The Covid pandemic shone a light, if indeed one were really needed, on the unequal distribution of so many aspects of life, with women taking on a disproportionate amount of homeschooling and caregiving responsibilities, even when both parents were working from home.
Of course, such thankless tasks are not confined to the home, and professors Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart explain the numerous tasks at work that are disproportionately given to female employees.
In The No Club they highlight how these so-called “non-promotional tasks” (NPT) are often crucial to the organization but seldom included in performance appraisals or anything that will aid an employee in their career, yet they are typically given to women to perform.
This goes beyond taking minutes in meetings and includes onboarding new teammates, screening interns, helping colleagues with their work, or planning work social activities. These tasks undoubtedly benefit the organization but seldom benefit the individual, so by asking women to perform them, we’re asking them to sacrifice their careers.
The No Club
So frustrating was the frequency of these requests that the authors formed The No Club to try and banish, or at least significantly reduce, the 200 hours or so of such tasks that women performed each year. They identify three steps to help people understand whether a NPT warrants a no or not:
- Get the information you need – The first step is to gather as much information as needed to fully understand what is being asked of you. Obviously, we’re often given requests and expected to answer there and then, so Babcock et al advocate trying to buy some time and ask for more information about it.
- Consider who is asking you – Even if you say no in the right way, such as by providing an alternative candidate or some other way of solving the other person’s problem, it remains a somewhat risky endeavor. The authors argue that it’s important to understand who is asking and what the implications might be for you if you decline. If you’re in a strict hierarchy, for instance, saying no to a superior might not be a realistic option.
- Eliminate the wrong reasons for saying yes – As a group, the authors aired a lot of reasons why they felt compelled to say yes to NPTs. Some of these were driven by inherent biases, others by people’s expectations of women at work, others simply by not thinking through the full implications of saying yes. Indeed, some NPTs are actually enjoyable and bring their own rewards, even if they aren’t in terms of career progression. If you can buy a bit of time before giving your answer then you afford yourself some breathing space in order to think the decision through properly.
“Now that you are aware of the severe personal implications of NPT overload, we hope it will be easier to give yourself permission to say no,” the authors explain. “In a nutshell, if you are taking on work that doesn’t fully utilize your skills, then you’re not contributing as much as you can to your workplace.”
If hybrid working is to work then it’s obviously key that domestic duties are more equitably shared, but The No Club also reminds us that there are many tasks in the workplace that are far from fairly doled out and that may also be disadvantaging the career prospects of women. If we’re to tackle employee engagement and ensure we get the best talent doing their best work, it’s high time that changed.
