[CAREER NEWS]"Act Your Wage" or how to reconcile professional commitment and remuneration

The "Act Your Wage" phenomenon resonates particularly with the growing desire of younger generations to have a balance between private and professional life. These generations attach great importance to quality of life, mental health and time spent with family and friends. "Act Your Wage" is emerging as a guide to establishing clear boundaries between professional and personal life, ensuring that the time and energy invested in work is balanced with remuneration and expectations... But is this phenomenon the key to happiness at work?

Origins of the phenomenon 

This concept has its roots in 2022 among TikTokers. It was popularized by a certain Sarai Marie Soto through the voice of her fictional character Veronica. Veronica "acted her wage" by refusing to work overtime, be available on vacation or take on an unreasonable workload. The character expressed the need to get the job done without doing anything extra, while insisting that this tendency should not be perceived negatively, but rather positively...

The "Act Your Wage" trend reflects a societal phenomenon that is reflected in a relationship to work that has been significantly altered by the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and social media.

This increased quest for well-being and work/life balance leads employees to set limits and protect their resources.

How is this expressed in the workplace? 

In the workplace, this translates into strict adherence to their job description and agreed working hours, or even a desire to protect themselves against over-demanding managers. In other words, it means working no more and no less than they are paid to do. 

Priority is given to balancing their work and personal lives, rather than to responsibilities beyond their role and remit. They may be reluctant to exceed expectations, particularly if they feel that the extra effort involved will not be sufficiently recognized or rewarded.

Adopt the "Act Your Age" principle

Adopting the "Act Your Wage" principle has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you look at it.

From the employee's point of view, "Act Your Wage" can be seen as a positive trend in that it can be a way of reducing pressure.

It's not a question of losing interest in a job, and even less of neglecting one's professional responsibilities, but of recognizing the importance of taking care of oneself, setting limits and preserving one's energy for long-term productivity and well-being.

By adopting this approach, employees ensure that they maintain a balance between their professional and private lives, while rejecting any attempt to fuel burnout. 

From a corporate point of view, this can also be interesting. By adopting the "Act Your Wage" principle, they ensure greater employee satisfaction and productivity at work, leading in turn to higher levels of commitment and participation. Adopting the "Act Your Wage" concept also fosters a culture of transparency, fairness and respect within the organization.

The "At Your Wage" trend can present certain risks for employees and companies alike.

Employees practicing "Act Your Wage" could face:

• Negative impact on their career opportunities: counting hours could be frowned upon during performance appraisals and could jeopardize career development opportunities within the company.
• Perception of reduced commitment: some colleagues or managers of "Act Your Wage" employees may misinterpret strict adherence to working hours as laziness or reduced commitment to the job. This could create a relationship of mistrust with these employees...
• Group pressure: in environments where the executive population is large and where working hours are often not counted, these employees could be faced with strong and sometimes underhand social pressure to work more than necessary.

In the mirror effect, the risks for the company are to have employees who are less motivated and less committed to their work, with a resulting drop in productivity that is critical to the company's long-term survival.

The "Act Your Wage" phenomenon as an opportunity for self-reflection?

This "Act Your Wage" phenomenon could also be a sign of deep discomfort... could this be an opportunity to find out what's behind it?  

Rather than adhering to this concept automatically without really knowing why, taking some time for yourself to self-hide by asking yourself the right questions transparently can be a starting point for living a better professional life! 😊

Questions to ask include:

• Is my job in alignment with who I am and my values?
• Am I fulfilled in my company? If not, what am I missing? 
• Am I in the right company? What do I want from my company? How do I want to contribute to my company's objectives?
• Are my job responsibilities and corporate culture compatible with a healthy work-life balance?
• Do I think I'm well paid for the tasks associated with my job description?

ð All these questions will help you readjust (or not) your own career path...

Actions to be carried out include:

• If my job doesn't seem to be aligned with who I am and my values, why not start thinking about other directions that could contribute to my fulfillment?
• If I feel that I'm not being paid well, and to feel happier and less frustrated, perhaps I can simply negotiate a higher salary in line with the assignments I've been given?
• If there's something missing from my happiness at work, I can start by listing the elements that are important for me to feel good. Then, as a second step, examine how I can reintroduce those elements that are really lacking in my daily professional life...

Conclusion

In today's competitive and demanding world of work, finding the right balance between professional commitments and personal well-being can be difficult. The "Act Your Wage" concept has emerged as an alternative solution for setting clear boundaries and ensuring that employees are neither overworked nor under-utilized.

As we have seen, adopting this practice in the workplace can be beneficial for both employees and companies, but it also has its downside... 

However, one thing's for sure: when people do work that matches their values and goals, and where they feel useful, they're intrinsically motivated... So working for more than your salary really isn't an issue...

Finally, isn't it STILL a question of finding the right balance to… "Act your career!"? 😊

Elizabeth TOUCAS - Executive Strengths Coach & Career Manager - IÉSEG Network

For any requests you may have for personalized Executive Coaching or for information on the Career Development Services, please contact me: e.toucas@ieseg.fr or +33.6.85.33.01.57.