THE past year has thrown up some curious findings that should be helpful for us in the workplace in 2013. Some of this knowledge might not be new, but it certainly has shone a flashlight on areas to which we were not paying attention.

Did you know, for example, that a psychologist has developed a measure for workplace arrogance, aptly called (Workplace Arrogance Scale) WARS? Did you also know that a recent study found that at least sixty per cent of employees are miserable, not because of low pay or benefits, but because they do not feel connected at work?

Let’s talk about WARS. You know him (or her) in your workplace, in fact he might just be your cubicle neighbour. A regular know-it-all, insensitive, so-and-so, he does not suffer fools gladly, has the wrong answers to almost every question, and he occupies one or two key leadership positions (at the same time) in the company. Your battle is his quarrel — he is a regular warmonger.

In a new study, scientists have come to the conclusion that individuals develop a cocky self-perception as a means to enhance social status.

I am reading an article in PsychCentral written by Rick Nauert and reviewed by John Grohol (August 14, 2012) which reports that researchers have long known that many people are frequently overconfident — that they tend to believe they are more physically talented, socially adept and skilled at their job than they actually are.

“Investigators also say that overconfidence can often have a detrimental effect on an individual’s performance and decision-making. Still, the allure of social status promotes overconfidence, said Cameron Anderson, PhD, a co-author of the study, to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

“Our studies found that within work groups, for example, higher status individuals tend to be more admired, listened to, and have more sway over the group’s discussions and decisions. In the study, Anderson found that falsely believing one is better than others has profound social benefits for the individual.”

Moreover, these findings suggest one reason why in organisational settings, incompetent people are so often promoted over their more competent peers, says the article.

“In organisations, people are very easily swayed by others’ confidence, even when that confidence is unjustified,” Anderson said. “Displays of confidence are given an inordinate amount of weight.”In fact, the researchers say that organizations would benefit from taking individuals’ confidence with a grain of salt. Yes, confidence can be a sign of a person’s actual abilities, but it is often not a very good sign.

Organisational psychologist and professor Stanley Silverman of the University of Akron and Michigan State University developed a measure of arrogance, called Workplace Arrogance Scale to help organisations differentiate between narcissism and competence before they experience a costly impact. If overconfidence is a natural tendency for some, employers must recognise this as a potential flaw rather than an asset. Good interviewers, the psychologists say, should look out for these tactics, and know how to look past them.

Companies keep a lot of secrets — deep, dark ones. Sharing information with all employees are anathema to many, and they choose to sparingly slide information to the rest of us, in irregular drippings, much to our great disgust. Worse yet, the sparse distribution of basic information is done on a tiered basis, and those of us who think we are at the top of the food chain are the beneficiaries of the first bits and pieces of information.

Nowhere in this scenario is the playing field level. Feel free to stand and shout hallelujah if this is your current experience.

However last year, in North America, about five thousand firms started adopting what the article calls, “open book management”, where everyone has access to the company’s financials. From this set of companies, an even smaller group of companies are adopting what is described as “radical transparency”.

Believe me this is not for the faint-hearted, because the information that is open for all eyes for all to see around the clock includes, performance metrics, weekly progress charts, and employees’ personal goals. One of the company that utilises this radical transparency is Qualtrics, and their CEO Ryan Smith seems to firmly believe in its efficacy .Smith believes that it alleviates the distractions, fears, threats, and negativity that hinder concentration. He thinks it helps increase focus and engagement, and helps grow the right talent because we can all truly dig in to see people’s performance.

According to the article, from a neuroscience perspective, this makes sense. Says, Dan Radecki: “Our brains work best when we no longer feel the need to hide, cover up our mistakes, or dwell on errors.

We do better when we aren’t mentally bogged down in a “threat response” worrying about which of our colleagues is the boss’ “flavour of the month,” getting a hasty promotion, or bad-mouthing our work”.

It is indeed an interesting concept, but I am not sure if it will catch on too quickly in many workplaces. The New year is shaping up to be one with interesting frontiers, let us use our best knowledge from the past to propel us into a better place.

Yvonne Grinam-Nicholson, (MBA, ABC) is a Business Communications Consultant with RO Communications Jamaica, specialising in business communications and financial publications. She can be contacted at: yvonne@rocommunications.com  . Visit her website at https://www.rocommunications.com  and post your comments.