We spend a great deal of our waking moments either actually at work, travelling to and from, or just thinking about it. Right or wrong, for many of us, a significant portion of our self-worth is tied up in our job. The introductory question – ‘What do you do?’ – is almost always answered from a work viewpoint. So, one of the saddest things that can happen in a person’s career is to be trapped in a job they hate.
We created WhyDidYouGo.com as a vehicle to answer three fundamental questions, based on some quantitative research to back up the anecdotal trends. Our three questions were:
- Why did you leave your last job?
- Why do you stay in a job you hate?
- Why do you love your job?
In this article, we focus on the large number of people who are staying in jobs they hate, and some things to consider when people want to change their situation.
The first thing to understand from the survey results is that individuals do not respond to an unhappy work environment in exactly the same way. When asked how the situation has impacted them, half our respondents, the pessimists, viewed their prospects with very little hope, while the other half, the optimists, viewed the difficult situation as an opportunity for learning and growth.
Whatever your viewpoint, a job you hate doesn’t just make the nine-to-five hours very unpleasant, its effects poison every aspect of your life. Even the “optimists”, those that viewed the situation as a chance to grow, agreed that bad work experiences can impact their emotional and physical well-being. Our research indicates people are experiencing significant physical ailments, such as depression, fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia when they are in jobs they hate.
If you find yourself suffering from these ailments, the first question we recommend you ask yourself is, “Am I someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, which leads me to be unable to enjoy my job, or is it my job that is depressing and creating anxiety for me?” The important thing is to determine whether the depression and/or anxiety are work-related or related to personal factors outside of work. If you do not determine this, you could find yourself leaving your job for the wrong reasons, or worse, recreating the same situation in a new job.
Tip: If you are feeling depressed, you must know that you are not alone and it is very common. Seek out support from family and friends and do not be afraid to see a professional.
So why do people stay in jobs when they are unhappy?
Not surprisingly, most people who stay in jobs they hate do so because they do not have a better alternative available to them. Many reported that they do not believe they can find another job. Others think they could find alternate employment, but not for the salary they are currently making. Like most of us, they are not in a position to not work, and so they stay with the “devil they know”. Many times, we find individuals never do anything about their situation because they lack confidence and are afraid to move forward.
Tip: If you are feeling stuck and are not sure how to move forward in your current situation, consider the following steps:
- Consider hiring a career coach to help you think through your situation, explore what is stopping you from changing your situation, as well as to prepare you to move forward.
- Understand why you hate your job as well as the factors that would make you happy at work. The more you understand what you want and do not want, the clearer the approach will be to improve the situation. You may find that you can make small changes at work that will really improve your happiness. If you decide you need to leave, understanding your current situation will allow you to avoid a similar work experience.
- If you are staying in a job you hate because you do not think you will make more money, we advise you to do your research online as well as through your network about salaries in your field. Remember, power is knowledge. The more you know, the more confident you will be to negotiate and search out opportunities.
For individuals, this message is a reality check – your work situation will not change if you do not take control. Seek support, do your research, and don’t be afraid to move forward.
Louisa Jewell and Tracy Griffin are the co-founders of Why Did You Go, a consulting and coaching firm specializing in employee engagement and retention. Their vision is to improve happiness at work, one workplace at a time. For more information about their organizational retention programs, contact them at info@whydidyougo.com.
