Get Job Satisfaction Without Quitting!
If you feel like you have had enough of your job, your boss, your team and feel like it’s time to quit, hold that thought, because it may not be time to go just yet! There are many reasons why as employees we may reach this point but there are steps that can be taken to sense check what may really be going on and lead to improved satisfaction in the job you have already put your efforts into without having to start over.
1. Clarify why you are there
You may simply have lost track of your purpose for being in the job. You may have once had a professional or personal goal that you were striving for, that is no longer relevant or no longer exists. Hence, digging deep to ask yourself what you are striving for, or what you are getting out of the working relationship is critical to aiding your satisfaction. This could look like saving for the new car, attainting the promotion for your personal development, paying the kids school fee’s, it will be personal to you and whatever it is, is perfectly fine.
2. Understand what is really important to you
Once you are clear on why you are there, make sure you ask yourself WHY that reason is important to you, else the danger is that you very quickly lose track again. Let me give you an example; if you determine that you are working hard in order to attain a promotion, you need to be clear on why that is important to you. It could be that the status of the title change is important to you because you are driven by status and recognition, it could be that the promotion is important to you because you need the pay rise to cull some debt before things get sticky with the bank. If it’s ‘just because that’s what I see people do next’ then it is unlikely to keep you motivated as it is simply not meaningful enough to you. You see, if the importance is deep rooted enough, you can be sure to see your drive increase. You can remind yourself of your reasons as often as you need to re-ignite your engagement.
3. Align your personal interests with your professional work
On face value this may sound hard, you’re a reality TV show fanatic by night and you’re an IT guru by day but it can be done, and the smallest links can truly help bring your interest to your work to have you looking forward to your days. Perhaps you find colleagues who share your interests and create a regular ‘lunchtime meet up’ to discuss all things reality TV. Perhaps you pre-plan your long weekends, or early finishes in order to have your regular fishing trips away. Perhaps you organise charity days, or themed work days where you use your love of baking to give back regularly. Perhaps your team meetings have a theme that is centred around your love of footy…..you get the point.
4. Improve your working relationships
As the saying goes, ‘people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad manager's’, now I personally believe people will leave because of one or both of these reasons but if you can improve the relationships you have at work, just imagine how much easier and nicer it would be to go to work each day. Communication plays a huge part, and often if we simply don’t communicate to one another effectively or we just don’t trust one another, we are destined to fail. Build trust and get to know your team mates on a level outside of the work environment and you will be well on your way to enjoying spending time with each other. PRINT® assessments provide a great foundation to get all of this, and your personal motivators nailed, increasing fulfilment and productivity all round.
5. Talk to your boss
The idea can seem daunting, and the easier option often seems to be to just bury your head and quit but simply raising your thoughts, concerns, or career goals with your leader can pay huge dividends. Ask for a time to catch up one on one, let them know the topic you wish to discuss, make sure you are in a location that you both feel comfortable with and simply be honest. If there is anything that the company can do to help with your feeling of lack of fulfilment, and if they value you, they will be sure to try. It may be lead to a slight role change, more training, time out, a shift in work pattern, who knows, but if nothing can be done, or the efforts don’t change anything for you, you at least know you covered all bases.
6. Gain some external perspective
Often when we are in the middle of a situation, we cannot see past the problem or feeling in front of us, we can get clouded, overwhelmed and feel stuck. Hence, speaking to somebody to gain some perspective can be extremely useful. This could be a friend, family member or colleague that you trust or an independent such as a mentor or coach. A coach can help you to see what is really going on for you, when you can’t see it yourself, identify what you really want and guide you to achieve the goals or improvements that you identify you need. A coach will use a variety of tools and questions to get to the root far quicker, and far more effectively for sustained fulfilment.
If you need support in exploring any of the areas above, I’d love to help, so get in touch to book a time to talk.
