Can your expense report reveal your career satisfaction level?
The way you approach your expense reporting and reimbursements can reveal whether you are in a job that fits you well or not. What do your expense reports reveal about your personality?
According to Sue Shellenbarger of The Wall Street Journal, the items you submit for reimbursement and the way you interpret your employer’s expense reporting policies reveals a lot about you. She discusses five types of employees in terms of their expense reporting habits: The Sidestepper, The Martyr, The Payback Artist, The Rookie, and The Grifter. The entire article can be found here. It’s interesting and worth a read to see if you fall into one of these categories.
Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels
Two of Shellenbarger’s expense reporting types are particularly illuminating about personal work satisfaction: The Payback Artist and The Martyr.
If you identify with either of these types, pay attention to what that might mean about your current job.
The Payback Artists
These employees feel they are underpaid and under-appreciated. They express their frustration by requesting reimbursement for every possible legitimate business expense. They also inflate their expense reports with numerous questionable and even fraudulent expenses in order to get paid for what they think they are worth.
The Martyrs
These employees love their work and their employer and often decline to submit requests for reimbursements. They feel they are supporting their employer by absorbing some of the financial burdens facing the company. In some cases, they will buy materials and pay for expenses out-of-pocket to enhance the work they do or the service they deliver even if their employer does not reimburse them. An example of this are teachers of the who spend their own hard-earned money to buy books and classroom supplies so their students can have an enhanced learning experience.
Which one are you?
I believe “The Payback Artists” are often employees who are working in jobs that are a poor fit for them. They feel under-appreciated because they are not satisfying any of their inner motivations, so they seek the external validation of extracting more income for themselves through the questionable, and potentially illegal, method of falsifying expense reports.
In it’s worst form, a “Payback Artist” may seem just be an unethical, ego-driven, jerk who feels entitled to more from their corporate employer. That type of mentality can lead to more than just some falsified expense reports; it can lead to serious legal problems. I’ve witnessed that a couple of times in my career. In both cases, the executives were terminated and escorted from the office by security officers after they had absconded with tens of thousands of dollars in falsified expenses. It was truly sad and troubling to watch the ethical dramas unfold.
If you see yourself as a “Payback Artist” when submitting your expense report, you should really take some time to understand where this deep-seated dissatisfaction is coming from. It’s time to do some soul searching and figure out what is driving this potentially destructive behavior.
To me, “The Martyrs” seem like employees who truly enjoy the work they do and are allowed to demonstrate their on-the-job mastery on a regular basis. Their motivation comes from within and they strive to do better every day – even if it means they have to “invest” their own funds in the continuing improvement of their craft.
If you see yourself as a “Martyr” when it comes to your expense reporting habits, you probably have a job that you view as more of a calling than simple employment. If this is the case, congratulations! Most people don’t feel this level of passion for their work. But for heaven’s sake, pleased find a way to get reimbursed for some of those “investments!” There’s no rule that says expense report “Martyrs” should be poor!