by Nathalie Cohen
One of the most common questions people tend to ask kids is what they’d like to be when they grow up. The truth is, whether they had their sights set on becoming a firefighter or a dancer, not that many adults have made a career out of their childhood dreams, and for many, the question remains unanswered, one that may even haunt them on their daily commute to the office.
That pang of regret over choosing one road versus the other and forever wondering what may have been on the road not taken is something that prevents us from finding peace at work, no matter how fulfilling or prestigious it may be. Whether you feel trapped at a job where there is no room for advancement, or whether you feel you aren’t being compensated as you should be or that you simply despise your direct supervisor, it is quite possible that it is time for a change. So, why do people quit their job and should you be one of them?
Working 9 to forever
The concept of working 9 to 5 may offer a sense of stability to some of us, but for many, it is accompanied by a sense of dread. After all, most jobs require you to be available way more than 8 hours a day and if the position you’re in isn’t your dream job, 8 hours may as well be a lifetime. In a recent survey conducted by job board Ladders, only about one in three job-switching members out of 16,500 people surveyed stated that the reason they left a workplace had to do with their salary. The two reasons most cited by those questioned were boredom and long hours, particularly in the finance, project management, IT and engineering arenas.
Climbing up the ladder
In a 2015 LinkedIN survey, the main reason cited by over 10,000 people surveyed as to why they decided to leave their job was career advancement and growth. Considering the average cost of losing an employee is a whopping 33% of their employee’s salary, this is a major aspect companies should take into account if they wish to grow their retention rates.
Bad managers exist
If you’ve ever come across a bad manager who is either giving you hell or is an incompetant you-name-it who you absolutely hate, sticking around to watch his or her smug face every single day is something that might drive you up the wall. In fact, a research conducted by Randstad US found that 60% of respondents had left jobs, or considered leaving when they didn’t like their direct supervisors. No surprise there.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The same Randstad survey also found that 59% of those questioned felt a lack of respect at the workplace due to their companies caring more about their profits and revenue than about their employees. The same goes for the way your boss treats you. In today’s age, there are hundreds of thousands of employees who feel like they don’t matter. You, and your voice, matter. In fact, if all businesses had the opportunity to attend a MicDrop Business session where both employees and employers share their personal stories with one another, you and your employer would be surprised by the sense of community you’d end up feeling the next day at the office.
Meaningful work
We may not all be rocket scientists but that doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t make a difference. The importance of doing meaningful work is something that contributes to our sense of self esteem. Many employees need their tasks to feel meaningful and if they don’t they not only lose interest in performing them but also stop caring about whether or not the company they work for will succeed.
Your Voice Matters
When it comes down to it, there are several reasons why people quit their job, but there is one common denominator and that is the desire for people to feel valued, respected and challenged at work. Here at MicDrop we believe in the transformative power of storytelling and how you can change your entire life, personally and professionally, by sharing your story with others.
Ask yourself, are you bored at work? Do you feel like you aren’t fulfilling your potential and are you sick of working an insane amount of hours, in the evenings and over the weekend? Do you feel like you could and should be using your talents to perform more meaningful work elsewhere? We strongly believe that if you want to succeed in business as well as in your personal life you need to learn how to communicate exactly that. Start by communicating what you feel and by asking yourself whether it is time for a change. Begin by looking for career opportunities rather than for a new job and you might even find them in your current workplace. If you don’t, remember you have a prerogative. Now, the question is whether you have the courage to go out and find your voice.
