Catalyst Research Busts Myths About the Ideal Worker - Building Gender Balanced Business

In a new report called The Myth of the Ideal Worker, the research firm Catalyst reveals the results of a study in which they followed the career paths of 3,345 “high potentials” after they earned their MBAs. The men and women studied were all consistently employed full-time without taking breaks (such as family leave) and showed a similar commitment to their careers.

As Catalyst puts it, the ideal worker has come to be described as someone who:

• Seeks high-profile assignments and new opportunities
• Communicates openly about career aspirations
• Maintains contact with influential leaders
• Lets their supervisor know of their willingness to contribute
• Seeks visibility for accomplishments
• Learns the company’s political landscape
• Asks for help without hesitation

In looking at the strategies that their subjects utilized, Catalyst was able to group them into four basic types:

1. Climbers: Look to advance in their current company (32% of the men and 31% of the women fit into this category)
2. Hedgers: Use internal and external career advancement strategies (26% of women, 25% of men)
3. Scanners: Keep an eye on the job market (28% of women, 24% of men)
4. Coasters: Put less emphasis on all tactics (19% of men, 14% of women)

Women were found to lag behind no matter which strategies they used, while men who embody the behaviors of the ideal worker found advancement.

• Men in all four groups advanced further than women and experienced faster compensation growth than women
• 21% of male Hedgers had advanced to senior executive/CEO level by 2008, but only 11% of women had seen similar advancement
• Across all groups, 77% of men were satisfied with their salary progress compared to 66% of women

These findings bust a number of common myths, including the notion that women don’t advance because they are seeking slower tracks and because they are not asking for promotion and pay raises.

BEST STRATEGY FOR WOMEN: Make Their Achievements Known

• Ensure managers know about their accomplishments
• Seek feedback
• Seek credit when due
• Ask for a promotion when it was deserved

Being proactive about their achievements such as in the ways described above was the only strategy that actually resulted in compensation growth for women.

In addition to showing that the best way to advance is not one-size-fits-all, Catalyst’s findings demonstrate that even when women do their best to embody the ideal worker, they are still not advancing as far as their male colleagues.