Is It Good to Be an Agreeable Employee?
Of course, the ability to communicate, socialize, and form meaningful relationships with others is always a bonus. And "agreeable" people are more likely to succeed in fields that require these abilities.
Agreeablenessis a personality trait characterized by compassion, friendliness, politeness and empathy. People high in this personality trait can be described as "nice"; they tend to make good friends, are good listeners and good team players.
While others may respect your good intentions, some may see you as someone who avoids conflict. It lacks negotiating skills when it comes to managing conflicts, and neither contributes to advancement.
What nice people do not know is that they're being extra nice, and that being extra friendly can seriously stifle their professional development and success. You should continue to be a good colleague where possible, but you cannot put your own job on hold to support others.
“Niceness -- in the form of agreeableness -- does not appear to pay”, Beth Livingston, Timothy Judge and Charlice Hurst.
If the purpose of building and maintaining good relationships with others is the primary motivation for highly agreeable people, this may clash with other types of goals that encourage extrinsic career success.
The Pay Check!
The earnings of agreeable individuals may be reduced by their lower drive to emerge as a leader, as well as their propensity to engage in lower levels of constructive task behaviors, such as coming up with ways to improve organizational effectiveness.
In fact, men who are nice, in defiance of gender stereotypes, "do take a hit for being highly agreeable," suffering a "backlash" that shows up in their pay checks. Women, on the other hand, do not seem to profit from being disagreeable in the same way as men do.
Men are referred to as the family's breadwinners, and they are often thought to be mentally strong. Women, on the other hand, are thought to be more social and caring than men. Men who are more agreeable earn less money, and the quality of life they provide for their families suffers as a result. Hence, society can doubt his masculinity and ability to carry out his responsibilities at times.
Thus, women can find themselves in a “no-win” situation in which, like men, they are vulnerable to exploitation and are less likely to be seen as competent if they are agreeable. However, if they are disagreeable, the financial benefits of disagreeability can be diluted because their behavior contradicts gender role norms.
A company full of people in agreement would have a hard time establishing or maintaining any kind of hierarchy. Someone has to differentiate themselves from the pack, and being 'disagreeable' seems like a way to accomplish that. If you prefer to be agreeable but want to advance in your career, the trick is to strike a balance between being true to yourself and recognizing that you may need to disagree at times. Keeping a sense of balance between agreeing and disagreeing necessitates going outside of your comfort zone.
While being agreeable certainly doesn’t appear to help one’s pay, it does provide other benefits. Agreeable individuals are better liked at work, are more likely to help others at work, and generally are happier at work and in life. Nice men—and women—may finish last in terms of earnings, but wages themselves do not define a happy life, and on that front, agreeable individuals have the advantage.
So, are you an agreeable employee? Share with us your thoughts!
Posted by:
Yogakumari Sankar - Prospect & Content Development Executive