Working closely with a star employee can create a buffer from the consequences of underperformance, finds a paper by a group of UCL School of Management researchers.
However, being affiliated with a top performer can also lead to higher than normal expectations and less recognition after over-performing.
The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, investigated the effect of reflected glory on co-workers and how long this lasts once the employee is no longer affiliated with the star worker.
They found that this reflected glory lasts for around nine years after the affiliation has ended. Employees without this star connection continued to be judged on their own work performance.
The researchers include first author Lei Liu, a UCL honorary research fellow and PhD graduate from UCL, currently an assistant professor at the University of Exeter.
SoM co-author, Martin Kilduff, said: “We wanted to test the hypothesis that a star connection buffers employees from the consequences of their work performance. The star connection has both positive and negative effects on the connected employee’s career progression, insulating the employee from their actual record of achievement.”
The authors carried out a field study of US National Basketball Association (NBA) coaches and an experimental study with 478 employed participants based in the UK.
They used the field study to test the idea of the ‘buffering’ effect of star connections, analysing the 1976-2015 career trajectories of NBA head coaches. When head coaches underperformed, those without star connections were more likely to be fired than those with star affiliations. However, the star-connected coaches benefited less when they overperformed, with no change in their likelihood of being fired.
In the experimental study, which mirrored the conditions studied in the NBA study, participants imagined themselves as senior managers with hiring and firing decisions. The study authors again found the buffering effect, which in this study was more noticeable on underperforming employees, where the connected worker was significantly more likely to be promoted. The authors say this small difference could be down to the study design.
“The paper highlights the importance of connections on career development, and the systemic unfairness in how some employees are evaluated. These findings can be carried over to other sectors including high-end restaurants, where apprentices work with Michelin-starred chefs, researchers working with star scientists or designers working for fashion icons”, added Kilduff.
Buffered by Reflected Glory? The Effects of Star Connections on Career Outcomes in Journal of Applied Psychology.
