Being a 'perfect' employee isn’t good for your career: Study

Do you describe yourself as a ‘perfectionist’ in a job interview and mention it as your strength? Do you go an extra mile to achieve perfection in every task you do at work and take pride in it? A research suggests that being a perfectionist at work might not be actually a good trait and it can even take a toll on your personal and professional life.

Brian Swinder from the University of Florida along with researchers from Miami University and Georgia Institute of Technology analysed four decades of studies on this subject and discovered that this constant desire to achieve perfectionism everywhere might be a worker’s weakness.

According to the research, being a perfectionist surely has an upside. They are always trying to give more than 100 percent to their work, have higher levels of motivation and consciousness. Undoubtedly, their managers can expect flawless work and count on them whenever anything goes haywire.

But the research also pointed out that perfectionists were more likely to set inflexible, excessively high standards for themselves. They view their work from an over-critical lens and hold an all-or-nothing mindset about their performance.

While the study indicated that perfectionism is related to higher engagement and motivational levels, it was also detrimental to mental health and wellbeing. “Perfectionists don’t enjoy their achievements but focus on what they haven’t achieved, and this is problematic,” opined one of the researchers.

Interestingly, the research also indicated that an employee’s perfectionism might have no effect on his or her professional success. “Whereas a few of the correlates indicate that perfectionism may be beneficial for employees and organizations (i.e., motivation, engagement), the equivocality of the perfectionism-performance relationship coupled with the consistent negative relationships between perfectionism and mental well-being indicators provides compelling evidence regarding the net detrimental effect of perfectionism for employees and organizations,” the researcher stated.

The findings of this research would help managers realise that this behaviour is not exactly beneficial for the company. Instead of constantly reminding their ‘perfectionist’ employees about their performance goals, managers should help them in not being too strict on themselves and encourage them to take breaks to reduce their stress levels.

If you are one of those who strive for perfection in whatever they do at work, remember that sometimes being ‘good-enough’ is not at all bad! In fact, you are a perfect professional when you can learn to complete your work without being super stressed. It is good to work hard, improve your skills and climb up the corporate ladder but at no point, you should let your health–both mental and physical–suffer.

(All images used here are representational)