In the current economic gloom, it's probably preposterous to even broach the subject of leaving a job but I was wondering if there was a methodical system to decide if the time had come to switch jobs.
All of us have an inbuilt compass that decides whether the time has come to look for opportunities outside the realm of the current company. It could be for various reasons - lack of role definition, lack of challenging opportunities, unsatisfactory work conditions/compensation or a manager that we just don't get along with etc.
Apart from the "gut system", is there an objective way to decide to look outside? It turns out there is. One can figure out the answer if was one was to earnestly answer the below 12 questions -
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
- At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?
- In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
- Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
- Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
- At work, do my opinions seem to count?
- Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
- Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
- Do I have a best friend at work?
- In the last six months, have I talked with someone about my progress?
- At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
I wish I had come up with these questions but I just happen to stumble upon them while reading "First, break all the rules" by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
The questionnaire is put in such an articulate and simple manner that it helps you bring out the truth out of the closet regarding whether you belong in a specific place, are in a position to contribute and grow professionally. You immediately know the path you have to take if the answers are predominantly towards "Disagree" or "Strongly Disagree". By the way, they suggest that all the questions should be answered on the scale of "Strongly Disagree", "Disagree", "Neutral", "Agree" and "Strongly Agree".
To digress a little, the book was about the fact that individuals leave managers and not organizations. I'm sure you can clearly see that all the areas in the questionnaire can be directly addressed by an individual's manager thus I'm not surprised about their findings. After reading the book, I'm thoroughly convinced that individuals leave because of their managers. I hate to admit but I've had some smart individuals leave when they were reporting to me and now I can clearly see their reasons. I could pass the buck on to the organizational operative context but at the end of day I didn't do enough to realize their potential.
I hope this questionnaire helps everyone who have started to feel iffy about their current position but don't know what should they really do.
8 comments:
Well these questions might be a great indicator about your future in the company, but I always wonder how some people (nay almost all) have this ability to kill their inner feelings and stay on. Is this because we are stubborn or is it because most humans are submissive?
It is neither the case of stubbornness nor submissiveness. Though I get what you are trying to say yet I doubt whether that's the case. One can suppress their feelings temporarily but not for a long time. One is bound to move on from an organization where one is not appreciated.
I believe one might stay back more from a pragmatic point of view rather than what you suggested.
While appreciation doesn't make the world go round, people who are passionate about what they do will often make small sacrifices to get into situations were their work is noticed and appreciated.
I always think of good software design as art, and myself as an artist, and what good is art if noone is around to praise it!
Another thing you might want to consider is more practical (read worldly): better opportunities. While one might say that that also can be attributed to a poor manager, many a times it's just not in anybody's hands. More so if you are really talented.
Remember, you can always _deserve_ to move ahead, which would be a good thing for everyone. It's the difference between moving ahead, and moving 'on'.
I've been thinking more about some virtues that is becoming harder to find and even branded as outdated. Loyalty of any form.. passion work hobby ..
In this world of moving on who is thinking about staying on?
Nice Article..
That really helped :)
Sumit,
Good thoughts. I didn't think of that.
Sajay,
Everyone starts with only the intention of sticking around with something for a long period of time. Come to think of it, we can't even start anything if our heart is not in it. It's just that sometimes along the way one discovers that it is really not worthy of one's time or one is not appreciated enough for what they are doing, which leads to the "moving on". My post was a reflection of such an idea stating how does one really discover if the time has come.
Praveen,
Glad that you found the post useful.
Very nice article, I was thinking why haven't I come across your blog earlier. Nice Tarun...
Post a Comment