Is this one thing killing your career?

Nope, it’s not vacuuming. Although maybe it is – but that’s an issue for another day…

I have a question for you: how much non-promotable work do you do?

For female lawyers, chances are, it’s a lot more than your male colleagues…

By non-promotable work, I mean the sort of tasks which every organisation needs doing but which won’t help to advance your career: arranging social events, doing pro bono legal work, interviewing the summer vacation students, helping with the firm’s newsletter and so on. Office housework, you might say.

Yes, yes, of COURSE they need doing. But by you and your female colleagues? Every time? Can they not be shared out equally between colleagues (of both genders)?

I have done more than my fair share in the past. I remember a few years ago when a secretary in our team was approaching her 30 year anniversary with the firm, no one in the management team seemed to know or care and HR somewhat curmudgeonly told me they “didn’t celebrate 30 years”. Way to boost morale, guys!

It was clear the milestone was otherwise going to pass unremarked, and so I arranged a collection and gift and presented it. It’s a minor example but it’s stuck in my mind as it seemed so ridiculous to ignore it at the time, although my male colleagues seemed fine with doing so.

I’ve also arranged countless firm social events and birthday collections, done pro bono work, helped out at charity events and so on. Pretty much without exception, the people helping alongside me were also women.

There may be male lawyers reading this who’ll say “I’ve done loads of this type of thing over the years!” To which I say, good for you! I’ve just rarely seen this myself in my 20 year career.

The real problem of non-promotable work is that it’s, well, non-promotable. You’ll spend the same time doing the work as you could have spent doing chargeable work that counts towards your annual targets i.e. things the promotion committee actually care about.

The currency of law firms is billable hours. If you want to get promoted, your best option is to focus heavily on paid client work. However, in many cases, female lawyers’ time is being split between client work and non-promotable work which harms their chances of being selected for promotion.

Yes, some firms take into account non-chargeable work in appraisals, but are you really going to be promoted off the back of it? Unlikely.

Research shows that women are significantly more likely to be asked, and to agree, to do non-promotable work (NPW) than men. For women of colour, the issue is compounded.

This issue is discussed at length by Professors Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie R Weingart in their excellent book The No Club. This should be required reading for all lawyers, particularly those in management roles.

In the book, the authors refer to a study at one leading professional services firm where female consultants did 250 more hours per year of NPW than male colleagues, which amounts to around one month of additional work over the year.

When researchers put men and women into mixed gender groups, they found that women volunteered for NPW 50% more than men. However, when in same gender groups, this levelled out i.e. the men volunteered more and the women volunteered less. This suggests that both men and women expect women to volunteer for NPW.

This stems from society’s expectations of men and women; when women say no to a request, they risk negative consequences, whereas men do not.

People expect women to volunteer and punish them if they don’t. Men who fail to volunteer face no negative repercussions.

People also tend to see women as a better fit for NPWs; women are expected to help others more than men.

Because women are more likely to be asked, and to say yes, the problem becomes circular; managers go to the person who did a good job last time as it’s easier than finding someone new who may say no, or may not do it as well. And that someone is usually a woman.

A further issue occurs in underrepresented groups. Where someone is a member of an unrepresented group e.g. black female lawyers, they’ll often be asked to speak for their group at advisory panels, events etc. The people inviting the women to take part in these activities no doubt have good intentions, wishing to give voice to underrepresented groups. However, this can create additional burdens on women who are already likely to be doing more than their fair share.

Taking on NPW can detrimentally affect female lawyers’ careers. In doing NPW, you’ll be less likely to be promoted unless you also complete your chargeable work by working longer hours at evenings and weekends, which can lead to stress and burnout.

So, what should you do?

  • Even being aware of this issue is helpful; it will allow you to pause and carefully consider before agreeing to do something. How non-promotable is this task, exactly? Where does it fall on the non-promotable spectrum?

  • Find out what the job will involve and how long it will take (remembering you’re likely to underestimate this!) before agreeing to take it on. Try and establish the parameters so it doesn’t run on indefinitely.

  • Consider what you’ll have to say no to in order to get the job done i.e. what’s the opportunity cost?

  • When a manager asks for a volunteer, can you suggest they draw a name at random instead?

  • Obviously if you receive a direct request from a senior manager then you may not be able to say no (or even show any hesitation, let’s be honest). I get it. You have to pick your battles, especially as a junior lawyer.

  • When you are able to say no, do so politely but firmly so there’s no suggestion that you could be persuaded later.

  • Speak out when you notice an inequitable division of NPW in your team, if you can.

  • Forward this article on to your female colleagues to spread awareness of the issue.

I’m sounding a klaxon here for any female lawyers out there who may be unwittingly volunteering for repeated non-promotable tasks without realising the harm they’re doing to their career. I believe that we can only drive through real change in the profession with more people talking about this kind of thing.

I’m not saying NEVER do any non-promotable work. I’m just saying be aware of the fact that, as a female lawyer, you are more likely to be both asked, and feel compelled to agree, than your male colleagues. Weigh up the factors mentioned above and then make an informed decision about whether you want to proceed.

Law firms should ensure that NPW is divided equally amongst staff in order to promote inclusivity and maintain morale but in my experience, rarely do. Maybe with the rising numbers of dedicated D&I managers in law firms, this will change in time.

The four female professors who wrote The No Club did so after realising in their regular social chats that they all did far more than their fair share of NPW in their academic careers. Upon realising this, they resolved to form a “No Club” where they would learn how to say no whilst minimising the negative consequences that would usually result and hold each other to account.

The authors found their club to be remarkably effective as a means of supporting each other and reducing the amount of drudge tasks they each carried out, leaving them free to focus on promotable work that was far more likely to boost their careers.

They recommend that professional women form their own networks and discuss how to do all this stuff themselves.

Guess what?

That’s exactly what I’ve done.

I’ve created Female Lawyers’ Club to start conversations just like this.

Speaking of which, the doors to the Female Lawyers’ Club Membership are currently OPEN!

This is your opportunity to join our amazing community of female lawyers. We chat about all sorts of things, including how best to get ahead in our careers, patriarchy notwithstanding!

Join now whilst you have the chance – the doors will be closing again soon so we can welcome our new cohort.

~ Rachel

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