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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Political Skills, Self-Monitoring, Career Success

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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

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