There Are Two Sides To Job Disappointment And One Of Them Is Within Your Control
I read in Apple News that CNBC is reporting results of a study that shows 40% of employees are so unhappy at work they’re ready to quit. Seriously? These are people who actually have paying jobs they value so little they’re ready to throw in the towel! To go and do what? Take another job somewhere else, hoping that’s where all their dreams will come true?
It’s important to remember that disappointment has two aspects: 1. The actual reality, and 2. The expectations of how things are supposed to be.
Articles like the one from CNBC focus on trying to change reality to “make things better.” But before spending a lot of time and energy on that, we would do well to examine the underlying expectations and test them for realism and reasonableness.
Here’s what the article says are the sources of discontent:
- Lack of career growth
- Lack of appreciation,
- Overloaded schedules.
And here are the suggestions (in bold) the article puts forth as helpful hints to employees and employers:
“Ask your boss to discuss what your ‘career progression’ might look like.” What kind of answer can you reasonably expect to this one? “Who knows where any of us will be in 6 months?” “The company might not even be in business a year from now.” Nobody can foresee the future of your product, your industry or your company, much less your particular job. Your boss is likely to view this as pestering him or her for assurances nobody can provide in today’s work environment. Career growth is your own personal business, and it’s your job to look for opportunities to increase your value to the company or elsewhere, if necessary, by upgrading your skills and applying yourself to new areas where you can make a difference.
“Ask your boss to discuss positive aspects of your performance (i.e., ask for positive feedback.) Ask for suggestions for improvement.” Omigosh! Has it really been almost 25 years since the publishing of that little book, Beware Of Those Who Ask For Feedback? (By the way, it’s still available on Amazon, and anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to try to pin your boss down like this should order it and read it asap.) You’ll learn that this kind of activity is rightly viewed with annoyance and downright suspicion. It’s your boss’s job to communicate your objectives and to tell you when you’re measuring up and when you’re not — but not to package up the good stuff and spoon feed it to you as a satisfying “atta-boy.” It’s up to you to listen carefully to the feedback you’re getting — good and bad — in whatever form it comes your way and try to make sense of it and figure out what you should do about it.
“Make it clear that your workload is not realistic.” Do this and you won’t have to worry about getting up the courage to quit. You’ll be put on a shortlist of those encouraged to take a half-gainer out of the company. Since the advent of the downsizings that started in the mid-80s and continue to this day, those who survive are expected to face down bigger and bigger workloads by constantly coming up with creative ideas for cutting the job down to size. Resist the urge to cry uncle and be proactive by proposing new ways to do things by prioritizing, breaking a big job into more manageable pieces, borrowing resources, changing work flows, etc.
In a recent post, I discussed how work dissatisfaction has resulted from workers having unrealistic expectations of what their jobs and their bosses should be doing for them. There are plenty of ideas in that article for reasonable steps anyone can take to close the “Satisfaction Gap” at work.