If you want happy employees, avoid giving out illegitimate tasks. Illegitimate tasks are tasks that go against “what can be expected in a given role or position” (1637). These tasks “are incongruent with an employee’s occupation or professional identity” (1637). Illegitimate tasks can be separated into two categories: unreasonable tasks and unnecessary tasks.
Unreasonable Tasks:
Unreasonable tasks are tasks “one feels one should not have to do” (1636). Completing a task below or above one’s pay-grade would fall under being an unreasonable task. For example, “asking a paralegal to hold a meeting with a client— something that is actually within an attorney’s role—could be perceived unreasonable as this task [is] above the paralegal’s credentials or training” (1638-1639). The paralegal would be completing the work of an attorney without being paid as an attorney would.
Unnecessary Tasks:
Unnecessary tasks are illegitimate tasks “one feels no one should have to do” (1636). These tasks are typically “viewed as wasting an employee’s time, or posing an obstacle to completion of other, more role-relevant tasks” (Fila & Eatough, 1639). An example of an unnecessary task would be requiring employees to attend long, drawn-out work meetings that could have been put into emails. Work meetings will be perceived as illegitimate if their message could have been delivered in an email and read in ten minutes, rather than delivered through an hour-long meeting.
The Negative Impact of Illegitimate Tasks on Employee Well-Being
Unsurprisingly, recipients of illegitimate tasks feel “an inherent sense of social devaluation” (Minei, 379). When an employer gives an employee an illegitimate task, the employer signals a “disregard for the professional role that individual occupies” (379). Employees will generally view illegitimate tasks as a sign of “thoughtlessness or carelessness” on part of the employer (Minei, 380). A recent study found that both unreasonable and unnecessary tasks “were positively related to anxiety… and depressive symptoms” (Fila & Eatough, 1649). Unreasonable tasks had a greater negative impact on employees with “9.9% of unique variance in anxiety, and 7.3% of variance in depressive symptoms” (1650). Unnecessary tasks had a lower negative impact on well-being “accounting for 2% of unique variance in anxiety, and 1.4% of variance in depressive symptoms” (1650). For this reason, it’s imperative to protect an employee’s well-being by avoiding giving illegitimate tasks, specifically unreasonable tasks as they have the greatest negative impact on employees (1650).
Provide an Explanation and an Acknowledgement
Although illegitimate tasks should be avoided, there are times that illegitimate tasks are unavoidable (Minei, 391). If giving an employee an illegitimate task is unavoidable, it’s important to give both acknowledgement and an explanation to the employee (391). A study conducted by Elizabeth Minei and her fellow colleagues found that acknowledgement reduced perceived illegitimacy, and that an explanation decreased feelings of anger (386). This means that if you are a supervisor giving an illegitimate task, it’s important to acknowledge that the task is outside of his/her work role. It also means that it is helpful to give an explanation as to why you are giving your employee the illegitimate task in the first place. Acknowledging that a task is outside of an employee’s role “may counterbalance the offensive nature of the request by signaling desirable social cues such as respect” (388). On the other hand, an explanation may reduce anger because the employee becomes clear on why the request is made (389). The explanation may “reduce the uncertainty about future illegitimate requests” and lead the employee to believe that the illegitimate task is circumstantial and less likely to happen again (389).
Avoid Giving Out Illegitimate Tasks
With that being said, it is still important to avoid giving illegitimate tasks to employees. Even though an explanation and acknowledgement together can reduce perceived illegitimacy and anger, its impact on anxiety and depressive symptoms is unknown. Since there hasn’t been a study on explanation and acknowledgment in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms, it is unclear on whether or not explanation and acknowledgement can reduce these sides effects. It is possible that neither explanation or acknowledgment will have an impact on anxiety or depressive symptoms. If this is the case, illegitimate tasks should be avoided altogether. However, as of right now research isn’t clear. One can only hope that future research will find factors that can mediate the negative effect illegitimate tasks have on employee well-being.
Communication is Key
If you are an employer who wants to avoid accidentally assigning illegitimate works tasks to your employees, it’s important to first figure out which work tasks your employees perceive as illegitimate. One way to make sure you and your employees are on the same page is to ask each employee to identify the work tasks they perceive as most important. As the supervisor, you can then share which tasks you view as most important. Also, make sure to ask each employee which tasks they view as unreasonable and outside of his/her job description. At the end of the meeting, there should be a clear document stating that individual employee’s main duties.
Next, it would be helpful to allow your employees to anonymously state which tasks they perceive as unnecessary and to provide an explanation as to why, as well as a possible alternative if any exist. Your employees’ feedback might shock you or even upset you at first. As an employer, it’s crucial to put your ego aside and to let any anger go. Your employees’ feedback is valuable and at the end of the day, finding solutions to problems and making work a better place is rewarding. Also note, if there is feedback from multiple employees stating that a certain task is unnecessary, it’s important that you listen. At the same time, maybe your employees are wrong and a task they view as time-wasting is actually a meaningful task. If that’s the case, make this clear to your employees. Show them how this perceived illegitimate task is necessary and helpful for the company.
Respect Your Employees’ Individual Roles
In the workforce, communication and respect are essential to a cohesive work environment. Supervisors who are aware of their employees’ duties and respectful of their employees’ individual roles will be less likely to assign illegitimate work assignments. On the other side, employees who are aware of their roles will be less likely to perceive a legitimate role as illegitimate, and vice-versa. As a whole, employers should avoid giving illegitimate tasks for the sake of their employees.
Works Cited:
Fila, Marcus J., and Erin Eatough. “Extending the Boundaries of Illegitimate Tasks: The Role of Resources.” 2020.
Minei, Elizabeth M., et al. “Managing Illegitimate Tasks Requests Through Explanation and Acknowledgement: A Discursive Leadership Approach.” 2018.