Why Most People End Up Hating Their Job
Back in the good old days way before I was born, people were fairly self-sustaining. They planted their own food, made their own clothes, and had a wide range of daily tasks just to survive. While life in those days certainly was harder, I believe it also led people to develop greater confidence and happiness. In contrast, the modern workplace is all about compartmentalizing, specializing, and repeating.
People are Special
One of the things that sets humans aside from other animals is our unrelenting interest in novelty, and learning. Indeed, one of the best ways to keep our brains sharp is by challenging it with crossword puzzles, “brain games”, and constantly demanding new solutions from our brain.
All you need to do is look at a job listing on Monster.com in order to get an idea of just how far job specialization has gone – 5-7 years of this, 3-5 years of that, and these aren’t basic requirements; rather they are for usage of specialized theoretical models and specialized software. No wonder every employer I speak with complains about how hard it is to fill positions, they are looking for something too specific, and too specialized.
End of the Renaissance Period
Granted, there are still some jobs up at the top which let you still be a Renaissance Man, but the majority of workers today do the same thing over and over each day at work, and work on such a small part of a project that they barely feel ownership over it. As kids we were told that the most important thing was teamwork – to just “do your part” to make the team successful. But at what cost? Shouldn’t you learn how to do everything – after all, the team isn’t always there – sometimes you need to be able to count on yourself.
Imagine if everything else in our life were so compartmentalized. Imagine, if you couldn’t bake a cake without first hiring a “dough specialist” to prepare the dough, and an “oven expert” to test for optimal temperature. Wouldn’t that take out half the fun of making the cake in the first place (and make it absolutely ridiculous)?
The Stats
When we look at the stats, they seem to agree with my opinions:
- Only 1 in 5 workers around the world are feeling “engaged” in their workplace, according to a recent study.
- 65% of employees polled by Salary.com were hoping to find a new job within 3 months.
- The average American will go through 10 jobs between the ages of 18 and 38. Just 30 years ago, an employer would assume that American had something seriously wrong with him to be job hopping so much. Besides that, any employer reading this knows just how expensive (with regards to both time and money) to rehire and retrain new workers. Certainly, there is value in avoiding this trend.
Sure, there are many reasons for someone changing jobs, but an important influence in making that decision has to do with the worker just feeling the need for change, that is, for novelty – something to stimulate his brain.
The takeaway is, if you want to keep your workers for a long time, make sure you aren’t confining their brains to too much repetition – it’s only a matter of time before their human need for novelty will take over…
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January 24th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Excellent post. And I do often wonder, if all this systemisation of jobs hasn’t led employees to be bored to tears.
65% employees all looking for work is a lot.
Catherine, I think the 65% is a scary number for employers, because with current unemployment in the USA around 4.6%, that means another 60% of employed people actually are actively trying to get out of their current job and move onto something else.
Given the high costs to replace a worker these days, 6 out of 10 of your workers are in danger of jumping ship – be sure to treat them well!
January 25th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I think there’s another, even more psycho-sociological, component in play. We, the CD, MTV, and .mp3 generation are allowed far more choices than people were in years before us. On the simplest level, it’s okay to cry over a boo-boo; Mommy will kiss it and make it better. It’s okay to quit the soccer team; maybe you’re really good at art. It’s okay to transition out of your law career; maybe you’d be better as a financial aid counselor or therapist or…you get the picture.
In our parents’ generation(s), people thought more in terms of black and white, men and women, for the war and against the war. Fence-sitting was tolerated a lot less, and considering these statistics have been on the rise, it seems as if there were fewer fence-sitters back then.
The intolerance for fence-sitting seems to come from greater inherent necessity in one’s life work. Immigrants I know have told me that in their native countries things like a variety of choices, multiple modes of self expression, and even complaining about ailments are all frowned upon. The underlying reason is that they and their parents grew up worrying and focusing on whether they’d survive through the night, how they would pay for the loaf of bread that would sustain their family for the next two weeks, things like that–not which iPod’s specs they preferred.
As these people moved to America, gradually over the past two centuries, they saw and ultimately created more and more opportunities, which compounded. I think those who panic about this shift toward more stimuli might be forgetting the classic Grateful Dead lyric, “every silver lining has a touch of gray.”
These expanded opportunities and spectra of thinking aren’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think they add color to life. The issue is that they’ve created a totally different framework for employees and, in turn, employers. Repetition used to be the perfect stimulus. It provided security and external control in order to keep the employee out of harm’s way. What the modern job needs, as you said, is variety also in order to keep up with the modern employee’s penchant for a faster paced, more varied lifestyle.
Different details, same conclusion.
Elazar,
Those are good points you bring up there. There has also been a lot of research about too many choices actually causing unhappiness as well, which may explain why the immigrants in your case tended to be happier (since they had less choices and just focused on “survival”).
January 25th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Very interesting post Pinny!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Great post! I also think we’ve consistently moved away from growing leaders who know how to lead people. Unfortunately, organizations wait until crisis time before they embrace strong leadership. That in-turn leaves a huge disconnect between followers (employees) and those that are charged with leading (managers/executives).
I spoke with a former colleague a few weeks ago and he told me that he resigned from his boss, and not the employer. I’ve heard that statement many times over the last 15 years.
Eric, I agree with you wholeheartedly, too often today we see leaders check the polls for a leadership direction, instead of initiating change that needs to occur.
That’s really funny about the “resigned from his boss” – I’m hoping that as more people get “lucky” and become successful owners of businesses, we’ll have a lot more average Joe bosses who are more in touch with the employees.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Very good post, and I agree with you. Alot of people do end up hating their jobs. Actually, a colleague of mine just left today because she felt too specialized and needed something more stimulating.
January 26th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Great post, Pinny. Having worked for both big (F100) companies and startups, I would say that the big companies still operate far too much in the ‘command and control’ mode–I don’t know if that’s what they still teach at B school or what?
Some employees seem to like that more predictable environment, but many others that I know seek the urgency and the opportunity of startups. And by opportunity, I don’t mean the money potential only, but rather the opportunity to wear a lot of hats and to create your own niche within a company.
In the bigger companies this is almost impossible–in fact, sometimes it seems that a fair number of the staff in big companies spends their time squelching innovation, while bemoaning its absence out of the other side of their mouths.
Mark, I’ve found your description to be very true. I personally enjoy the “jack of all trades” small business feel, and it lets me learn new things every day. My friends who work in large companies tend to complain about same old, same old, and how their boss didn’t care much about a “great idea” they had. Until large companies (aside from Google, apparently) figure out how to balance productivity while allowing innovative thinking, I think the startups will keep battering the big boys.
January 27th, 2008 at 9:02 am
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February 6th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
WOW, This is dead on! I have been at my job for 1.5 yrs and I assist a group of 6 recruiters. I do the same boring stuff over and over again everyday. I realize that without me and the other assistant the recruitment for the company would come to a hault…but I have asked to do different things and keep getting shut down by my boss.
I though about looking for a new job, but my benefits and other perks are great, plus my boss is so all over the place he dont even realize if I am here. so I just grin and bare it. I know I could be more productive but, when you have no motivation and the same boring work to do it is hard to find the upside.
So any employer reading this, take note. if you dont give your people new things to do, they will be typing on this blog about how bored they are and how they want to bang their head against the screen.
Have a great day
February 21st, 2008 at 2:29 am
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December 30th, 2009 at 3:49 am
For me it’s always been either customers or mangement. I would always joke “this job would be great if it weren’t for the d*mned customers” I have a degree in Comp. Sci but decided to go back to school in Psychology since thats the only field where you can have a PhD in opinion.
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