Maybe it’s high time to make a change . . . for everyone’s sake
When it comes to jobs, far too many people are in a state of more-or-less comfortable misery. This is the state wherein, according to Daniel Johnston’s book Lessons for Living: Simple Solutions for Life’s Problems, “You’re miserable, but you have gotten used to it.”
We all know the feeling of sticking with something beyond its productive benefit or purpose—whether it’s an old pair of jeans, or shoes, or a relationship that you just keep on giving “just one more chance”. What causes us to knowingly stay in situations or hang on to things we know we ought not to?
The answer to this question is the same as to why most people are still in jobs that offer no true satisfaction.
For many people, it feels easier to stick with an unhappy known than to attempt to find a better place in the unknown. Fear of the unknown holds them in jobs that they don’t enjoy, in relationships that aren’t working, and prevents them from living a better, happier life. Granted, there are risks associated with change, but that doesn’t mean you should fall victim to the false notion that there are no risks in not changing. In fact, the risks of inaction often far outweigh the risks of doing something new.
Job satisfaction is falling widely
What’s interesting to note about job satisfaction levels in recent years is that they are declining across the board, regardless of age, income or even residence. Workers below the age of 25 have over a 60% dissatisfaction rate, the worst level since the inception of The Conference Board job satisfaction survey. While age, money and geography can make a difference in these survey results, people overall are simply less and less happy in their jobs.
Clearly something has to change. Is it the work itself? Is it specific company policies? Is it compensation and/or benefits? Personally, I believe that changes in these things could have short-term impacts on job satisfaction. But, for a long-term solution to this problem, what has to change is employee attitudes and expectations.
I think people must modify their personal definition of what “satisfaction” from a job actually means. For example, as younger workers enter a new position, they’re excited by the nature and meaning of the work itself. As they advance in their careers, however, and rise in the organizational chart of their company, they get further and further from the job itself and assume more responsibility for management of the work process.
If the work itself is what they enjoyed most, they may find the change to being a supervisor robs them of much of their job satisfaction. Too often, this dynamic leads a manager to micro-manage—to try to stay involved in ‘doing’ instead of leading—thus aggravating those beneath them and causing voids in the management process they ought to be focusing on. If this process continues, they eventually lose interest in their jobs, their employees become increasingly dissatisfied and the overall work environment becomes laden with negativity and frustration.
A fresh perspective
If people could shift their definition of what constitutes satisfaction, and normalize their expectations about their jobs, overall job satisfaction levels would likely increase.
I have learned in my professional years to derive satisfaction less from doing the day-to-day work itself and more from helping others and motivating teams to get the work completed on their own. Mostly what I do today is manage the overall team outcomes and future directions. Being able to derive satisfaction from helping others advance their careers and managing the expectations of appropriate stakeholders required a major shift in my perspective.
Of course this wasn’t always easy. I had to learn some hard lessons along the way. However, I’ve been able, gradually, to relish this experience and successfully make the mental shift to re-define satisfaction for myself.
Don’t allow yourself to fall prey to comfortable misery within your career. Not only does doing so make for many unhappy days in your job and life, it serves no productive purpose for your company either. Instead, try to leverage your power to shift your thinking about what satisfies you. To be sure, sometimes a job change is the right decision, but it could be that making a mental pivot is all that is required.
Technorati Tags: change, risk-taking, self-improvement, leadership, developing others, not settling for second best
One of the many oddities about the human race is our reluctance to deal with options. We don’t like having too many choices. It makes us anxious. Every alternative means an opportunity for messing things up. Many of us are more concerned about not being wrong than we are about being right. That’s why we let our habits narrow down the alternatives to one or two familiar ones. It’s much less stressful.
