Friday 3 June 2011

Are You Unhappy At Work?

Bangalore: Now that is a billion dollar question that every working person would like to answer. A Deloitte's Shift Index survey revealed that about 80 percent of people are dissatisfied with their jobs. While some of you would muster up the courage to change your careers, while some of you would like to grin and bear it. But considering the fact that we spend a lions share of our waking hours at our workplaces, don't you think that we need to improve the quality of where and how we spend 80 percent of our time? 
Are You Unhappy At Work?


So where do we start with, the number of things that make us unhappy at work?

Studies say that looking up for leadership, job satisfaction, communication, teamwork and work environment are the top five commitment drivers for employees and it is not the fat pay checks which interest the employees. Quality of workplace relationships, lack of meaningful recognition, an ineffectual manager, lack of opportunity to progress or learn new skills, ideas being ignored, are some of the drivers which make unhappy employees.

So the challenge is how to tackle the unhappiness? Even though you desperately want to quit to get away from your horrible workplace, you may be hesitant to actually do anything about it because there are other thoughts which hold you back from taking such a crude step. And of course there is no guarantee that the next job you join will be all smooth as well. It is always good to "make hay while the sun shines", so how do you stop yourself from quitting, at least for a little longer?

You need to first build the right attitude. Accept that this job is not where you want to be, even if you can't make a change today. But begin taking steps to change things.

It is actually not the absence of the stressors that will make us happy, but the attitude that we carry towards them that matters. Your personality structure has to be altered to address your unhappiness. You need to address your unhappiness and experience in a deeper perspective and should not try to solve things too quickly.

Be proactive. Brainstorm with trusted friends and family members about your ideas. If there's something you'd like to change, decide whether your boss is approachable and if so, the best tactics to use.
Make a list of the good points about your job. Listing what you do like about your job will help shift your perception and keep you from feeling so trapped. You could also try learning a new skill like make a list of things that you not suppose to say to your boss to avoid encounters.

If you feel you have your reached the saturation point and are about to burst, the one option is to seek out your company's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if it has one. EAPs counsel you and may even provide solutions to your problems at work. The problem could be that you not able to vent out you problems, but once you do, the relief of sharing helps you think for solutions. EAP's also maintain your problems confidentially.

Whatever your reasons for being unhappy, you need to maintain your professionalism and prevent a bad attitude from sabotaging you.

No comments:

Post a Comment