Top 5 reasons people want to quit their job.
(And heart-centred, practical solutions to make work better)
- It’s boring
Most people site they find their current work unfulfilling, unrewarding, and unchallenging.
A lack of interest in the role they’re doing is the number one reason job switchers give for changing their work. If you’re one of the working majority who say they’re going to change jobs this year, this is probably your biggest issue and you can sum it up in that age old phrase ‘I’m Bored’. Boredom is a state of mind we’re told. And whilst I do believe that we have a duty to make the best of the situation we’re in (for no other sake than we’re living it right now and that’s all we know right now) we should do whatever we can to make our current work more fulfilling to us.
So if you’re bored (unchallenged, uninterested, or unfulfilled), find one aspect of your role or situation that does interest you in some way and try to amplify that. If you have any dictate over your job whatsoever (and many of us don’t, I know!), try and stretch out the bits that do appeal so they fill a larger portion of your working day. If it’s the people contact you love, then find ways to incorporate contact into your work routine. If it’s creativity, see if you can expand your role to include more scope for the creative process. Even if it means (gasp horror) taking on more work! Yes, sometimes doing more of the right stuff can make the rest of the role seem less annoying!
2. There’s no value or meaning to the work I do.
This is the growing concern for so many people who live the 9–5 (or more) lifestyle and see no intrinsic worth in the work they do. Churning out more and more work of little or no perceived value just makes people so disheartened about the work they do. Being busy for no apparent reason just doesn’t cut it and yet being seen to be busy is still prevalent ion business cultures today. If you can’t find value in the work you do, how are you going to keep showing up day in and day out and be motivated and productive? You aren’t. And the truth of it is the work place has been set up so often these days that there can really seem to be little true value. We ask ourselves, ‘If I didn’t do this today, would it really matter?’ And too often we say, ‘No, it really wouldn’t’. That’s no way to live.
So here’s a solution: look for value elsewhere in your life. Your work right now does not have to be the place where you find value. If you feel you have to live with what you’ve got for the time being, then seek value in another area – give back someplace else. If your current work won’t allow you to expand and create value, then maybe, for right now, work doesn’t need to the place of value for you. Where else in your life can you find value? Through your kids interests? Through your hobbies? Through a favourite charity? If we are saying work can’t change right now, and a lack of worth in my work is unchangeable, seek worth and value outside of the work place.
3. Nobody respects me.
It’s hard given the way that corporations and businesses today are organised to see how each and every person within that structure can feel respected. Most companies today pay lip service to ideas of equality and respect, but few actually ensure that it is a part of their business culture. Feeling a lack of respect in your work place can leave you feeling unworthy, disliked, depressed and inferior. No wonder people look elsewhere.
If you don’t feel respected here’s how you can change it: respect yourself. It’s true. The first person who has to respect you is you. If you genuinely believe no one else respects you, then look in the mirror. It’s a hard fact but everything starts with you. If you don’t value and respect who you are and what you have to bring to the world (let alone the work place) then you have to get there first. Once you start seeing the value in what you do and how you do it and how intrinsically valuable you are, it’s a sure given that others will too. Always start with yourself then show up knowing your worth to yourself, to your job and to the people you work with – accept nothing less that respect. You have to know you deserve it to let others show it.
4. My job doesn’t pay me enough.
While pay is cited in the top list of reasons people leave their work, it’s never at the top: Never. Most surveys reveal that so long as the work is rewarding, an adequate pay for the job their doing is enough. And salary increases don’t serve to make unrewarding work ultimately more desirable.
Here’s the truth if you feel this way: it never will. No job can pay you enough, if it’s ultimately not the job for you. But get this – no lack of money will keep you from doing a job you really want to do. If you love the work you do, people will downsize, cut back and take on different roles if that’s what it takes. It doesn’t in the end, it’s all about what you believe is possible. But know this: money is the adjustable factor in most people’s working life. If you change jobs for the money then the job you had was not the job for you. Hopefully, your new job will give you increased salary and a better working fit. But chances are, if you’re like a lot of people, we chase money when we don’t know what else to chase. Don’t get me wrong, I know money is important in life – we can’t get by without it. But more money is never going to keep someone who really is looking for more from work. Money cannot substitute worth and a value and meaning and challenge. Every study bears this out. We change jobs because we. are looking for more – and it’s rarely just more money. There’s a reason why heart-centred career coaches ask ‘what would you do even if there were not financial rewards’ – work has to be about more than a pay cheque in order to be worth a third (at least) of your time. Money matters – it just doesn’t matter the most.
5. I hate my boss (or co-workers)
This is a very real problem for many workers and always comes high up in the reasons people give for switching roles. It’s unfortunate that many bosses are ‘old era’ or ‘old school’ and still even in this day and age only give a semblance of respect and autonomy to their employees. It would be lovely if all bosses were actually coaches who were trained to genuinely seek the best from each of their workers and make sure that they were being fulfilled by their working experience. But they don’t. But here’s where life gets tough: your problem with your boss (or co-workers) are really problems you have with you.
Yep – it’s looking in the mirror time again. Most of the time we see our own issues reflected back at us in the people we most like to dislike. So if your boss is a mean dictator, look into yourself and see what needs work within you – not only your personality issues but also you energy that you’re giving off to the work you’re in. A lot of times, we give off unhappy at work vibes and then we act surprised when they come back at us as our bosses and colleagues pick up on that negativity and give it back. It’s hard to show up for a job that you don’t like and feel positive and radiate happy vibes – I get it. But until you do, nothing can change. So you have to find some way of tapping into feeling OK (even if you can’t yet get to great!). Notice as many positive things as you can about the boss and the workers you have to have relationships with. Find the good in them. Find the good in you. And let it be a start of a relationship improvement spiral. As you notice better things about the people you work with, they will detect the change in you and react in accordance. As they get ‘nicer’, you’ll find it easier to find better things to think about them and so it continues. You can’t expect to feel like you love them from the get go – but you have to be willing to change your thoughts if you want to change how things are. And remember, we’re social beings, the relationships we have are the things that make us human. It’s learning to navigate those relationships that can set us on a path to greater awareness and greater joy. If we are willing to work at relationships that aren’t perfect, we can learn so much, change so much, and grow so much. At the end of the day work is but one facet of your life and your willingness to grow and evolve will determine the beauty of your fullest experience here on Earth.
So there are always ways to make your current situation better even if you can’t make them great. If you’re really sure that changing jobs, discovering your perfect heart-centred career is not viable for you at the moment, then be willing to work towards improving things in the mean time. Life can always be better even if perfect seems a long way off right now.
[Statistical support for this article was drawn from several online sources including Forbes, HITC Business, Kelly Services, SHRM.Org, aboutmoney.com ]
What’s the best thing you ever did to change a negative work situation around?