Why does imposter syndrome still plague some workers?

A recent survey found that the majority of workers actually believe they are charlatans.

Nearly 3 in 5 workers (58%) experience impostor syndrome at work, according to an Indeed report.

Overall, more than one in ten employees (13%) and one in five senior managers (20%) say they “always” or “very often” feel like a fraud. Yes, according to a survey of 2,500 workers in the UK.

“This is very common in all workplaces, but it’s especially meaningful in corporate and academic environments where certain jobs carry a lot of power and a lot of responsibility,” says clinical psychologists consulting creative industry organizations. Scholar Fabienne Palmer says:

Employers with workers who frequently experience imposter syndrome face considerable challenges.

• High levels of procrastination (63%)
• Long working hours (57%)
• High staff turnover (44%)
• Reduced productivity (41%)
• Employees who avoid applying for internal promotions (39%).

“If you feel unconventional or represent something a little different from the norm, then imposter syndrome, or residual senses (feelings of the body, thoughts, feelings) really affect your senses. self, confidence, and ultimately the ability to succeed in the workplace,” Palmer said.

These feelings of stress were common before the pandemic, but the nature of the pandemic has helped exacerbate the situation, said senior HR leaders who have experienced this in the past.

“I think a lot of it has to do with a hybrid or remote workforce. , may be because they don’t have much access, says Amy Mosher, chief people officer at isolved in Gardnerville, Nevada.

“So they’re like, ‘Am I doing what everyone else is doing? Am I performing at the same level as everyone else? Am I producing at the same level?’ do you?”

For her, the mere fact that she didn’t recognize herself among other senior executives hurt her feelings of imposter syndrome.

“As a fairly young-looking Latina executive, I felt a lot of imposter syndrome because I didn’t look like anyone else or have the same background as other executives in the same room. It’s natural to compare yourself to others.”

Not everyone wants recognition

For some workers, this can be devastating, given the level of anxiety that comes with their worldview and the signals being sent.

Many people with social anxiety disorder don’t like being praised, says Ellen Hendricksen, a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety-Related Disorders (CARD).

“They don’t like being the center of attention…and he seems to have been clear about it and said, ‘I don’t like this.’ not ok. ”

That said, people with social anxiety are often “great” employees, she said. This is because people with social anxiety have many “superpowers” ​​such as high integrity, hard work and responsibility, and seriousness about their work.

“Exactly the kind of employee you want. So, besides focusing on combating toxic social unrest, it’s important to remember that there’s a lot of good stuff packed into that package.” think.

no leadership needed

While imposter syndrome and certain insecurities continue to be a problem in many workplaces, new research suggests that the reason some women aren’t getting promoted enough may simply be because they don’t want to be leaders. Hmm.

The study was conducted by organizational behaviorist Ekaterina Nechaeva, gender researcher Leah Shepard, and collaborator Tatyana Barshkina.

Shepard told Bloomberg that he had long been baffled by the continuing gender leadership gap in business, despite the company’s commitment to diversity.

“The conversation about women and leadership was dominated by prejudice and discrimination,” she said. “We thought there would be a place to talk about female agency. Are women really going to pursue these positions in the same way as men?”

According to Bloomberg, this seven-year metadata analysis tracked the interests and ambitions of 138,000 women in 174 studies dating back to the 1960s, and aggregated the data to analyze gender gaps.

“The results confirmed our suspicion that women were not as interested,” said Nechaeva.