We’ve all had a bad day at the office. In fact, we’ve likely had bad weeks.
Realistically, everyone experiences peaks and troughs in their jobs, and too much flip-flopping in your career can send up big red flags to future employers about your tenacity and work ethic. Nobody wants to employ someone who seems to just cut and run when the landscape gets rocky.
That said, the time to move onwards and upwards by seeking a new job will arrive for everyone at some point. It’s a very personal decision, and not one that can be based on a checklist. But if you’ve noticed these signs for a good few months now, it may be time to consider pastures new.
1. You're No Longer Being Challenged or Growing
Although it may often feel comfortable, a job that is underusing your skills and not encouraging you to develop is one you may consider leaving. Staying in this situation may limit your potential and lead to feelings of complacency or frustration.
Sometimes, reinvigorating your work can be as simple as making small modifications, referred to as “job crafting.” However, occasionally you may lack growth because there is nothing left to aspire to. Before handing your notice in, engage with you manager and inquire about development opportunities like an internal promotion, or suggest ways you could add value that go beyond your current remit, such as new projects or mentoring. Taking this initiative in itself could see your employer take note and develop your role, but if that’s not an option, it may be time to move on.
2. The Case of False Advertising
Have you been promised training opportunities that never materialised? Exposure to different parts of the company that never took place? Is your role not quite the one discussed during the job interview? Maybe your employer hasn’t realised this, so it is important to air your feelings in a professional manner, but in a meantime try researching companies with a high level of employee satisfaction and consider your options.
3. The Company Culture Is Not the Right Fit
For prospective employees,company culture is an increasingly important aspect of taking a new role. Do you often feel like you can’t be yourself? Hesitate before speaking or laughing? If you are new, give the dust time to settle, but if it doesn’t improve further down the line, it is a good reason to consider new opportunities. Maybe you feel like a small cog in a rigid corporate and would feel more at home in a boutique, start-up atmosphere. Equally, you might be sick of grinding away on a small enterprise that just isn’t going anywhere, and you want to spread your wings for an established brand with structure and a path for progression. Be honest with yourself, and take that step.
4. Your Values Do Not Align
In 2021, nearly two-thirds of employees confirmed that Covid-19 made them reflect on their purpose in life. If your personal values do not align with the organisation, it is a sign that you should consider looking for new opportunities. Even if the misalignment has not yet caused you to compromise your ethics, it will inevitably do so in the future. Beyond ethics, it can also result in varying approaches to work with a difference of opinion about key policies and strategies.
5. The Curse of a Toxic Workplace
The implications of an unhealthy workplace can affect both your professional and personal life. The indicators of a toxic work environment include punitive and controlling management practices, general distrust, dishonest and ineffective communications as well as harassment. These places usually see a high employee turnover and employees not speaking out for a fear of retaliation. If you find yourself in this unenviable position, update your CVand look for a new job as soon as possible.
6. Your Hard Work Is Constantly Overlooked
Are you consistently going above and beyond, smashing targets and adding value, but finding this goes unnoticed? If you’ve tried to broach this with your employers but it’s fallen on deaf ears, it may be time to take that brilliance elsewhere.
7. You're Feeling Burnt-Out, Exhausted & Stressed
Work becomes stressful from time to time, but if the feelings of exhaustion and dread are a regular occurrence every time a setback happens, you may be heading towards burnout. Sometimes it is not a simple case of the “Sunday Scaries” – if work tasks that used to bring you joy now make you feel anxious, it is time to take stock and consider changing your job. Life is precious and work should enrich it.
When You Know, You Know
You can take all the advice in the world about how things might get better if you stick at it, but you know better than anyone if that’s something you’re willing to do. If your gut is screaming at you to make a change, it’s always worth at least hearing that voice out and doing some research.
The cliché is true: you are the master of your own destiny. That doesn’t necessarily mean quitting one job to pursue another, though. If you have any of the above concerns, take control of it and talk to your employer – it’s on you to get your voice heard above the rabble. A good boss won’t fob you off. A great boss will be as invested in you as you are. Sometimes, though, a company just can’t meet your needs. Equally, if your concerns fall on deaf ears, think about moving on somewhere they won’t.
If you have decided that moving on is the best decision for you, consider your timeline to try to have another opportunity lined up with your resignation, to help mitigate the risk of losing income or benefits.
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