In Focus Risk
Insecure managers damage business
Corporate managers need to avoid feeling threatened by their staff, for the benefit of their businesses
Kirk Chang Professor of organisational behaviour research, University of Salford Business School
Managers who are threatened by their subordinates can cause huge damage to their workplace due to feelings of insecurity, a new study has shown. Our findings, from a paper published in
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, highlight the fact that managers can often ostracise talented staff they feel are a threat to their own position.
Competence While the competence of subordinates is considered desirable in the workplace, it may create challenges in managing people in organisations. Our project has discovered that some
managers (33.85% of 130 surveyed managers) regard competent subordinates as potential challengers and thus develop a feeling of insecurity, which creates motivation for the ostracism of those competent subordinates. The ostracism damages the worker’s morale and can lead to demotivation and even these star workers leaving their companies. Ostracism occurs within all types of
organisations and affects both individuals and the organisations they work for. It damages a worker’s sense of well being and reduces their commitment to their work and employer. This is particularly damaging as these staff
are obviously talented and should be being nurtured by the places they work, but the fact that managers are threatened by them means they do not feel part of the team.
Ostracism Unlike observable behaviors – such as verbal or physical confrontation – which can be recorded and managed in line with personnel
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policies, ostracism by managers towards their subordinates is more subtle and difficult to recognise. It can take various forms, for instance a
top salesperson may be isolated by other salespeople from the same department, a staff member may be excluded from social activities in a company, and a whistle-blower may be neglected by the manager. Ostracism can also be subtle, intangible,
and occur for no particular reason, for example, being excluded from invitations to either meetings or social events, having one’s views be ignored, being neglected from team conversations, or even noticing others go silent when one tries to participate in a discussion. Those subordinates who feel ostracised
by managers, may show less commitment towards their managers, feel less confident and engage in negative gossip about their managers. Our research findings have affirmed the
influence of competence-triggered ostracism, suggesting that organisations should take
competence-triggered ostracism at least as seriously as other, more obvious and explicit acts of mistreatment in the work environment. To combat the issue and avoid damage
to businesses, the researchers say that mechanisms encouraging the identification of feelings of ostracism and a system of reporting to a third party – for example a union or staff representative – within the organisation could be implemented. And the possibility of working with more than one manager may limit the potential for competence-triggered ostracism. Accessible training and career development
information should also be made widely available via internal communications such as intranet newsletters to provide opportunities to extend competent subordinates. We think that competent subordinates
require active management and development to avoid potentially damaging relationships between managers and subordinates emerging, which can cause huge damage to organisations. CCR
This is particularly damaging as these staff are obviously talented and should be being nurtured by the places they work, but the fact that managers are threatened by them means they do not feel part of the team
www.CCRMagazine.com June 2019
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