Family Life

04.14.09 | FL News Team

If you look around the office, chances are you will see more of your co-workers buttering up the boss these days. Experts say behaviors like false flattery and loud enthusiasm tend to really catch on as shaky economic times have lots of Americans worrying about keeping their jobs.

According to researchers, it can really work. A study out of the University of Texas found employees who stopped disagreeing with the head of the company, did the CEO a favor and generally stroked their boss' ego were 64-percent more likely to be appointed to a corporate board.

It is not just the already employed who benefit. A separate study by University of California-Berkeley professor Jennifer Chatman found job-seekers were 20-percent more likely to get hired if they used ingratiating behavior in the interview.

Some experts say simple habits like showing up for work five minutes early, leaving five minutes late, attending meetings and volunteering for extra work can go a long way if you are looking to win bonus points with the management.

Chatman warns there is a down side to ingratiating behaviors. She says keeping yea-sayers around can be bad for business, because they are more likely to praise bad decisions made by the higher-ups than say what is really best for the company.