Invisible work, non-promotable tasks, and “volunteer opportunities” (more often volun-told), are an unfortunate reality in the workforce. There are three things every employer should do in relation to these tasks: minimize them, acknowledge them, and distribute them equitably.
Unfortunately, the reality is pretty far from this ideal. Some estimates state up to 75% or more of these time-sucking, minimally career beneficial activities are typically foisted on women in the workplace and are a leading driver behind burnout in female employees. The sinister thing about this is most people are completely blind to these factors; it’s referred to as invisible work for a reason.
Research from Harvard Business Review* found that 44% more requests are presented to women as compared to men for “non-promotable” or volunteer tasks at work. Non-promotable tasks are activities such as planning holiday events, coordinating workplace social activities, and other ‘office housework’ style activities that benefit the office but typically don’t provide career returns on the time invested. The work of the ‘office mom’ often goes unacknowledged or, if she’s lucky, maybe garners some brief lip service. Don’t be that boss that gives someone a 50hr workload task for a 2-second dose of “oh yeah thanks for doing a bajillion hours of work on this thing I will never acknowledge again and won’t help your career.” Yes, that’s a thing. Don’t do it. If you do it, don’t be surprised when you have more vacancies than staff. You brought that on yourself.
There is a lot of top-tier talent out there in the market right now. To be competitive, consider implementing some culture renovations so you can have a more equitable, and therefore more attractive, work culture to retain your top talent.
What we want to do:
- Identify and minimize invisible work in your organization
- Acknowledge the work that can’t be avoided. Get rid of the blind part.
- Distribute the work equitably.
Here is a simple example:
Step 1: Set up a way for staff to anonymously bring things to your attention. Perhaps a comment box. Encourage staff to bring unsung heroes in the office to your attention. Things they wish their peers or they themselves received acknowledgment for.
Step 2: Read them and actually take them seriously. Block out some time on your calendar and give it your full attention.
For the sake of demonstration, let’s say someone leaves a note about how Caroline always tidies up the breakroom at the end of the day and cleans the coffee pot with supplies Caroline brings from home. Now that we have identified a task, we are going to acknowledge it, minimize it, and consider the distribution of labor.
Step 3: Thank Caroline at the team meeting for scrubbing yesterday’s burnt coffee out of the bottom of the pot every day. Don’t gloss over it. Make the acknowledgment mean something. Buy her some chips out of the vending machine or something. The smallest gestures can have the biggest impact when coupled with actual change.
Step 4: Remind your staff to clean up after themselves. Caroline isn’t their mom. If you have to, enforce it.
Step 5: Put it in the office budget to provide adequate cleaning supplies for the break room and review your custodial needs. This isn’t part of Caroline’s job description and she could be putting that energy towards something else. Find the why of the situation and address it.
You might be rolling your eyes at me by now, but the toll of this unpaid invisible work has real costs. According to the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report* the ladies are carrying the team, but getting little to none of the credit. Burnout is real and ringing in at an all-time high across every sector of the economy. To be short, women are sick and tired of getting the raw end of the deal, and after 2 years of pandemic life bringing it into ultra-sharp focus, are doing something about it. In the report, 40% of ladies were considering jumping ship. Data indicates that a lot of them not only manned the lifeboats but landed more lucrative positions than they left. Now is the time to score and then retain top talent. However, it is up to you to make sure you are offering an environment worth working in.
*Note: the studies cited here do not differentiate non-cis-identifying persons. It is usually worse for individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Mariana
May 3, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I know! I always try to think of ways to blog about it in a way that will not violate the hundreds of laws that we are bound to … but most of the time, you are correct.
The best stories go untold.
monika
May 3, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I spent the day showing houses and had one interesting experience after another. I don’t dare blog them…they’ll be sure to recognize themselves.
Chris McKeever
May 3, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Thats why you tweet!! twitter.com
Jim Duncan
May 3, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Sometimes when I have a great post that is derived from a current transaction/client, I get their permission. Other times, I’ll write it and schedule it to post in six months or so …
Maureen Francis
May 3, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Mariana and Moni, I just thought of doing a new blog called Agent Anonymous where we could all anonymously post our war stories leaving out locations that would identify the “victims.”
Jim, perhaps I should just write them and schedule them out. Good idea.
Rhonda Porter
May 3, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Sometimes I’ll wait (I wonder what a “proper waiting period” would be?) if the story is too fresh or personal unless, like Jim, I receive the clients permission. I always changes names to protect the innocent. But…there are times I make exceptions and will blog about a story right after it’s closed–again, leaving names out. I always wait until at least after closing when the story is about an actual transaction.
Susan Hilton - Texas Aggie Realtor
May 3, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Surely we don’t have to wait too long if we change the names… Life as a Realtor is SO FUNNY most everyday!
Christopher Myers
May 3, 2008 at 7:43 pm
How about if it’s not about your client, but homes you showed, or the clients on the other side of the table? Or about other clueless agents that should really find another line of work? Yea, I guess you’re right about waiting a short period before posting…as tempting as it may be. I love the twitter idea though!
Jamie Geiger
May 3, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Oh the stories I could tell- but don’t. I agree with Susan- Life as a Realtor is funny and interesting to say the least. Sorry to say I did blog about socks and laundry this morning.
Genuine Chris Johnson
May 4, 2008 at 6:34 am
Yeah, the problem is that they can look up the transaction history to figure it out. Good call, and I’ve blogged about being in the same pickel. (Like the one about the husband that bought a house with his girlfriend. His girlfriend was using his WIFE’s ID. When the jig was up on the man, 6 months after the fact, he was arguing that it was only HELPING his wife’s credit…and she shouldn’t be mad.)
Eric- New Orleans Condos and Lofts
May 4, 2008 at 6:51 am
Most things tend to repeat themselves over and over again. However new things come along each week. Eric
Bill Lublin
May 4, 2008 at 9:56 am
You guys might remember the old school TV detective “Dragnet” which was supposedly reality based fictionalized stories where “The names have been changed to protect the innocent” In our situation we’re looking to protect the inncocent…author 🙂
I don’t know if the time limits matter or if there is problem telling a story without naming names – I think you just need to do what makes you comfortable and is in keeping with confidentiality and agency requirements.
Vicki Moore
May 4, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Oh come on. Where’s your sense of fun??
Benn & Lani – Wouldn’t you love to manage another multi-author blog? LOL 😉
Lani Anglin-Rosales
May 4, 2008 at 5:40 pm
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, Vicki. HIGH-LARIOUS! As a rule of thumb, active transactions are never discussed until the key turns and real names are never used 🙂 Thus, as Maureen indicated- MANY great stories go untold!
Larry Yatkowsky
May 4, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Agent X-files ……… no story should go untold. They’re out there.
Glenn fm Naples
May 5, 2008 at 11:05 am
Maureen – you make a very good point that many happenings during the day, would make for excellent content on our blogs – but it sure can leave a reader with the question you proposed “what is the agent saying about me?”
Melina Tomson
May 5, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I never write about open transactions and current clients, but I do tell all of my clients that I blog. If I am going to write a blog about my experience with them (names and details changed) I do email them the post and make sure they are okay with it. No problems with this strategy so far.
I do not write posts that deal with idiotic agents. That may change in the future, but I just haven’t had any situations that have been inspiring. If I do, I would change the agents name and the details as well.
ines
May 5, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I write about those stories and store them for later use, changing names of course. Those stories are the best, so don’t keep them from us.
Faina Sechzer
May 6, 2008 at 6:29 pm
The stories make intrigue and drama, but not I don’t write about anyone specific. Blogging is a bit like writing fiction. It is based on my daily experiences, but put together in a way, that individual transactions and /or people can’t be identified. For example, when I wrote “I like working with smart clients”, I had someone specific in mind. Every client who read it, thought it was them:)
Kristal Kraft
May 6, 2008 at 10:24 pm
You are so right! The best stories must remain on “hold” until no one recognizes themselves. By then we lose interest. Your Agent Anonymous sounds like a great site. Let me know when it is ready.
It could be the re.net second life! 🙂
Toby Boyce
May 8, 2008 at 6:29 am
I follow Jim’s idea at times, or I’ll just make sure that the post is “factual” and not attacking. I.e. my Why I love showing houses when it rains post.
However, be careful with Twitter. It can be found on Google searches. And taken out of contest it can be even more concerning.