The Effects of Ingratiation on Employee Career Success

In an organization, employees have to be especially witty to influence their superiors and gain compliance. Building a better working relationship with their superiors would guarantee lots of perquisites, such as promotion, easier interactions and bigger bonuses. According to scholars and researchers, use of appropriate upward influence strategies contributes to the smooth functioning of the organization and may also affect human resource decisions. Understanding upward influence is crucial because such behavior affects both individual and organizational effectiveness. It was presumed that a superior would allocate more rewards to an ingratiating subordinate. When the superior was potentially opened to influence, subordinates tried to impress him/her by presenting themselves to be strong and competent. Ingratiation tactic is believed to be employed by employees in organizations in order to obtain employers’ approval and receive favorable consequences. Enlightened by a plethora of researches on influence, this paper investigates the effects of subordinatesʹ ingratiatory behaviors on their career success.