Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Part One: Should I Stay or Should I Go, for employees, is the first of two blogs reflecting each side of the Resignation topic that I’ve covered in?prior blogs. Next week’s blog, Retention: 5 Pillars of the Employee Experience, is for employers.
How do you know if it’s the right time to quit your job? Leaving the security and tenure of an established position, especially if you’ve been there for some time. It is never (well, seldom) an easy decision. It’s an important one. It sends your career in a different direction. The decision may also come up in the future when interviewers ask about the factors you considered when choosing to leave an employer. The answer to this decision can make or break an interview. An inauthentic or fluff answer will not have the ring of truth the interviewer seeks and will likely be dug into.
Associated Costs
There can be an actual cost to making a move. Regardless of your experience level, you’ll be the newest arrival at the next company. If seniority is a factor in promotions, you’ll start from the bottom. And, of course, there’s a stigma associated with job-hopping; your resume and online profiles can make it seem like you’re never able or willing to stay in one place very long.
There can also be a cost to staying too long. Evidence suggests that the salaries of people who switch jobs regularly increase more quickly than those who stay with a single company for a long time. You could miss out on an opportunity that ‘springboards’ you to a whole new level in your career.
Bear in mind the truth of the adage, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ If you’re thinking of moving on, make sure you’ve done the self-reflection to ensure that your move is the right one.
Questions to Consider
There are two essential questions to consider in making the best decision possible:
What are you trying to get away from?
What are you trying to move towards?
Most job changes are a combination of the two. You’re undoubtedly dissatisfied with certain things in your current role, and you want to get away from those things in a new job. There are likely things you feel are missing from your current job, and ideally, a new job would include those aspects. Unless you take the time to understand your motivations for making a change, you’ll likely continue to be dissatisfied, perhaps jumping from one company to another, never feeling that the role is a good fit.
There are a few common threads in why people choose to leave their job. The three most common are a lack of appreciation, lack of opportunity, and poor management or a bad culture (often found together). Let’s look at each of these in turn.
Lack of Appreciation
For some people, appreciation is a question of money. You might feel that your company isn’t giving you the salary (or the raise) you deserve. Sometimes it’s not about compensation. Most people work best when they’re given validation and recognition for the work they do, even a simple ‘thanks!’ or ‘good job!’. If you don’t receive this kind of recognition, or if your performance reviews are mediocre, it’s natural to feel unappreciated and undervalued.
While considering the questions stay or go, the first step is to figure out what appreciation means to you. Once you know what that is, you can then seek it out. If you’re not making as much money as you believe you should, you might ask for more. There may also be things you can do (taking on additional projects, for example, or enrolling in a course of some kind) to position yourself for a more considerable increase. If your last performance review was lukewarm, did you get feedback about how to improve, and did you act on that feedback? It’s human nature to seek appreciation. If you don’t feel valued where you work, it’s not surprising to find yourself thinking about moving to another place than where you are.
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Lack of Opportunity?–?Stay or Go
This can also mean different things to different people. For some, opportunity means career progression, with increasingly senior titles and more direct reports. For others, it’s more about the chance to learn new things and develop and use new skills.
If you’re feeling stagnant, think about what’s missing for you. If promotion to higher levels of responsibility is your goal, have you demonstrated the kind of initiative that gets you noticed? Have you put your hand up for opportunities to demonstrate leadership, regardless of title? If the lack of opportunity for you is more about opportunities to learn and grow, perhaps consider narrowing your focus, determining a direction for your learning, and even seeking out specific courses. Many companies are willing to support their employees’ learning if the investment will pay off in increased performance and capability. If that is not offered to you, it might be a question of asking for it.
If you’ve tried these things and still feel you’ve ‘plateaued,’ with no opportunities to move ahead in your career, it’s normal to turn your eyes to other options.
Poor Management and Bad Culture?–?Stay or Go
The sad truth is some workplaces are truly toxic. People – colleagues or supervisors and managers – may be verbally abusive, or there may be harassment of some kind. Some workplaces can be unsafe, with safety violations to which management turns a blind eye. The location can also be dangerous, with inadequate security to make it safe. If you have the misfortune of working in such an environment, and you can’t resolve it internally, through legal means, or regulatory bodies, the right choice may be to move on. Perhaps even without another job to go to if your financial circumstances permit. It is not reasonable to expect someone to stay in a position that risks their mental, emotional, or physical health.
I’d love to hear from you about how you’ve approached this big decision in the past, Stay or Go. Have you quit your job, with or without another one to go to? How did you know it was time? In retrospect, was it the right decision?
Additional Resources:
Fastcompany.com:?4 Factors that will Help You Decide if You Really Want to Quit
Success.com:?5 Ways to Create Your Own Opportunities at Work
Forbes.com:?4 Ways to Create Your Own Opportunities at Work
JimNewcomb.com:?The Great Resignation of 2021: Crisis and Opportunity
JimNewcomb.com:?30-60-90 Day Plan for Success
JimNewcomb.com:?Resigning Well: A Graceful Exit
JimNewcomb.com:?Networking for Your Next Job