It might seem like the ultimate career strategy: being the employee who consistently beams with enthusiasm at work. After all, who wouldn’t want to be seen as dedicated and passionate? However, emerging research suggests this seemingly positive trait could, paradoxically, lead to a significant professional pitfall.
A comprehensive study, spearheaded by Sangah Bae, a professor of management and organisational development at Northeastern University, has uncovered a common managerial blind spot. The findings indicate that managers frequently delegate more work to individuals they perceive as “intrinsically motivated” – that is, those who genuinely enjoy their core tasks – even when this allocation might ultimately be detrimental to the employee’s well-being and performance.
This groundbreaking research, which involved analysing data from over 4,300 participants across a diverse range of industries, sheds light on what Professor Bae terms a “naive belief” held by many managers. This belief is the assumption that employees who derive pleasure from their jobs will automatically welcome and embrace additional responsibilities, irrespective of their existing workload.
The Personal Genesis of a Crucial Insight
Professor Bae’s own professional journey provided the initial spark for this investigation. About a decade ago, during her tenure as a junior analyst, she found herself in a familiar predicament. As she was preparing to leave the office promptly for a pre-arranged social engagement, her manager unexpectedly handed her a substantial report, demanding its completion before she could depart. “She threw me this report that I needed to get done before I headed out, and for sure it wasn’t going to be done in half an hour,” Bae recounted.
At the time, Bae prided herself on her commitment and dedication to her work. Yet, she harboured a suspicion that this very dedication, this visible enjoyment of her duties, made her an easy target for extra assignments that extended beyond her core responsibilities. A decade later, her extensive research has validated this long-held suspicion, revealing it to be a widespread managerial tendency.
Empirical Evidence: The Managerial Allocation of Extra Tasks
The study employed a series of experiments to rigorously test this hypothesis.
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Experiment 1: Perceived Motivation and Task Assignment
In the first experimental setup, managers were presented with profiles of two hypothetical employees. Their task was to evaluate these individuals based on the degree to which they appeared to enjoy their respective jobs. Subsequently, the managers were asked to decide which of these two employees they would assign additional tasks, such as event planning or administrative duties.
The results were striking: a significant 55 percent of the managers opted to assign the extra work to the employee they perceived as being more intrinsically motivated. Crucially, this decision was made without regard for factors such as the employees’ age, gender, experience level, or actual performance metrics. -
Experiment 2: The Bonus Dilemma
A second experiment placed participants into groups of three. One individual assumed the role of a manager, while the other two acted as employees competing for a modest cash bonus. During the assigned task, the manager was instructed to delegate an additional duty to one of the employees, with the explicit understanding that this extra work would diminish that employee’s chances of winning the bonus.
In this scenario, approximately 74 percent of the managers again chose to assign the extra work to the employee they identified as being more motivated.
The Unintended Consequences: Burnout and Missed Opportunities
The ramifications of this managerial tendency are far from trivial. “Because managers chose to give this task to employees who were higher in intrinsic motivation, many of these employees actually lost out on their chance to win bonuses,” Professor Bae explained. Her observations indicated that only about 30 percent of these intrinsically motivated employees ultimately received the bonus, a clear consequence of being overloaded with additional tasks.
The researchers attribute this pattern to what they term “motive oversimplification” on the part of management. This refers to a logical fallacy where managers overly simplify the sources of their employees’ motivation. A common assumption is that if an employee enjoys their primary job functions, they will automatically derive satisfaction from any extra tasks assigned to them and that their inherent enthusiasm will act as a shield against burnout.
However, the evidence gathered strongly suggests the opposite is true. While managers, on average, estimated that undertaking extra tasks would lead to a mere 0.2-point decrease in job satisfaction, the intrinsically motivated employees in the study actually reported a substantial one-point drop in their reported job satisfaction.
Professor Bae is keen to stress that most managers do not operate with malicious intent. Instead, they often resort to quick judgments made under pressure, frequently selecting their “go-to” individuals – those who appear engaged and passionate – to handle additional responsibilities. Yet, the long-term consequences of this approach can be profoundly damaging.
“The employee that is your shortcut, that is your go-to person who seems to be engaged and loving their work, might actually be quietly being burned out,” Bae warned. This highlights a critical disconnect between a manager’s perception of an employee’s motivation and the employee’s actual experience of workload and stress.
Towards a More Balanced Approach: Solutions for Managers
The study also proposes practical strategies that organisations and managers can implement to mitigate this issue and foster a more sustainable work environment:
- Task Allocation Tracking: Implementing systems to meticulously track who receives additional assignments is paramount. This allows for the identification of individuals who may be consistently receiving more work, thus preventing overburdening and potential burnout.
- Leveraging Technology: The use of online dashboards and task management systems can provide valuable oversight. These tools can be configured to notify managers or HR departments when an employee has been assigned an excessive amount of work, serving as an early warning system.
- Open Communication: Encouraging open dialogue about workload and stress levels is crucial. Creating a culture where employees feel safe to express concerns without fear of reprisal can help managers gain a more accurate understanding of individual capacities.
- Rethinking “Motivation”: Managers need to move beyond simplistic assumptions about intrinsic motivation. Understanding that enjoyment of core tasks does not equate to an unlimited capacity for additional work is key.
By adopting these proactive measures, organisations can cultivate a more equitable and supportive workplace, ensuring that the most enthusiastic and dedicated employees are not inadvertently pushed towards exhaustion. The goal is to harness employee passion without sacrificing their well-being, leading to greater long-term productivity and job satisfaction for all.
