What's going on?

Are you considering changing jobs? 

It's estimated that over 40% of Americans are thinking about seeking alternative employment. What is the source of this trend? There are many explanations but the biggest factor appears to the pandemic. Good or bad, people are questioning their current work situations and reassessing their priorities. Losing their jobs or being sent home to work remotely has changed their perspective on what they want from life. 

We humans don't do well with ambiguity and with the pandemic, we have had plenty of that. We seek stability and predictability because that is how we feel safe. As a species, we don't have a lot of physical defenses. What we do have is the ability to identify danger and to take proactive steps to protect ourselves. The more predictable the environment is, the easier it is to know where danger lurks and to avoid it. When things change rapidly, we feel vulnerable. The urge to create some stability pushes us to take control of what we can control and that, my friends, is often our jobs because all it takes to change is to simple words, "I quit."

If there were lingering issues that were causing some dissatisfaction prior to the pandemic, they didn't get better with the distance caused by remote working. When interpersonal issues, annoyances about processes, procedures, and policies, or frustration with a lack of empowerment, are not addressed, they don't go away, they fester. And that's what they did over the last year. Without the casual interactions in the halls or at the coffee bar, contact with each other tended to be within the context of a meeting and the personal connections fall to the side. Small talk is BIG talk. Without it, we can feel isolated and uncared for. Now, when more organizations are calling their workers back to the office, these unresolved issues are coming to the surface. 

More and more folks are thinking that a fresh start with another organization is the solution. You might be a member of this group but, before you cut ties, you might consider putting some energy into rebuilding your relationships in your current position. A CLEAN/N conversation might make the world of difference. Check out the chapter in Conflict at Work for help with this. You have invested time and build some social credit in your current job. It might be worth salvaging!

Join the hundreds of other people positively solving problems at work.