting or being rude to a co-worker.’
Workplace leaders should also be mindful that ingratiation comes at a cost to employees and their response to an employee’s action can play a role in determining what that cost is, Dr Houston said.
‘Leaders can respond to their employees’ ingratiation efforts in ways that are resource depleting or in ways that are more resource giving,’ he added.
‘Positive reinforcement is resource giving, and it’s free.’
The full findings of the study were published in Journal of Applied Psychology.