차상위 리더와의 관계가 팀 구성원의 성과에 미치는 영향

The Influence of Social Relationships with Senior Leaders on Employee Performance

조직 내에서 팀 구성원이 맺을 수 있는 사회적 관계는 팀 내부와 팀 외부에서 다양한 형태로 존재한다. 지금까지의 연구에서는 팀 내부의 사회적 관계에 중점을 두어 온 반면, 팀 외부의 사회적 관계가 팀 구성원의 성과에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구는 제한적이었다. 본 연구에서는 차상위 리더와의 사회적 관계가 팀 구성원의 성과에 미치는 영향을 업무성과와 맥락적 성과로 구분하여 살펴보았다. 그리고 팀 구성원이 팀 내에서도 다양한 사회적 관계를 맺고 있다는 점을 고려하여 팀 리더와 팀 동료들과의 사회적 관계가 팀 외부의 사회적 관계인 차상위 리더와의 관계와 어떠한 상호작용효과를 갖는지도 함께 검증하였다. 국내 4개 기업의 팀 구성원들을 대상으로 분석한 결과, 차상위 리더와의 사회적 관계는 팀 구성원의 업무성과와 맥락적 성과에 긍정적인 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 차상위 리더와의 사회적 관계와 팀 내부 에서의 사회적 관계들 간의 상호작용효과를 분석한 결과, 팀 리더와의 사회적 관계는 차상위 리더와의 관계가 팀 구성원의 업무성과와 맥락적 성과에 미치는 긍정적인 영향을 강화시키는 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 팀 동료와의 사회적 관계는 차상위 리더와의 사회적 관계와 맥락적 성과 간의 관계에 대해 긍정적인 조절효과를 갖는 것으로 나타났으나, 차상위 리더와의 사회적 관계와 팀 구성원의 업무성과 간의 관계에는 영향을 주지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 이론적 모형과 연구결과를 바탕으로 본 연구의 함의와 한계, 그리고 향후 연구를 위한 제언을 제시하였다.

Team members obtain valuable resources through social exchange relationships. They simultaneously engage in multiple social relationships both within and outside the team. The relationship with a senior leader as a social relationship outside the team can be a crucial conduit for resources. A social relationship with a senior leader (team leader’s leader) can influence team members’ performance because senior leaders have positional resources and power to control team leaders. In spite of this, however, little is known about the effect of the relationship with a senior leader on team members’ performance. To date, previous research has been mainly focused on the relationship with team leaders or coworkers. Given that team members engage in boundary-spanning behavior, increase influence through affiliation with high status actors, and are members of a senior leader, researchers need to consider the social relationships between a senior leader and team members in order to more fully understand the social antecedents of team members’ performance. In the current study, we seek to understand the social relationships between a senior leader and team members and to examine if it is related to team members’ performance. More specifically, we examine the level of the social relationships between a senior leader and team members predict team members’ task and contextual performance, controlling for the effects of the social relationships with a team leader and coworkers. Team members with strong social relationship with a senior leader receive resources and social support, which, in turn, enhance their task performance. Such members also engage in contextual performance to reciprocate the favor of the senior leader and to gauge their team leaders’ general receptiveness to social power. H1: The social relationship between senior leader and team member is positively related to team members’ task performance. H2: The social relationship between senior leader and team member is positively related to team members’ contextual performance. Furthermore, We explore how social relationships within team such as the social relationships with a team leader and coworkers influence the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and team members’ performance. Team member who have high quality social relationship with a senior leader may be high in task performance and contextual performance because they are more likely to enjoy internal resources and social supports from and to reciprocate favorable treatment by team leaders and coworkers. H3: The social relationship with a team leader will positively moderate the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and team members’ task performance. H4: The social relationship with a team leader will positively moderate the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and team members’ contextual performance. H5: The social relationship with coworkers will positively moderate the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and team members’ task performance. H6: The social relationship with coworkers will positively moderate the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and team members’ contextual performance. Data for testing the hypotheses were collected from 668 employees including 36 department leaders and 89 team leaders in four design companies in South Korea. We provided the list of all employees in the company and asked the strength of relationship to each employee. Results revealed that the social relationship with a senior leader is positively related both to task performance and contextual performance. The social relationship with a team leader moderated the relationship between the social relationship with a senior leader and both task performance and contextual performance.