Invisible Work at the Workplace
As Christmas approaches, life speeds up in many households: cleaning, cooking and baking, shopping, gift wrapping, decorating, organizing, helping the family. A huge amount of activity that requires time, energy, and attention, yet mostly remains invisible.
According to the most common definition, invisible labor is unpaid domestic, caregiving, organizational, and emotional work that we do for our families or communities, without recognition and often without conscious acknowledgment.
The same phenomenon is present in organizations as well.
Recently, I saw a post about a company where an employee received a "Behind The Scenes" award. This colleague was not in the spotlight in everyday work, did not lead flashy projects, but worked quietly and consistently in the background, reliably contributing to things running smoothly, projects being successful, and company goals being achieved.
We often take certain things for granted, until one day the colleague who has been doing this work does not show up. And suddenly it becomes visible how critical that invisible, quiet work really was.
What kinds of invisible work can appear in organizations?
Invisible work can be emotional, relationship-building or retention-related, or a form of concrete background work that does not receive much visibility or recognition. It can be part of a role or something taken on voluntarily.
Maintaining relationships, smoothing conflicts.
Informally supporting and onboarding new colleagues.
Holding the team together during difficult periods.
Bridging operational gaps through extra work, like taking over leadership tasks, compensating for a colleague's lack of competence voluntarily or upon request. ű
Paying extra attention to people.
Proactively preventing problems that can be formally part or not part of the role.
Emotional work during times of change, uncertainty, and overload.
Mentoring colleagues on a voluntary basis.
Operating systems, preparing data and analyses.
Why is it dangerous when invisible work remains invisible?
It can overload those who do it.
It can lead to burnout.
It can create uneven workloads.
It can build unnoticed dependencies.
It can make certain operational risks invisible.
🎁Solution-focused questions for organizations
❓ What kinds of work happen in the background in our organization without which we could not function, yet remain out of the spotlight?
❓ Who are the people many turn to, but whose contribution we never or rarely name as performance?
❓ Where do we automatically assume that "this just exists, it works"?
❓ How do we recognize—formally or informally—this type of contribution?
💡 Suggestions for organizations, leaders, and team members
Start noticing and recognizing the people and practices that often remain in the background but significantly contribute to successful operation.
Make invisible work visible, collect it, name it within teams. Start conversations about it.
Look at whether it should be built into a role or responsibility or is a dedicated role needed to carry this work?
Recognize not only results and goal achievement, but also the background work that makes them possible or that maintains operability.
Celebrate colleagues who do this type of work, both within teams and across the organization. Whether they do it voluntarily or as part of their role.
Prevent overload. Do not let a few people carry the full emotional and relational burden even if they willingly take it on. Establish shared norms and expectations.
💡 Suggestions for those doing invisible work
Protect yourself and your boundaries, even if you love what you do.
Say no when needed. Signal when it no longer fits alongside your other responsibilities.
Track your impact, even if it feels hard to grasp.
If you can, involve others do not carry the load alone.
💡 Suggestions for those doing invisible work
Protect yourself and your boundaries, even if you love what you do.
Say no when needed. Signal when it no longer fits alongside your other responsibilities.
Track your impact, even if it feels hard to grasp.
If you can, involve others do not carry the load alone.
🎁 Solution-focused questions for all of us before the holidays
❓ Who are the people around me at home or at work, who make things possible?
❓ How can I show and express - through words or actions - how much I appreciate this?