The hidden cost for women of being ‘easy’ to work with
Heather (a pseudonym) was a senior leader at her firm, one level below the C-suite. And the C-suite had some really big personalities. Heather was excellent at reading those personalities. She understood them, anticipated what they needed and often served as the go-between among these higher-ups, playing emotional regulator for them independently and as a group. These roles made her…
The hidden cost for women who are seen as "easy to work with" lies in the invisible labor they often undertake. Heather, a senior leader, found herself serving as an emotional regulator for high-achieving executives, taking on roles that were not part of her job description, but were crucial for the team's functioning. Lucy, the only woman in leadership at her startup, became the workplace therapist for her male CEO, dealing with interpersonal issues and logistical problems, without receiving recognition or compensation for her efforts.
Recent research shows that over 80% of women managers spend at least 30% of their workweek on caregiving tasks, and nearly 60% report an increase in emotional labor in the past year. This emotional labor, while crucial for team cohesion, is not always recognized or compensated. The invisible work women do at work, including mental load tasks like catching errors and anticipating hurdles, often goes unnoticed and uncredited.
This is due to a combination of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and pretending that women are socialized to exhibit from a young age.
Perfecting involves noticing and fixing mistakes before anyone else notices, while people-pleasing means agreeing to everything asked of us without pushing back, even at a personal cost. Pretending involves hiding our struggles, which can be rewarded but also hides the effort we put in. Workplaces often reward these behaviors initially, but this can lead to a lack of recognition for the actual work being done and a limit to our capacity.
Women are often recognized for being helpful and considerate, but this does not necessarily translate into promotability. Instead, women are more likely to be seen as communal, which, while valuable, does not lead to the highest performance ratings. This disconnect between being seen as helpful and advancing in one's career is a significant issue that needs to be addressed.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
