Every job has its difficulties, and no single job offers pure enjoyment each and every single day.
Having said that, there is a crucial difference between facing challenges and difficulties in your job, and being unhappy, overworked and dissatisfied in your day-to-day working life.
Sometimes, the answer isn’t to grin and bear what hardships your job throws at you. If it means sacrificing your health and happiness, it might be about time to consider leaving it for something better suited to you and your life.
Read on to discover some common issues in the workplace, as well as learning the difference between the natural challenge of work and an unhealthy and dissatisfying battle with your job.
Interpersonal Conflict
There is such a thing as healthy competition in work, which can often spur creativity and motivation, and result in a vibrant, productive working environment.
However, competition can at times become counter-productive and turn into conflict, especially in intense working environments. Situations can rapidly become heated and obstruct your progress in your job, or worse, threaten the safety of your position.
Personal conflicts can sometimes be resolved with patience, commitment from all parties involved and open discussion.
However, this is not always achievable, and if this is the case, then to persist working in such an environment could be seriously damaging to how you approach your work.
Discrimination
Discrimination in the workplace has been scrupulously brought under public and government attention in recent years, particularly with increased awareness regarding the unequal gender pay gap.
In 2010, the UK government passed the Equality Act, which protects individuals from all kinds of unfair treatment in the workplace.
Discrimination can include not hiring somebody, paying somebody else a higher wage, or selecting a particular person, for no justifiable reason.
If you are a victim of discrimination of this kind, then not only is leaving that working environment strongly advised, but legal action can also be taken against the perpetrators should you wish it.
Click here for advice on dealing with discrimination at work
Gossip
Gossipping is surely something we have all been guilty of at some point, however innocent we might think it.
However, it can become seriously destructive in a close working environment. Gossip can quickly evolve into misconstrued information, misinterpreted meaning or even intentionally deceptive lies, and the workplace is certainly a better place without it.
If you are a victim of serious gossip and it is damaging your focus, concentration, and relationship with co-workers or employers, then perhaps your working environment is not best suited to your wellbeing.
Communication
Good communication is an essential part of a company’s productivity.
If employees can communicate effectively with each other and with the rest of the company, the whole intricate mechanism of the workplace works far more smoothly.
However, if communication is ineffective, it can easily disrupt the whole atmosphere and efficiency of the workplace. It can lead to dissatisfaction and disengagement for you as an employee, and might make you feel as though you have no voice, like a tiny cog in a great big machine.
If this is the case, then again it might be worth looking for other options. The better the communication, the happier and more relevant you’ll feel in your job and life.
Bullying and Harassment
Not only is discrimination punishable by law, but bullying and harassment are also punishable, by the very same Equality Act of 2010.
Bullying and harassment involves spreading malicious rumours (see gossipping), regularly undermining a capable worker, picking on an individual and more.
Again, it goes without saying that if you are being bullied in the workplace, then it is not a healthy environment to remain working in. Consider your happiness, your health and your future, and look around for other jobs.
Click here for advice on dealing with bullying and harassment at work
Low Motivation and Job Satisfaction
Typically, the main reason you might have for leaving your job is that, quite simply, you may no longer enjoy your job, and it doesn’t give you the satisfaction you expected from it.
If your lack of motivation is getting you down, then the first step isn’t to immediately quit, rather to try and find some new source of motivation. It might be that you’ve forgotten the enthusiasm you had when you initially took on the job, and it’s just a matter of rediscovering that passion.
Perhaps taking a short break, talking to your superiors and colleagues or even approaching your job from a new mental perspective will give you a fresh start.
If, after you have made a considerable effort to get a fresh new aspect out of your work, you are still unhappy, then that might be the time to consider another option.
Not the Job for You?
Of course, it might just be that you picked the wrong job.
Everybody makes mistakes, and there’s no way of truly knowing whether the job is right for you until you’ve taken the plunge, and of course, there’s no guarantee that it will be the right choice - it’s nobody’s fault.
The only fault would be in believing it to be too late to change your mind, and in mistakenly feeling that the plunge you took is irreversible. If you realise that you plunged into the wrong pool, just climb out again, dry yourself off, and pick another one.
Do Something About It
If you feel that you’ve picked the wrong career, or aren’t happy in your current job for any reason, but aren’t sure what else there is for you to do, have a browse at the trade skill courses we have on offer.
We offer highly professional, highly rewarding and highly skilled training, ideal for those looking to change their career and start out in the trade industry and begin afresh. You never know, there might be a tradesperson in you that you never knew about!
Call us today on 0800 345 7492 and enquire about a course. Our course advisors are always on hand to assist you with any queries you might have.
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