Remembering the SLA Image Task Force

Although the data is now ten years old, I think there's still some value in updating the article I wrote for the Task Force Report and offering the suggestions I made for improving our personal approaches to our position descriptions, salary surveys and titles.

Good News

The Task Force administered a qualitative survey of executive decision-makers in the U.S. and Canada. The results offered some insights as to what it is about our image that enhances or gets in the way of increasing our value perception.

On the positive side we are perceived by the opinion leader survey group as providing accurate, timely, reliable, useful, and valuable service. In general, people who produce results described by these adjectives are better paid. Unfortunately, these adjectives describe performance in the job and will not generally affect the salary range ascribed by the organization to the position. Good performance can have an effect on an individual's pay level in relation to the pay range assigned to their position. It will not have an affect on the pay range ascribed to the position or the evaluation placed on that position reflecting its value to the organization. Pay is the result of a combination of factors - our own performance, the salary ranges set by our organization (usually through some sort of salary administration system), and market conditions. Each of these factors can be influenced by perception (management and public) and reality (data, surveys, and facts).

This group also perceived us as being people-oriented as opposed to task-oriented. Generally, people-oriented jobs are paid more than task-oriented jobs. Each of these works in our favour with respect to pay systems.

Perceptions

Of concern were the following results:

Only 19% of our broad sample thought that librarians were assertive. Positions requiring assertiveness to accomplish their key results will be paid more.

Only 23% of our sample saw librarians as adaptable as opposed rigid. Positions that require a high degree of adaptability get paid more.

Depressingly, only 13% of our sample thought we were pro-active! Jobs that require the incumbents to be proactive as a part of their responsibilities to meet key objectives are paid significantly better.

Only 45% of this sample saw us as a career-oriented group. Career-oriented positions and professions are, broadly, paid more than job-oriented positions. This is a significant concern for female gender dominant professions that we share with nurses, teachers, and medical technicians, etc. The male-dominated power structure still does not place a realistic value on women's career aspirations.

Lastly, only 3% of the sample ranked financial management skills as important to our jobs and only 9% of the sample, at the time of administration, felt that technological skills were important to our work. Both of these skills are paid more highly than the service-oriented skills they chose as most important. We certainly hope that this perception has changed since the survey was done - and especially with the advent of the web and true consumer online.

Of some concern were the results of the Task Force surveys of librarians (all segments of the profession were surveyed) that showed that we had significant attitude issues in our own profession. In addition, anecdotal information collected over the years since the survey suggests to me that we still have some work to do here:

Over 50% of us perceived that we (our profession and our colleagues) lack confidence.

Only just over 30% of us "sought" promotion, especially at the lower pay levels. It's a truism that you don't get what you don't ask for.

Over 80% of us thought our profession is task-oriented, in direct contradiction to our decision-makers' perception of us as people/service-oriented. In reality we're process-oriented which, in our society, accrues higher pay levels and defines the usual image of a "professional".

68% of us thought our salaries were appropriate, which is sadly in line with the result that many of us think we're not highly enough regarded by our employers. Pay is the most tangible measure of the regard in which your employer holds you.

In addition, between 50 and 70% for librarians earning between $30,000 and $80,000 per annum were satisfied with their perquisites and benefits. Since perquisites and benefits represent up to 25% additional remuneration on top of base pay and with so many benefits calculated as a result of base pay and organization rank - it's not a logical position to take either as an individual or on the association or profession level.

Other Studies in the Task Force:

In addition to the survey results the Task Force Report also has papers on:

Is Image Important, Kaycee Hale

The Relationship of Image to Pay, Stephen Abram

Self Esteem and Image, Roger Haley

Image and Professionalism, John Marcus (Student Essay Winner)

Members of the Task Force (1988-1990)