Compensation Cafe

Female Overcommitment Is Not Rewarded

Women work differently than men.  One major difference leads to much mutual frustration because neither gender fully understands the viewpoint of the other. I have always called it female overcommitment.  It is rarely observed in men but frequently occurs among the hardest working and most unappreciated women.  The closest similar male behavior comes from the founding fathers of organizations; but their dedication to the well-being of their enterprises is generally recognized, prized and rewarded.  Not so for the female victims of this widely misunderstood syndrome.

Background:  Although controversy is no stranger to me, I have always carefully refrained from openly discussing this topic and thus exposing one of my longest held theories about women and work.  While unafraid of appearing sexist to those who know my distinguished history of comparable worth pay equity activism, strangers to my lifetime body of work could easily dismiss my admittedly purely subjective comments here as the erratic musings of a misogynist.  Again, not so, although I will admit to moments of erratic behavior. 

My professional friend Suzette Haden Elgin confirmed in a personal meeting what I had long observed.  Women are socialized in a unique manner even in traditional enlightened Western cultures.  Little boys and little girls are usually raised with distinctly different behavioral expectations.  Look at what is generally taught as the standard societal roles of each sex.

Men:

• defend and protect
• obey instructions
• handle designated responsibilities
• complete assignments and achieve specific objectives
• receive praise for exercising initiative and doing more than required

Women:

• nurture and cherish
• respond to needs
• are responsible for everything
• must make everyone happy
• are criticized for acting outside the limits of their jobs

A guy completes his list of tasks, then retires to the man cave for a beer and a game on TV; but the woman is expected to continue to toil indefinitely, sacrificing her time for family welfare until absolutely nothing remains undone.  The female role -- to please everyone -- is an impossible task.  Granted, these are broad generalizations with limited examples, but hey ... this is a blog article!

Human resources professionals who deal with distributing compensation rewards come into constant contact with the many victims of self-imposed female overcommitment.  I have found them in every type of organization:  government agencies, military units, major universities, multinational conglomerates, regular corporations, private companies, neighborhood businesses, charities and foundations ... literally anywhere women work. They are typically upset with their employer, frustrated by the organization's lack of appropriate appreciation for their dedication.  Even when paid on the high side of their job's earning range, they still rage at what they see as unreasonable limits on their continual attempts to go the extra mile ... to fix those nagging low-priority problems ... to spread their arms to encompass uncompleted (or badly done) tasks dropped dismissively by others (typically men).  "He doesn't LET me do what is needed!" is the war cry of the excessively over-committed woman. It is usually a guy who blocks their constant attempts to do too much. 

Their male bosses just don't get it.  They only see workers straying beyond their boundaries of authority.  Following the male method learned from the crib and reinforced in every social situation throughout their lives, they attempt to constrain the female determined to do what is "not her job."  The bewildered women guilty of this offense have similarly absorbed the very different lesson that they are supposed to fix whatever is wrong.  THAT is their self-perceived real job description. 

Overcommited women find it virtually impossible to accept my usual advice:  Just do your job.  You care more than they do, so take pride and comfort in your superior occupational dedication that goes far beyond the required or even appreciated work output standards.  He doesn't WANT you to do so much, work so hard or care so deeply.  The intensity of your concern about the welfare of your employer is unhealthy for you exactly because it is unappreciated.  Don't expect to be rewarded for doing what they don't want done.  In fact, anticipate correction, criticism or punishment for exceeding your boss's expectations.

Female managers who respond in the "male" manner are exceptions.  They will prosper in the workplace.  Am I right or not?

E. James (Jim) Brennan is a total rewards advisor with extensive multi-industry corporate HR and consulting experience.  Past Compensation Editor of the Personnel Journal and last Senior Associate of pay surveyor ERI, he is consulting again. Author of the Performance Management Workbook, and frequent expert witness in executive compensation trials, Jim also serves on the Advisory Board of the Compensation and Benefits Review.

"Frustrated Woman at Computer With Stack of Paper" image by Goldi Bajpai, courtesy of Creative Commons

Putting the Employee Experience First

The airline industry has been in the news quite a bit recently, and not for the best of reasons. Although carriers and circumstances vary, one could make the argument that they all share something in common.

Sure, there are the normal stresses of air travel. But from an organizational perspective, there are breakdowns in the customer experience that could be attributed, either in whole or in part, to upstream breakdowns in the employee experience.

This is what makes the most recent news item all the more surprising.

To briefly summarize, the management of one airline decided to increase the pay of their pilots and flight attendants, ahead of planned negotiations (unrelated to the events mentioned above). But that was not what made the event newsworthy. Instead, it was the angry reactions of shareholders and investors to that news, ultimately sending the share price down.

The story reignites an interesting debate around the path to organizational success, with strong views on both sides. The airline CEO attributes the move as being necessary to build trust and encourage a more engaged workforce, critical factors for succeeding in a service industry. Financial analysts see it as wasteful spending, detracting from the value of the business.

Acknowledging that a balance between these forces is necessary, I also believe in the power of the employee experience to achieve both sets of goals. For example, research has found the employee experience contributes to higher reported performance, more discretionary behaviors, and fewer intentions to leave. These are often behaviors that benefit the business and customers alike.

In the short term, employees take better care of customers when they themselves are taken care of. In the long term, I suspect the cumulative effect of those interactions contributes to a more resilient and successful business that can create value for all stakeholders.

A further implication of the current debate is the need for innovation in organizational practices and compensation philosophies, as a complement to cultivating the employee experience. Parity of base pay is clearly important, but there are additional levers that could add much needed efficiency to the broader portfolio (and perhaps address the concerns of management and shareholders alike).

Social recognition is one of those unique levers, offering a method of performance-aligned pay, act as a driver of the employee experience, and empower colleagues and peers to “catch” those behaviors that drive the customer experience. Embedded within a culture of recognition, those spirals of positive employee and customer experiences can deliver competitive advantage that can make everyone happy.

What’s your take on the role of the employee experience?

As Globoforce’s Vice President of Client Strategy and Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. He is the co-author of "The Power of Thanks" and his articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekIrvine.