Coercive power is a concept created by social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven, who defined the different types of social power used and how coercive power is used and abused in everyday life. Have you ever been threatened with a punishment if you did not complete a task?
Maybe your parents told you that you would be grounded if you did not complete your homework, or your boss threatened to fire you if you did not complete your job. If this is the case, you have come face to face with coercive power. Coercive power leadership leads to a drop in employees’ job satisfaction.
The coercive leadership style uses threats of force or punishment to achieve the desired behavior from another. This article will define and identify coercive power compared to other forms of power. It will then outline the advantages and disadvantages of wielding coercive power, the effects that the use of coercive power may have on employees, and how the organization operates. This article aims to highlight how and why coercive power is used and how it can restrict growth.
Types of Power
According to French and Raven, social power is how power works between two or more people. There are several ways that power can be wielded between people, and this power will change based on the relationship between the parties, the leadership structures within the relationship, and the temperament or leadership style of the person in charge. The six bases of social power that French and Raven identified are included here.
Coercive Power
As stated above, coercive power is the threat of force or punishment to enforce compliance with the wishes of an authority figure. For coercive power to exist, there must be a hierarchy within the relationship, and the person in power must have control over one or more aspects of the person’s life.
Examples of coercive power outside of the workforce include the threat of an embargo if a nation does not comply with the other nation’s wishes or a mother threatening to remove a child’s favorite toy from the home to enforce compliance with her strict rules.
The use of coercive power can be experienced either directly or indirectly.
Direct Coercive Power
Direct coercive power is the open use of force, bullying, or punishment. This means coercive power leads to threats communicated clearly to the person receiving them. In the examples above, the coercive power is direct because both threats of punishment are verbally spoken to ensure compliance.
Indirect Coercive Power
Indirect coercive power is power that is felt and not communicated. The overwhelming threat of harm may induce change in a person, even without using coercive power out loud. Suppose, in the example above, that the mother often took away the child’s favorite toy when the child did not obey the rules. Eventually, the child will likely learn that if they meet expectations within the house, they can avoid the punishment. This is an example of indirect coercive power.
Reward Power
The opposite of coercive power is reward power. This power offers a reward in exchange for productivity or the ability to follow instructions. This type of power still requires one person to be in charge and to have some control over the reward options in a person’s life, but reward power often helps people feel satisfied rather than coerced.
Legitimate Power
Legitimate power is the power granted by an election or another form of recognized granting of authority. For example, the president of the United States has legitimate power because the people give them that power. In the same way, the Prime Minister of Canada has legitimate power. Legitimate power is also known as authority.
Referent Power
Referent power is the power earned by a leader based on a social group’s trust in their ideas and how the organization operates. It does not come from threats, rewards, or outside sources but the trust of the group as a whole. An example of this power would be the power of a social change organization based on the collective interest in the organization’s moral and social ideals.
Expert Power
Expert power comes from having extensive knowledge and experience in a given field that the general public does not. For example, a lawyer has expert power when giving legal advice or arguing in court. Judges have the ultimate expert power in court.
Informational Power
Informational power is the power that accompanies access to information that is used to convince or influence other people. Social media companies are frequently used as examples of informational power because they hold vast amounts of information on different people and can encourage people to make purchases or changes.
Identifying Coercive Power
Aside from the use of force to get others to comply, several other characteristics can help a person identify coercive power, including:
Controls Everything
It is typical for those exercising coercion to control every aspect of the decision-making and productivity of employees.
Little Room for Criticism
Those practicing coercion will often stop anyone from criticizing their ideas. Usually, employees feel they are only talked at and not allowed to respond.
Threats
Coercive power involves using the very real threat of punishment to accomplish tasks. When people do not believe the threats, their coercive power is lost.
Coercive Power Advantages
While it may seem threatening and counterintuitive, coercive power does have certain advantages that can help influence employees to achieve the necessary results. However, coercive power leadership should be used only in dire situations.
Occasionally, employees may rebel against how the organization works, disrupting productivity and harming the organization. When such employees influence others to do the same, it can harm the organization as a whole. Using coercion to get an employee to comply can be helpful for the overall health of the business. Coercive power helps to enforce the status quo. However, it is important to note that coercive power will only prevent insubordination in the short term but will likely cause more issues in the long run.
Negative Consequences of Coercive Power
On the other hand, using coercive power over an employee can have severe consequences. These can impact an employee’s job satisfaction or the company.
Job Satisfaction
When a job is constantly threatened, or the use of force is exercised, employees often feel less likely to complete their tasks and feel like they cannot do their jobs well. This frequently results in lower job satisfaction and can cause a mass exodus.
The inability to get and keep workers who can comply with the strict rules and procedures will often add additional pressure. This is why avoiding coercive power to control employees may be the best option for overall well-being.
Fewer Creative Ideas
When job satisfaction and morale are low or when control is excreted over the creative process, there will be fewer creative ideas, especially quality and innovative ideas. Stifling creative ingenuity will often lead to the eventual demise of the company.
Reduced Personal Power
By controlling many aspects of an employee’s work, a person exercising coercive power may reduce each employee’s personal power and individuality. This can stifle creativity and create a community of like-minded individuals to the point of inauthenticity.
This is caused by overwhelming coercion and the fear of letting the other person down. Allowing people to exercise their power will enable them to grow and excel without fear.
Impacts on the Company’s Growth
You can risk the company’s growth and trajectory by stifling creativity and productivity within strict compliance. Without productive employees and a consistent workflow, a company’s resources will quickly deplete, and the organization will face the consequences of its coercive power. To avoid impacting growth, it is vital to encourage ingenuity and a creative process while expecting employees to complete their work within the necessary timelines.
Conclusion
Coercive power helps only in specific and limited circumstances. It should be avoided when trying to grow and influence an organization. Exercising other types of social power can be helpful, especially when power is earned through trust or expertise. Accepting and encouraging employees as they are will help a business grow and thrive for years to come.
To learn more about coercive power, psychology, and more, contact ADR Times!
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While in law school, Emily served as an executive editor on the Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal and had the opportunity to learn about ADR from world-class professors of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.
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