How important are political skills for career success? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Political skills are an important factor in promoting career success. Although some scholars have paid attention to the relationship between political skills and some dimensions of career success, few have explored a complete framework of career success and its relationship with political skills. In this study, the meta-analysis technique is used to integrate 141 studies containing 209 effect values (N = 57,406) from 2004 to 2020 to create a quantitative review of the relationship between political skills and career success. The results show that political skills are significantly correlated with career success, with a medium effect value (d = 0.289). Compared with objective career success (d = 0.256), political skills have a stronger predictive effect on subjective career success (d = 0.325). The moderating effect test finds that there are certain differences in the correlation between political skills and career success across different cultures, industries, and groups. The predictive effect of political skills on career success is higher in eastern than in western cultures, higher in the tertiary sector than in the secondary sector, and higher at the management level than at the employee level. This study explores the influence of political skills on career success and its dimensions and proposes management implications. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.1949626 .