Understand Your Interests in Working with People
(This section is based on: Understanding "People" People by Timothy Butler and James Waldroop, Harvard Business Review, June, 2004. You can order this article by clicking here).

In recent research, I have focused on the affiliative or people oriented aspects of work. I wanted to learn more specifically what we mean we say that "he is very people oriented" or "that job requires strong people skills." Surely we can say more than that. Just what are the "people" aspects of work that attract individuals with a dominant affiliation profile? What, specifically, does it mean to have strong "people skills"? I knew the issue was important because when I analyzed the most basic aspects of work interests I identified two factors that underlie all work in business organizations. These are the very abstract dimensions that are actually even more basic than the eight core functions themselves. I labeled these the analytical and relational dimensions.

I then focused on the relational dimension alone and analyzed large databases of psychological testing on over 7,000 individuals to identify the essential dimensions of "relational" work. I found that there were four such "people work" dimensions, each different from the others: Interpersonal Facilitation, Team Leadership, Relational Creativity and Influence. Reading the definitions of these basic dimensions of relational work will allow you to fine-tune your affiliation profile. Even affiliation dominant individuals have a preference for certain types of people oriented work more than other types. If none of the work described below sounds exciting, affiliation is probably not your dominant social motivator.

Interpersonal Facilitation
The Interpersonal Facilitation dimension lies at the very heart of relational work. We might consider this dimension to be the "pure" relational factor. People who score high on this dimension are attuned to the interpersonal dimension of any work situation. They focus naturally and intuitively on how others are experiencing a situation and are able to attend to and understand the interpersonal demands of a business task. Who can get this job done best? Why is Joe under-performing and critical in meetings? What are Miriam's strengths and weaknesses and what sort of assignment does she need to grow and feel more committed? What generates the friction in this team and what can be done about it? Why is the turn-over rate in this business area so high? What does the boss need to know about how her style affects others? Mark has been quiet, somewhat withdrawn and has recently been late to work on several occasions, is he depressed? These are the types of issues that never show up in any report or business analysis but the effective handling of which, as every seasoned manager knows, are essential to organizational success. It is the high Interpersonal Facilitation individual who typically has the interest, insight and will to take them on.

High Interpersonal Facilitation individuals are both the "glue" that holds organizations together and the "oil" that makes the parts work together smoothly. Their work is often done quietly, in a private conversation while walking to the parking lot or on the telephone after work hours. These are the people that managers count on for a "pulse" of the team or organization and who do what is necessary to keep their fellow workers committed, engaged and emotionally healthy so that difficult work projects can stay on-track.

Professor Joyce K. Fletcher, of Simmons School of Management, studied the work that these individuals do in organizations and, after following a group of engineers in their daily work activities, was able to describe a range of specific activities that high Interpersonal Facilitation professionals do that are essential to the success of work groups, maintenance of morale and employee learning. (Fletcher used the term "relational practice" to describe the focus of her inquiry but her idea of relational practice is very close to what we refer to as the Interpersonal Facilitation dimension of the broader relational factor). A major point of Fletcher's important study was that this relational work, vital to holding the organization together, often goes essentially unacknowledged and unrecognized as work per se. If you are a manager, having high Interpersonal Facilitation individuals in your organization is essential. You need to know how to identify them, know how to recognize the "shadow" work that they are doing and , most importantly, make the effort to reinforce and reward them, explicitly for their "behind the scenes" relational work. In her study all of the high Interpersonal Facilitation workers were women, but it is important to note that, although women as a group have a higher average score on our assessments measuring the Interpersonal Facilitation dimension, there are many high Interpersonal Facilitation males in the work force. You can read about Joyce K. Fletcher's study of "relational practice" in "Relational Practice: A Feminist Reconstruction of Work" (Journal of Management Inquiry; Thousand Oaks; June, 1998.)

You can use your experience with Career Vision Image Gathering Exercise and the 100 Jobs Exercise to assess the importance of the strength of your Interpersonal Facilitation interests. During the Career Vision Image Gathering Exercise, how many of the images involved specifically one-on-one counseling, mentoring, or coaching? The following 100 Jobs Exercise work roles are explicitly Interpersonal Facilitation oriented: sports coach, real estate salesperson, social services professional, psychotherapist, speech therapist, religious counselor, director of Human Resources, mediation and arbitration professional. How many showed up on your list? How high on your list were they?

Relational Creativity
At its core, the Relational Creativity dimension of the relational domain is concerned with interpersonal connection via verbal and visual imagery. This is the dimension of the relational domain that is perhaps least intuitive in that it is not necessarily accomplished by being "up close and personal" as is most relational work. When we think of artists or creative types we often imagine that their work occurs "inside their heads" rather than in the social sphere. But art, and the creative dimension of relational business work, is in its essence concerned with arousing emotions and creating relationships through vivid and compelling imagery. It is about alerting both customers and employees and bringing their attention to ideas, products and services and motivating people, both inside and outside of the organization, to respond to the message of the organization's management.

This is the relational work that is being done when an advertising account executive conceives of a campaign, when a marketing brand manager develops a strategy to reach a particular consumer segment, when a public relations professional develops a plan for promoting an organization's image, and when a senior manager develops a motivational theme that will focus and inspire his or her employees. Individuals who have deep creative interests thrive on new projects and on the early, brainstorming phase of business work. They like "blank page" challenges that demand an original vision rather than working with existing problems with established parameters. In my research I found that business professionals with deeply embedded creative interests (Creative Production as a personal high) developed skills in this area. High scorers on assessments of Relational Creativity interests rated their creative abilities significantly higher than low scorers on this dimension.

During the Career Vision Image Gathering Exercise, how many of the images involved explicitly artistic activities? As you might expect, Relational Creativity is significantly correlated with the Creative Production core business function. The 100 Jobs Exercise work roles for the Creative Production core function are also a good measure of your interest in this specific dimension of relational work: advertising executive, TV talk show host, writer of self-help books, entertainer (singer, comedian, etc.), professional actor, fine artist, TV or film director, graphic designer, musical composer, advertising copywriter, investigative reporter, fiction writer, editor of a newspaper, architect, and woodworker. How many showed up on your list? How high on your list were they?

Team Leadership
This dimension is about team leadership and direct customer contact. Individuals who score high on this dimension are action-oriented socializers. In organizations, they perform best and are most motivated in high "interpersonal transaction" environments. Business professionals with high interests in the Team Leadership dimension derive twofold satisfaction from their direct-service team leadership. They enjoy working with the team and they enjoy working with the customer. They are perhaps most motivated and most productive leading high energy teams in busy service environments. In my research, they indicated high interest in roles such as managing a busy resort hotel, managing a retail store or managing a sales team. In comparison, the individual with a high level of interest in the Influence dimension is more interested in the abstract outcome of an interaction (the successful negotiation, the closed deal, persuasion of other decision-makers to act in a certain direction, etc.). The person scoring high on Team Leadership interests is more interested, and develops more skill, in the interpersonal process. Picture the difference between a managing director of a mergers and acquisitions group at an investment bank and the sales manager at a large automobile dealership.

Also in my research, I found that business professionals with a higher level of interests on the Team Leadership dimension rated themselves as having a higher level of skills in the areas of sociability, leadership and teamwork when compared with professionals with lower levels of interest on this dimension. High scorers also valued the role of managing people more than low scorers. It is important to note that this dimension it is not a measure of interest in team leadership generally, but rather leadership of teams that have a high "relational" content, which usually means some aspect of direct customer contact or planning for customer contact. It is quite possible for a team leader in areas such as production, research and development, information technology or production to enjoy leadership roles but not have high scores on this dimension.

How many images from the Career Vision Image Gathering Exercise had you working with a team or interacting with customers in a busy environment? The following 100 Jobs Exercise work roles are particularly Team Leadership oriented: manager of a retail store, senior hospital manager, director of Human Resources, office manager, manager of a restaurant, salesperson in a retail store, vacation resort manager, director of non-profit organization, school superintendent, chief of police, and fire chief. How many showed up on your list? How high on your list were they?

Influence
People who score in the high range on the Influence relational dimension enjoy exercising and extending their interpersonal influence. They enjoy persuasion, negotiation, and exercising the power of holding valuable information and ideas. This dimension of the relational carries with it an element of paradox in that it is the power dimension of the interpersonal domain. Here relationship is connected with changing the point of view and/or the behavior of others in arenas such as strategic decision making or deal negotiation. In our research, the higher an individual scored on this dimension, the higher they rated their skills in exercising power, being confident, being sociable and being capable of leadership generally. As far as the rewards that they sought from a business career, high scorers ranked their valuing of opportunities for exercising power and influence and managing people higher than those with lower scores on this dimension. When I studied groups of people who enjoyed differing business career paths, I found scores on this dimension to be notably high in deal-intensive roles in Financial Services and Sales.

During the Career Vision Image Gathering Exercise, did you experience a number of images where you were making a presentation or arguing a point? The Influence through Language and Ideas core function captures much of the interests that are related to the Influence relational dimension. The following 100 Jobs Exercise work roles are strongly associated to Influence relational interests: salesperson in a retail store, salesperson for high technology products, litigator (courtroom lawyer), public relations professional, advertising executive, TV talk show host, newscaster, political lobbyist, TV or film director, advertising copywriter, mediation and arbitration professional, investigative reporter, editor of a newspaper, diplomat, elected public official, motivational speaker, mayor of a city or town, and foreign trade negotiator. How many showed up on your list? How high on your list were they?

When you are using the relational dimensions model to understand the specific nature of interpersonal work that is most meaningful for you, it is important to realize that this is not a model of "types". You can be high or low on any of the four relational dimensions. It is the overall profile of relational interests that gives you a nuanced picture of the "people" work that will be most meaningful for you. Obviously, jobs in teaching, counseling and direct health care or social services are going to provide an opportunity for realization of high Interpersonal Facilitation interests. Within the realm of business there are a number of work roles that draw heavily on interpersonal interests and skills. While there is no such thing as the perfect personality profile for a particular position, my research has shown consistent patterns of deeply embedded life interests that characterize the majority of business professionals who enjoy and are highly motivated for key business relationship roles.

Here are the profiles for the four fundamental dimensions of relational business work that are most likely to lead to enthusiasm for and commitment to different relationship intensive business roles.
  • Sales
    Individuals who enjoy sales typically have strong interests associated with the Team Leadership relational dimension. High scorers on this dimension are highly sociable, enjoy working directly with customers and enjoy high interpersonal transaction environments generally, a profile for which the sales function is well matched. Average scores on the Influence dimension are also elevated among salespeople. Sales roles that are more strategic or that involve sophisticated and higher price-tag products or services in business-to-business transactions are likely to be more attractive as the score on the Influence dimension increases.
  • Negotiations and Financial Deals
    Financial services professionals (whether employed in professional services firms or in operating companies) working in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, business development, corporate development, and venture capital have a relational profile characterized as a group by one feature: higher scores on the Influence dimension. They may or may not have elevations on the other three relational dimensions, depending upon their individual personality and style, but it is their interest in the exercise of interpersonal relational skills that sets them apart from their fellow financial services colleagues in less relationally oriented roles such as accounting, financial analysis, equity analysis, portfolio management, etc.
  • Leading Direct Service Delivery
    Managers who are in their element on the front lines of customer contact, particularly in consumer oriented service businesses, as a group have notably high scores on the Team Leadership relational dimension. This is a dimension that seems, in retrospect, as if it were designed to capture the motivational core of the people who manage an organization's direct interface with its customers. They enjoy the rapid pace, variety, and sociability of directing a team that is meeting day-to-day customer demands.
  • Human Resources
    As a group, Human Resources professionals are typically very high on the Interpersonal Facilitation relational dimension and notably low on the Influence dimension. This profile, as is the case for any of the functional role profiles discussed in this section, may of course vary from individual to individual. It would not be unusual, for instance, to find a Vice President of Human Resources with very high Influence interests.
  • Marketing
    Marketing is a function that calls for both analysis and imagination, and it is a role that is focused on human behavior. We studied the profiles of over five hundred marketing professionals and found that, as a group, they are highly relational, scoring higher than average on both the Relational Creativity and the Team Leadership relational dimensions. Marketing professionals may seem at least one step removed from contact with the actual end user, but good marketers are deeply interested in the feelings, thinking and behavior of their customers. High relational individuals tend to have more developed empathic ability and it may well be that this intuitive empathic interest, even if exercised from a distance, is an important psychological feature of the effective marketing professional. In most organizations marketing is a team oriented function and the management of the team itself is an important source of work satisfaction for marketing managers; this contributes to the elevated interest in the Team Leadership dimension among this professional group.
  • Communications and Public Relations
    Our sample of Communications and Public Relations professionals had an even higher average score on the Relational Creativity dimension than our Marketing sample, but a notably lower Team Leadership score. Communications and Public Relations functions tend to be more individual contributor roles and much less focused on team management than their functional cousins in Marketing, thus Relational Creativity interests and skills play a much larger contribution to satisfaction in these functional areas.
  • Mentoring, Team Cohesiveness and Organizational Morale
    You will not find a position on any organizational chart that is labeled "Mentoring, Team Cohesiveness and Organizational Morale" but neither will you find an organization that can be successful without managers (and individual contributors) who perform these functions, acknowledged or not, day after day. As we discussed above, every organization needs managers who have the skills that develop from the interests measured by the Interpersonal Facilitation relational dimension. A business plan is only as good as the people who must carry it out. Senior managers focused on outcome measures are rarely around to measure the work that is done keeping teams together and workers motivated, cooperative and not overwhelmed by personal and organizational stressors. Managers need to recognize the employees that have these interests and skills and begin to acknowledge and reward their work that keeps important projects and initiatives on track.
Outside of work, if affiliation is a dominant social motivator for you, you will place a strong value on taking the time and protecting opportunities for spending more time with family and friends. You will be more likely to make career compromises that enable you to spend more time with family and with organizations and activities that
Deep Dive
The Relational Dimensions of Work
Consider the Interpersonal Facilitation, Team Leadership, Relational Creativity and Influence relational dimensions together. How many associated work roles for each made your list for the 100 Jobs Exercise? Rank-order the four dimensions in terms of the strength of your interest in them. In doing so, allow for the space between each ranking to indicate the degree of difference in your interest between each successive dimension on the list. Is one of the relational dimensions clearly most important for you? Two? Is one (or more) of the dimensions of little importance? Use this rank ordering as a map of your relational work role interests. How well does this map describe your current work role? What types of activities and responsibilities could make your current work role more aligned with your map? What work roles would represent the best fit with your map?