Employee Silence Linked to Narcissistic Managers
“Manager narcissism and employee silence: A socio analytic theory perspective”
Melvyn R.W. Hamstra, Bert Schreurs, I.M. (Jim) Jawahar, L Maxim Laurijssen and Paul Hünermund (2021)
Why are the researchers interested in?
Hamstra et al., (2021) recognized that employee silence is a factor that is associated with negative organizational outcomes, including decreased innovation and lower employee commitment; higher stress levels and depression were also apparent when employee silence increased. Before getting into their hypotheses (predictions), an understanding of what trait narcissism is and how it negatively affects employee silence through specific processes is important. The researchers also choose to use a socio-analytic approach to deduct this relationship.
Socio-analytic Theory
The theory derives its origins from an evolutionary approach and focuses on how personality factors affect individuals’ functioning in their social world. Whilst researchers apply this lens to a manager-employee dynamic, it implies that managers need to build and maintain a good ‘reputation’ among their workforce as this will affect the way subordinates view them. Individuals who possess high status tend to be focused on two factors, getting ahead and getting along. Literature has shown that these two variables allowed ancestral human survival.
Managers who can effectively balance getting ahead and getting along will enjoy a strong reputation in the group. Therefore, a managers’ personality plays a large role in promoting these types of behaviors and affecting the eyes of their employees.
“An excessive pre-occupation with the self, deeming oneself to be more important than others, and having an arrogant self view.”
Narcissism
Unsurprisingly, people who have high narcissism are more likely to make a good first impression - due to their ability to be charismatic. They usually emerge as leaders and climb social ranks quickly. Researchers define Manager’s Narcissism as a trait that is simultaneously linked to having a good first impression and also being exploitative (Hamstra et al., 2021). Literature has shown that narcissistic managers create a “toxic culture” in their organization, often including blaming and shaming. Although relational (Manager - Employee relationship) outcomes of the narcissistic managers remain inconclusive, studies confirm its strong motivation to “get ahead” and a weak motivation to “get along” – individuals with narcissism care strongly for their interest, whilst disregarding others.
Predictions: How does this all relate?
Hamstra et al., (2021) supports that managers play a crucial role in the silencing of employees, by influencing the perceived costs of speaking up. Often through an employee’s perception of manager trustworthiness, and how it reflects an employee’s initial judgment of the manager; whether they hold positive expectancies or negative. Employees will generally tend to remain silent when they feel that speaking up is risky – influenced their perception of managers as untrustworthy
In addition, researchers look at whether there is a moderating variable – a variable that helps attenuate the negative impact of manager narcissism and perceived trustworthiness. Although manager narcissism can harm the reputation of their trustworthiness, they can help manage their reputation by showing sincerity.
As such, the researchers came up with these predictions:
As manager narcissism goes up, perceived trustworthiness from employees goes down - a negative relationship
As manager narcissism goes up it increases employee silence, through perceived trustworthiness - a mediating variable
Apparent sincerity will mitigate the negative relationship between manager narcissism and perceived trustworthiness - sincerity is a moderating variable
The indirect relationship between manager narcissism and employee silence through perceived trustworthiness can only be true when apparent sincerity is low
Below, we have adapted the research model created by Hamstra and colleagues (2021)
What method did they use?
The study recruited a total of 323 manager-employee dyads from various organizations across Western Europe. When either an employee or a supervisor responded to the recruitment ad, they were asked for permission to contact their supervisor or their subordinates. To collect date, researchers used a variety of questionnaires and surveys to measure distinct variables:
Manager-Narcissism – e.g. “I am a natural born leader”. “ I usually get the respect that I deserve”
Apparent Sincerity – e.g. “It is important that people believe I am sincere in what I say and do”. “It is easy for me to develop good rapport with others” “I size up the idea first, before executing it to others”
Perceived Manager Trustworthiness – e.g. “I can expect my supervisor to treat me in a consistent and predictable fashion” “I believe my employer has high integrity”, “I am not sure I fully trust my employer”
Employee Silence – e.g. “I keep quiet in group meetings about problems with daily routines”, “It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.”
What did they end up finding?
In support of the hypotheses, results indicated that employees who have managers with trait narcissism affected their perception of managers as less trustworthy, and in turn, predicted higher employee silence. Interestingly, apparent sincerity did moderate the mediation between narcissism to employee silence through perceived trustworthiness. Results support the last hypothesis by showing that managers who have low apparent sincerity were most likely to negatively impact employee silence.
Why does this matter for organizations?
If you have yet to read The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson, it is a must-read – a spotlight on the lack of organizational safety. When employees feel ostracized, unsafe, and silenced this can dramatically alter the way they approach their workday. Narcissistic managers are ubiquitous in corporate society and they often go unnoticed, it is easy for them to climb ranks and become leaders. Researchers recommend heavily emphasizing subordinates’ opinions and their reports for promotion decisions. Of course, training and leadership development will undeniably impact the way narcissistic managers operate around the workspace, through showcasing the single-minded “getting ahead” way is less effective than considering both “getting ahead” and “getting along”. Further research has also proved significance in softening power signals in organizations, and particularly loosening controls over subordinates; by doing so, organizations will likely enjoy a safer culture that provides space for innovation and growth.
References
Hamstra, M. R., Schreurs, B., Jawahar, I. M., Laurijssen, L. M., & Hünermund, P. (2021). Manager narcissism and employee silence: A socio‐analytic theory perspective. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 94(1), 29-54.