To Be Seen Is To Be Trusted: How Public Praise Fixes the Problem of Invisible Work

TL;DR

• Invisible work is the effort we don’t see. It’s one of the main challenges harming retention and culture on remote teams.

• Feeling unseen and underappreciated harms workplace connection and erodes trust on all sides.
• Normalizing public praise at work through peer recognition improves remote team visibility.

How would you describe your job role? We usually stick to the essential function and purpose. But if you were to show someone what you do, it would be quite different. Many of us perform an untold amount of invisible work.

What is invisible work?

Invisible work involves every effort made that isn’t witnessed or acknowledged by anyone else. It usually isn’t explicitly stated in the job description, but these are contributions that help teams progress toward their goals. Tasks that keep morale high, add to the culture, or facilitate others in completing their (often more visible) work.

If you’re an HR pro or a people leader, you’re probably intimately familiar with invisible work. The emotional labor of introducing every workplace connection. The administrative ins and outs of making the CEO’s team-building idea appear out of thin air. Even the true amount of effort it takes to onboard new hires. Becoming a mentor on the fly, or showing them how the tool they’re supposed to use actually works.

Team members struggle with this now more than ever, too. Remote and hybrid work is concealing much of their labor. Not only does the work go unacknowledged, but leaders may doubt that they put enough effort into the routine, role-related stuff.

How invisible work affects workplace connection on remote teams

Remote team visibility is a tricky little bugger. Companies must track progress and continually assess one’s true workload without becoming Big Brother or micromanaging. If any of these are becoming common, it’s a sign that the fog of low visibility is making connection and trust a problem:

• An ever-growing number of status meetings
• Team members go weeks without recognition
• New hires grow quieter over weeks or months

Those are easy observations. Here are more, larger consequences of letting invisible work remain unseen.

Reduced knowledge sharing.

This increases the cost of turnover as well as the labor HR has to do while onboarding the next person. If someone doesn’t have the rapport (or even the right channel) to share a hack or helpful hint, no one else knows it after they exit.

Teams remain divided.

Somewhere between total surveillance and never being acknowledged, we missed the chance to share credit. Teams don’t connect when a few people get credit for the invisible work of many. Only those people “earn” the trust and praise from leaders. This ultimately turns employees against each other.

Increased isolation (and loneliness).

One study found that isolation-induced absenteeism by itself costs $154 billion annually. This is a sign of quiet quitting, the burnout period before someone officially quits. High turnover from a lack of connection is self-perpetuating. There’s always a new person struggling to acclimate and find the connections their predecessor couldn’t.

Deep feelings of injustice.

Having your effort go unseen feels personal. If you spend every day executing 15 tasks and barely getting acknowledged for the only two that seem to matter, you’re going to feel resentful. The opportunity to share small wins (the seven things that went toward one thing) matters.

Why “Just trust your team!” doesn’t fix invisible work

These days, leadership is often encouraged to increase autonomy and simply trust in employees they can’t see. However, assuming everyone was an essential contributor is hard for those who were reluctant to go remote to begin with.

Here’s why blind faith wouldn’t make people feel seen, anyway:

• Public praise at work should be specific. Recognition doesn’t hit when the giver can’t even put words to what the receiver did.
• Building genuine trust takes time. We don’t have time. A lack of appreciation and feeling taken advantage of can force someone out the door fast.
• Dynamics can make it difficult. A history of micromanagement or a culture of blame means everyone is starting at square one.
• Trust is a private feeling. You can’t say it and make it true. Meanwhile, invisible work is an everyday experience.

The Fix: Turning private effort into public praise at work

When so much of your work is invisible, periodic reviews feel like litigation. Doubling up on check-ins can make people feel suspicious.

A sense of ease and trust in sharing our day-to-day can be found in a culture of appreciation. Peer recognition tools integrated into existing communication channels can instantly make public praise part of everyone’s shift.

Peer visibility eliminates managerial blind spots.

More than half of employees do not fully trust that managers know what’s being worked on or what it requires. Peer appreciation is social proof that teams are working together, and word gets around. Employees recognize one another for the small stuff, and leaders have a searchable record of who was praised for what.

Give people a platform to unload their unseen work.

Weekly wrap-up celebrations in chat let people share what they did that no one else saw. Many among the thousands of global teams using HeyTaco use remote team rituals like this to overcome the problem of invisible work. Before you know it, employees are spotlighting other people’s invisible work.

Daily feedback increases confidence in contributing.

Small, specific bits of real-time feedback feel authentic and fair to employees. They trust these reactions. Being seen and appreciated for often-invisible stuff reassures the new hire they’ve got the hang of it. It confirms that the above-and-beyonder’s extra help does make a difference. It tells the introvert that yes, you did improve that process, thanks for sharing.

Visible connection reveals the helpers of good work.

“I couldn’t have done this without Helen’s help.” It’s a routine admission, perhaps even too vague a compliment. But when it’s normal to shout out coworkers for their assistance, everything feels like a team effort. That helps tie together a support system that fights feelings of isolation.

The invisible work guessing game vs. public praise: A side-by-side comparison.

Guess who consoled everyone after that tough meeting? Guess who spent an extra hour proofreading every last word on that “finalized” report? Go on, take a guess. Or, you can ask. Peer recognition tools and regular small-win celebrations make more work visible.

Public praise tools that connect global teams 

Guesswork, invisible work, remote work– how about just some good work? Let everyone get on with it and color in the margins of their deep focus time with a culture of recognition.

HeyTaco offers lightweight, gamified peer recognition that doesn’t add to anyone’s workload. It’s the easy way to appreciate the small stuff, build culture, and strengthen workplace connections.

"It's simple, but meaningful. Being able to give a taco with a quick message of thanks or recognition helps build a stronger, more positive culture without feeling forced. It makes people feel seen, and gives everyone, from the quiet achievers to the daily rockstars, a chance to be celebrated."

• DeAnna R.QA Manager

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FAQ: Invisible work and workplace connection

What’s the difference between invisible work and being unproductive?

Invisible work involves tasks not related to one’s role, while being unproductive means spending time on tasks not related to work, period.

Invisible work contributes to goals, improves processes, and helps others. It just doesn’t always include the list of tasks someone is paid for. It’s hard to measure and rare to witness.

How do I know if invisible work is affecting my team?

High turnover, excessive meetings for status updates, distrustful leadership, and exhaustion that a timesheet can’t justify are a few signs. If no one can explain why deadlines are missed, or everyone’s moving slowly, a workload audit is in order.

How do you make remote work visible without adding meetings?

Project channels, “weekly wins” celebrations, working docs, and cross-department collaborations all bring what people do behind the scenes into view. Create a digital landscape that’s easy for remote workers to be present in. Offer informal ways for them to share, not just final drafts and status updates.

Will public praise at work increase competition?

Yes, if it’s mostly or exclusively top-down. Peer involvement democratizes praise. It’s also motivating. People learn what specifically someone did that was so great and emulate it.

That includes behaviors like peer recognition itself. When it’s normal to acknowledge someone for a good attitude or useful tip, others join in. This is how praise at work ends up being a cultural benefit as well as a performance-enhancer.