So what? Work can consume 80% of our waking hours. People who don’t enjoy their work drain vital energy from their lives, and long-term earnings may be impacted as well. If you don’t like your work, you are bound to develop a poor attitude. You’ll spend part of your energy working, while part is fighting negative feelings.
You won’t be a star performer; you might not even be seen as a positive contributor which will impact your raise or promotional opportunity. Then, a vicious cycle begins. You get discouraged, your attitude gets worse, and your performance suffers. Getting stuck in this cycle can turn your career sour.
Getting better income on the job begins with job satisfaction. In a career survey involving thousands of individuals, “those with high job satisfaction always earn more – often 50% or even 100% more.”
There are ways to increase your satisfaction in your present job. First, work on the communications and relationships at work to make the environment satisfying. Second, spend your day on tasks you perform well and get rid of the ones you don’t. If that’s impossible, you may be able to transfer to another position somewhere else in the organization or consider a new job with another company.
Once you’ve identified the source of your dissatisfaction, you can move toward an action plan. Below is a checklist to help you take a look at your level of work satisfaction.
Measuring Your Work Satisfaction
You can ask yourself these questions and be sincere with yourself.
- Have you considered a career change for over six months?
- Have duties been taken away from you?
- Has it been longer than three years since you had a promotion?
- Are you concerned about job security?
- Do you feel underpaid?
- Do you feel unappreciated?
- Is your job affecting your health?
- In your present position, are you repeating yourself (not growing in responsibility)?
- Has a colleague, a member of your family, or a friend suggested you search for another job?
- Are your duties increasing without a pay increase?
- Does work interfere with your personal life?
- Do you suspect a lay-off, takeover, or company merger?
- Are rewards and recognition for your work hard to come by?
- Are you concerned about the quality of your company’s product or service?
- Is your company falling behind competitively in today’s tough market?
- Are you excluded from the decision-making process?
- Is your present position keeping you from meeting your goals?
- Are you in need of more income than your job is providing?
- Have you already mentally shut yourself out from your job?
After this self-evaluation, you can then go ahead to plan properly a career change if you really need it.
Staff Writer
This article was written and edited by a staff writer.
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