Experiences at the workplace have exposed the interplays of power. When interacting with a member of the management, one will realize that there are power displays involved. As a result of these displays, different outcomes could be experienced (Bélanger, et al., 2015). This paper reflects on power displays within the workplace and notices their effects on the employees.
One of the types of powers that the manager had in the organization was the reward power. This referred to the ability to provide employees with benefits as a result of their input. In this organization, the manager was directly responsible for the assessment of employee performance, thereby giving appraisals at the end of each financial year. The performance of an employee would determine factors such as promotions and incentive allocations. Aside from the reward power, the manager also enjoyed legitimate power in the hierarchy of power within the organization. This is because the manager was also one of the initial employees of the company and enjoyed working on the administrative duties of the company. As a result, the manager held legitimate power over the organization so that a recommendation from them could get one promoted or put on probation. Nonetheless, the company president held higher legitimate power as compared to the manager since the manager alongside all other employees beneath him were answerable to the president of the company.
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While many employees were well versed with one aspect of leadership or another, the manager was a resource pool for knowledge and best practice in management issues (Aiello, Pratto, & Pierro, 2013). Whether it is strategic management, benchmarking or knowledge-based approaches, the manager enjoyed supremacy in knowledge and practice in these areas. As a result, the manager would adequately process new proposals against working market practices and determine its viability for the organization. As a result, the manager equally enjoyed expert power. It was suspected that this was the main reason he had remained relevant as a manager for over twenty five years.
One of the most successful applications of the manager was the ability to use lateral influence to get teams working together. Through the use of personal appeals, inter-group consultations and coalitions, the manager was successfully able to get groups to work together even where it was thought to be impossible. Furthermore, rational persuasion and exchange legitimacy as influence tactics were used to ensure that groups would work towards common objectives (Sollitto & Myers, 2015). At every point, the manager seemed to keep his cool and maintain his head even when things were unsure. This ensured that there was constant control over thought and management processes within the organization, having seen most of what has happened over the last quarter century. As a result, the age and experience was used, not to bully workers into submission, but to provide seasoned perspective into new ideas and ventures.
At some instances, however, it was obvious that the manager was approached with caution due to his stature. Organizational culture demanded respect for superior officers within the company, thereby occasioning rare interactions with the manager. Furthermore, ideas would only be presented to him only after careful and in-depth research. This is because the manager would poke out holes in an idea where adequate research was not done.
All in all, there was a display of responsible power use. Power in the hands of the manager was used for organizational growth and furtherance of organizational objectives. As a result, most employees were comfortable with their working conditions.
References
Aiello, A., Pratto, F., & Pierro, A. (2013). Framing social dominance orientation and power in organizational context. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 35(5) , 487-495.
Bélanger, J. J., Pierro, A., Barbieri, B., De Carlo, N. A., Falco, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2015). Handling conflict at work: The role of fit between subordinates’ need for closure and supervisors’ power tactics. International Journal of Conflict Management, 26(1) , 25-43.
Sollitto, M., & Myers, S. A. (2015). Peer coworker relationships: Influences on the expression of lateral dissent. Communication Reports, 28(1) , 36-47.
