How much does it cost to be a convenient colleague?
“When an employee is described as someone who is easy to work with, it can mean not only good interpersonal relationships. Sometimes such a description hides a lot of invisible work: conflict resolution, mentoring colleagues, anticipating others’ needs, maintaining the team’s emotional climate, correcting mistakes, or managing complex relationships between people,” says Rusnė Kirtiklytė, Senior Advisor at the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson’s Office.
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Research shows that women more often than men take on tasks that, while beneficial to the organization, contribute less to their own promotion. Even if a woman has already reached higher positions, at this organizational level it may no longer be writing meeting minutes, but team building or managing complex relationships.
Scientists at Stanford University analyzed the annual evaluations of employees at one of the major technology companies. They revealed that women were more often than men rated as other-oriented, helpful, and attentive, but such evaluations did not help them receive the highest annual performance ratings.
“If tasks that support the team and organization are not valued as part of leadership, the employee may not be promoted but instead receive even more of such work,” says R. Kirtiklytė.
Men and women create different connections
A study by Durham University Business School reveals another side of this phenomenon. Researchers who observed nearly 150 employees found that women more often create broader and more interconnected friendship networks at work. In turn, men create fewer connections but are more selective, linking them to personal or professional benefits.
According to the researchers, the networks created by women may be important for organizational stability but do not necessarily provide as much access to influential contacts, resources, or career opportunities.
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According to R. Kirtiklytė, here we see a certain paradox – people who build professional connections and engage in supporting the entire organization do important work but remain less visible on an individual level.
Leadership is not only what is easy to measure
This year, large Lithuanian companies had to meet the goals set in the Gender Balance in Boards directive and provide more opportunities for women to hold the highest positions. However, it is no less important how women’s work is generally evaluated.
“If we only evaluate easily measurable results – revenue, sales, completed projects, or publicly visible achievements – part of the leadership work may remain behind the scenes. A resolved conflict, a retained employee, a successfully integrated new colleague into the team, or better cooperation between different departments also create value, although the result of such work is sometimes simply that the problem did not arise,” says R. Kirtiklytė.
According to the expert, the number of women in leadership positions is important, but the understanding of what we consider leadership must also change.
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