Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director at Marketing Signals:
Not everyone loves their job all the time, and feeling unhappy or undervalued is not a new feeling in some workplaces. But now there’s a new term for it, and that’s “resenteeism”.
The term itself comes after a wave of workplace trends which include “quiet quitting”, “acting your wage” and “quiet firing”. This particular trend stems from workers who are generally feeling unhappy and unfulfilled at work, but can’t actually do anything about it as they either can’t afford to find a new role or are unable to do so for a number of reasons.
The pandemic saw a seismic shift in the way we work as employees started leaving their jobs, coined “The Great Resignation”, resulting in those who were left behind feeling overworked and undervalued, especially in companies that were already short staffed.
Alongside this, we’re living in a cost of living crisis with the threat of a recession still looming, leaving many employees worrying about how they are going to pay their bills. It is likely that this fear is stopping many employees from finding work elsewhere where they could be happier.
However, if as a business owner you sense your employees may be feeling this way, or they’ve revealed that they’re feeling unhappy, it might be worth asking yourself “why?”, and seeing whether there’s anything you can do as a leader to help. If you are an employee feeling unhappy and want to try and make things better instead of leaving, here are my three top tips:
Open and honest communication
It can be hard to be honest about something negative when it comes to work, but clearing the air with your manager/immediate superior and expressing your dissatisfaction may help you work out any issues so you don’t actually have to leave. Explain what your issues are clearly and then you can work with your employer to help resolve these before they get any worse.
Consider what you want from your career and what it will take to make you feel happy, and discuss this with your manager. It may be that you start working on a development plan so you can progress further up the career ladder, or you could lower your hours or start working flexibly to improve your work-life balance.
Look after your mental health
You may not realise it, but there may be other areas of your life that are draining your energy and affecting your job satisfaction. Take a look at your lifestyle and find positive ways to improve your mental health, this may result in you feeling more positive at work. For example, take a walk or go out somewhere to eat with friends on your lunch or start practising mindfulness of an evening to help you switch off after work.
Having a healthy work-life balance can really improve your mental health but you have to make sure you’re switching off from work. Once you’re done with work for the day, make sure you aren’t checking emails or keeping an eye on Teams or Slack. Remember your job can just be a job and it doesn’t have to consume your entire life and thought process.
Look for new opportunities
If you are really struggling at work and have already discussed your situation with your manager, it may be worth just finding something new if you don’t think there will be any improvement at your current role. Remember, if you’re really unhappy, your resentment for the role may grow and start affecting your colleagues. While still at your current role, keep your mind open to new opportunities, update your LinkedIn and start speaking with recruiters as they can do all the hard work for you while you continue earning a living at your current job. Unless it becomes unbearable, avoid leaving your current role before you have secured a new one as this will put pressure on you to accept a job you might not be 100% suited for.
Ultimately, situations like this fall on employers to tackle. If a large part of the workforce is unhappy then it may be something to do with the job itself. Therefore it’s important for companies to encourage honesty and allow their employees plenty of support so that they feel comfortable communicating their problems before it affects them too much and they conclude that the only resolution is finding a new job.
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