A STUDY ON DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF POLITICAL SKILLS AND SELF-MONITORING ON PERCEIVED CAREER SUCCESS

Year 2013, Volume: 13 Issue: 26, 153 - 179, 01.12.2013

Ayşe Cingöz

Abstract

Organizations are political arenas – where competing interest groups, scarce
resources, coalition building, and the exercise of power and influence best characterize
such environments. Therefore individuals that want to be successful in these environments
should have certain social skills. Political skill is one of them. Political skill as an
interpersonal style construct that combines social astuteness with the ability to relate well,
andotherwise demonstrate situationally appropriate behavior in a disarmingly charming
and engaging manner that inspires trust, sincerity, and genuineness. Political skill
contributes to the behavioral flexibility so important in today's dynamic organizational
environments. Politically skilled individuals behave in ways that are appropriate for a
given context because of this understanding of their workplacesince they are more capable
of understanding the social context of the workplace. Politically skilled individuals are
those who excel in networking ability, demonstrate apparent sincerity, are able to
influence others interpersonally, and are socially astute. In this context, political skills
have four dimensions.They are social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking
ability and, apparent sincerity. The social astuteness provides individuals with awareness
of both self and others, which gives them the capacity to adjust their behavior to different
and changing contexts. This astuteness and contextual adaptability, allow politically
skilled individuals to wield a great deal of interpersonal influence. Instead, they appear to
possess high levels of genuineness and integrity, which help them to gain the trust and
confidence of those with whom they interact. This set of mutually reinforcing
competencies allows politically skilled individuals to develop large and diverse networks
of contacts which they can leverage for additional influence.Self-monitoring refers to a
person's propensity to monitor and alter his or her self-presentation to make it socially
appropriate.People high in self-monitoring are skilled at knowing what is socially
appropriate in particular situations. They demonstrate the ability to control their emotional
expression, and they are capable of using these abilities effectively to create desired
impressions.Low self-monitors are motivated to present themselves accurately and to act
in a manner consistent with their inner beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions. Because it may
be difficult for them to act in ways they do not feel, interviews and certain work behaviors
may produce considerable negative affect. People with this orientation are sensitive and
responsive to interpersonal cues to situational appropriateness. Political skills and self-monitoring
enable to obtain different social networks and effect on others to enhance
one's personal and/or organizational objectives. Especially, individuals who are politically
skilled are better able to influence others to achieve desired outcomes and goals than are
those who are not politically skilled.So, political skills and self-monitoring affect career
success in a positive way. Career success as the sum of accumulated positive
psychological experiences one gathers as a result of work. Various approaches have been
used to measure career success, including both objective indicators, such as salary and
promotions, and subjective measures, such as career and life satisfaction.Subjective career
success can be conceptualized as self-referent subjective success or as other-referent
subjective success. Career success was measured by subjective career success (perceived
career success) in this study. The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects
of political skills and self-monitoring on perceived career success. Data was obtained
from white-collar workers who work eight big corporations operating in Kayseri Organized Industrial Zone (Turkey).A structured questionnaire form was used in this
survey. Positive and significant relationships were found among political skills, selfmonitoring,
and career success. It means that, levels of political skills and self-monitoring
increase, level of career satisfaction also increase. Regression analysis was used to
examine the relationship between dimensions of political skill (social astuteness,
interpersonal influence, networking ability and, apparent sincerity) and perceived career
success. According to the results of regression analysis the overall model was significant.
Among four independent variables networking ability was the most important dimension
in explaining the variance in perceived career success. Also, self-monitoring
moderated the relationship between political skills and perceived career success. Some
recommendations were made for individuals who want to obtain career success by using
political skills and self-monitoring ability, and researchers who will study on this domain
in the future. Also, it was expressed that study had some limitations.

Keywords

Political Skills, Self-Monitoring, Career Success

POLİTİK YETENEKLER VE ÖZ YÖNLENDİRMENİN (KENDİNİ KURGULAMANIN) ALGILANAN KARİYER BAŞARISI ÜZERİNDEKİ ETKİSİNİ BELİRLEMEYE YÖNELİK BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Abstract

Politik yetenek, diğer bireyleri etkilemek içingüven, samimiyet ve doğruluk uyandıran cazip ve sempatik bir tavır içinde; sosyal zekâ, iyi ilişki kurma ve davranışlarını farklı durumlara göre ayarlayabilme yeteneğini kombine eden, sosyal bir yetenektir. Politik yeteneğin sosyal zekâ, kişilerarası ilişkilerde etkileme, ilişki ağı oluşturma ve dürüst ve samimi görünme olmak üzere dört temel boyutu vardır. Öz-yönlendirme (kendini kurgulama) ise, topluma uygun hale getirmek için, kişinin kendi öz-sunumunu (self-presentation) denetleme ve değiştirme eğilimidir. Politik yetenekler ve öz-yönlendirme, amaçlara ulaşma noktasında bireyin diğerlerini etkilemesini ve farklı sosyal ağlara ulaşabilmesini sağladığı için kariyer başarısını olumlu yönde etkileyebilir. Bu kapsamda, yapılan çalışmanın temel amacı politik yeteneklerin ve öz-yönlendirmenin kariyer başarısı üzerindeki etkilerini belirlemektir. Araştırma verileri Kayseri OSB’de faaliyet gösteren sekiz büyük sanayi işletmesinin idari personelinden toplanmış, politik yetenekler, öz-yönlendirme ve kariyer başarısı arasında anlamlı ve pozitif yönlü ilişkiler olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Keywords

Politik Yetenekler, Öz-Yönlendirme (Kendini Kurgulama), Kariyer Başarısı