Political Skill

Ferris' political skill (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005; Ferris, Fedor, & King, 1994; Ferris et al., 2007) is a construct that has received a great deal of attention in the management and organisational literature in recent years (Blickle, Ferris, et al., 2011; Brouer, Duke, Treadway, & Ferris, 2009; Kolodinsky, Treadway, & Ferris, 2007). Political skill is regarded as an asset which can enhance organisational and career outcomes (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005) and has been defined as “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational objectives” (Ahearn, Ferris, Hochwarter, Douglas, & Ammeter, 2004, p. 311). Individuals who are politically skilled are purported to have an understanding of social situations and knowledge about when to use appropriate political behaviours (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005).

Ferris has proposed that political skill comprises four dimensions: social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability and apparent sincerity (Ferris, Treadway, et al., 2005). Social astuteness refers to understanding social interactions and

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interpreting behaviour. Interpersonal influence is the ability to persuade and influence others and being able to adapt the approach in different situations. Networking ability relates to those who are skilled in developing diverse network ties and are able to build coalitions and alliances at work. Lastly, apparent sincerity refers to those individuals who appear to be trustful, authentic and genuine. This aspect of political skill is argued to determine the success of influence attempts because those high in apparent sincerity do not appear self-serving and are able to hide ulterior motives (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005).

Ferris, Treadway et al (2005) developed and validated the political skill inventory that measures the four dimensions and has been the primary tool for examining political skill in the literature (e.g. Breland, Treadway, Duke, & Adams, 2007; Harris, Kacmar, Zivnuska, & Shaw, 2007; Todd et al, 2009). Ferris, Treadway et al (2005) demonstrated evidence for the scale’s construct validity, finding that it was positively related to political savvy, emotional intelligence and self-monitoring, but not enough to suggest construct redundancy. They also established that political skill had a negative relationship with trait anxiety, but no relationship with general mental ability. Evidence for criterion-related validity comes from studies examining work and career outcomes, which are discussed in the following section.

Workplace Benefits of Political Skill

Theoretically, individuals who are high on political skill are able to understand their own and others’ behaviour in social situations and adapt their responses accordingly. They are also purportedly able to inspire trust in others by being perceived as sincere, genuine and confident (Ferris et al., 2007). Pfeffer (1992) argues that political skill can therefore help individuals to accomplish personal and professional goals by gaining resources that increase their power within the workplace. As such, political skill is particularly relevant for minority-ethnic employees who may lack power in organisations (Ragins, 2007b).

The types of resources that political skill can enhance include knowledge, information, social support, credit or even self-esteem (Ferris et al., 2007).

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Accordingly, political skill has been associated with a variety of positive organisational outcomes, such as higher supervisory and performance ratings, and enhanced reputation (e.g. Harris et al., 2007; Liu et al., 2007; Semadar, Robins, & Ferris, 2006).

According to Ferris, Davidson et al (2005), political skill may result in such positive outcomes because individuals are more successful at impression management and understand when to display appropriate behaviours. It is also suggested that the apparent sincerity and social astuteness aspects of political skill mean that individuals can conceal ulterior motives from others and therefore gain a reputation as trustworthy, likeable, credible and competent (Ferris et al., 2007; Treadway, Ferris, Duke, Adams, & Thatcher, 2007).

Perrewé et al (2004) suggests that political skill also acts as an antidote to stressors, such as role conflict, role overload and job tension because it reduces the anxiety associated with impression management and self-presentation, and provides individuals with coping resources, including control. Theoretically, political skill enables individuals to not only build resources such as self-efficacy and social support, which allow them to cope with workplace stressors, but also to accurately assess the political environment and implement those resources effectively (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005).

Political skill is also claimed to help individuals develop coalitions of useful workplace contacts and understand how and when to take advantage of their social capital (Ferris, Perrewé, Anthony, & Gilmore, 2000; Pfeffer, 1992). For example, politically skilled individuals may increase or decrease their contact with certain network ties depending on their value (Ferris et al., 2007). In a study of 291 retail managers, those who rated themselves higher on political skill were more likely to engage in career and community networking behaviour (Treadway, Breland, Adams, Duke, & Williams, 2010). These type of behaviours are likely to provide politically skilled individuals with access to important career-related resources (Borgatti & Foster, 2003; Podolny & Baron, 1997; Seibert, Kraimer, & Liden, 2001; Wolff & Moser, 2008).

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Political skill and Career Success

Given the association between political skill and outcomes such as performance ratings, influence tactics and networking behaviour, it is not surprising that political skill has been linked to both subjective and objective career success. Using the political skill inventory, Todd et al (2009) measured the political skill of 191 alumni from a private U.S. university, in a range of occupations, including teachers, accountants, engineers and executives. Todd et al (2009) examined five career success outcomes: total compensation, total promotions, career satisfaction, life satisfaction and perceived external job mobility. They found that political skill was significantly related to all outcomes except total compensation. However, unlike many other political skill studies, they also examined the role of the political skill sub-dimensions, rather than just the overall construct. In doing so, they found that networking ability was strongly associated with all five outcomes. Apparent sincerity was related to career and life satisfaction, whereas interpersonal influence and social astuteness were not significantly related to any of the career outcomes.

In a longitudinal study examining political skill in university alumni from German universities, Ferris et al (2008) found that networking ability and social astuteness predicted hierarchical position and they, as well as interpersonal influence, were related to career satisfaction. Only networking ability predicted income, and contrary to Todd et al (2009), no relationship was found between apparent sincerity and any career outcome. Although they reveal different findings, these studies highlight the importance of examining the individual dimensions of political skill rather than the overall construct. Whilst they demonstrate the importance of political skill in career success and the dominance of networking ability in predicting career outcomes it is also clear that more research is necessary to establish the role of the other dimensions. Furthermore, as organisational politics is inextricably linked with organisational culture, rather than examining political skill across a range of occupations and organisations, it is important that research contextualises analyses by focusing on the effect of political skill within individual organisations. Therefore this study examines the political skill of employees within a single, large, public sector organisation.

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Political Skill Deficiency

Ferris argues that, although certain aspects of political skill may be dispositional, political skill can be developed through interactions such as mentoring, networking and sponsorship (Blass, Brouer, Perrewé, & Ferris, 2007; Ferris, Anthony, & Kolodinsky, 2002). Therefore, Ferris, Frink and Galang (1993) suggest that certain groups may be disadvantaged in their access to developing political skill because it is an understanding that is selectively passed through an organisation. That is, in white- majority organisations, information may be passed down to majority group members only, through informal interactions. For example, in-group newcomers are ‘shown the ropes’ and are taught how to play the political game by experienced organisational members. This ensures that minority groups are kept ‘out of the loop’ in terms of the rules of political games in the workplace (Ferris, Frink, Bhawuk, et al., 1996; Ferris, Frink, Galang, et al., 1996). It is argued that this may leave minority-ethnic employees unable to develop political skill and therefore incapable of successfully navigating the political aspects of organisational life. It also implies that minority-ethnic groups are less able to interpret political situations correctly, akin to being in a foreign country and being unable to understand the language (Ferris et al 1993).

Whilst there has been no research examining minority-ethnic groups and political skill, lack of ‘political clout’ has been identified as a possible career barrier for African-American women (Burlew & Johnson, 1992). Evidence also suggests that proposed methods of developing political skill, such as networking and mentoring with majority-ethnic employees may also be restricted for minority-ethnic groups (Blass et al., 2007; Ibarra, 1993, 1995; Ragins, 2007b). Given that researchers have advocated the use of political skill in selection and promotion evaluations (Ferris, Davidson, et al., 2005; Gentry, Gilmore, Shuffler, & Leslie, 2011) and the implications of the political skill dimensions for career success, it is important to test the political skill deficiency explanation. Therefore this study uses the political skill inventory to establish whether minority-ethnic employees have differential levels of political skill. Because of the importance of the political skill sub-dimensions for career success, these were tested rather than the aggregated scale.

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H1: Minority-ethnic employees will score lower on a) networking ability, b) interpersonal influence, c) social astuteness and d) apparent sincerity than majority- ethnic employees

Furthermore, based on the political skill deficiency explanation (Ferris et al., 1993) and research that suggests political skill affects objective and subjective career success (e.g. Ferris et al., 2008; Todd et al., 2009), this study also tests whether the political skill dimensions mediate the relationship between ethnicity and three career success outcomes; grade, number of promotions and career satisfaction. That is to say, it is expected that minority-ethnic employees will experience lower career success outcomes than the majority-ethnic group due to their lower scores on each of the political skill dimensions (see Figure 6.1).

H2: The relationship between ethnicity and grade will be mediated by a) networking ability, b) interpersonal influence, c) social astuteness and d) apparent sincerity.

H3: The relationship between ethnicity and number of promotions will be mediated by a) networking ability, b) interpersonal influence, c) social astuteness and d) apparent sincerity.

H4: The relationship between ethnicity and career satisfaction will be mediated by a) networking ability, b) interpersonal influence, c) social astuteness and d) apparent sincerity.

177 Figure 6.1 Proposed Multiple Mediation

6.2 Method