Russell Johnson of Michigan State University and his co-researchers asked managers to track the help they gave colleagues over 10 days and how recipients responded. The team found that when people lent a hand without being asked, they were less likely to be shown gratitude than when they helped upon request. Study participants also felt less sociable and engaged at work a day after they'd given proactive assistance. The conclusion: You shouldn't volunteer to help your co-workers.
Q: Professor Johnson, defend your research.
A: Our findings do suggest that we all need to be cautious about offering unsolicited help. We're often told that it's good to be proactively helpful, especially with teammates. But it's important to recognize that the time and effort you put into that assistance — and take away from your own work — may not be appreciated. More often than not, according to our study, the recipient won't show gratitude, and that means you won't reap the psychological benefits of helping. Even 24 hours later, you'll feel less relationship-oriented, less cooperative, and less energized about work.
Q: But if you see someone struggling, shouldn't you step in anyway? And not worry whether everyone will feel warm and fuzzy about it afterward?
A: My co-authors — Hun Whee Lee, Jacob Bradburn and Chu-Hsiang Chang of Michigan State, and Szu-Han Lin at UMass Amherst — and I would advise you to think twice. First, as an outside observer, you might not fully understand the person's problem. Your judgment might be clouded by biases such as projection or selective perception. You'll probably have to use a lot of cognitive resources to figure out what's really going on, with no guarantee of giving your colleague the help that's actually needed. Second, maybe the person's preference was to solve the problem on his or her own and learn from the experience. If you swoop in without being asked, you're more likely to threaten your co-worker's sense of autonomy and mastery at work and diminish his or her self-esteem. In two follow-up surveys of about 500 full-time employees in North America, we found evidence for both those phenomena. Respondents who recalled times when they'd proactively helped co-workers reported having less clarity on the issues at hand than those describing instances when they'd reactively helped. And people who told us about being given help were more likely to feel threatened if they hadn't asked for it. In those cases, the help was also less effective. So it's no wonder the helpers weren't thanked.
