“When enough is enough”
Dear Andrea:
I have worked for our company 11 years. The last five years working conditions have gotten worse. We’re expected to deal with master-servant status where bosses can say or do anything they please. Honesty, efficiency, dependability, loyalty mean nothing. Others feel the same. Recently I was humiliated in front of another employee and protested. I will receive no raise based on false implications. People say, “Why don’t you find a job where you’ll be appreciated?” It’s not that simple. I’d enjoy my job if it weren’t for the atmosphere created by management. Please let me know if you have solutions. I don’t want to walk away.
–D.S. in Ohio
Dear D.S.:
Take out a piece of paper and pen and write:
1. What I like about my job.
Is it the functions you perform? If so, what are they? Is it the people you work with (obviously, other than management.) Is it the type of industry you’re in? The hours you work? Get specific.
2. What I dislike about my job.
Is it all related to management? Be honest. Whether it is or not, you need to accept two things: Your values clash with theirs. You’re not going to change management.
Go back to your list of what you like about your job. Add to it the kind of management you do want to work for. Describe their values, how they treat you and show their appreciation. Add anything else you want to be different.
Now, how would you like to have a job like that? Of course it may not be simple to find. It’s easier to stay where you are, complain and hope things will change. But if you feel you’ve done what you can to improve your present situation and things just get worse, what are you waiting for?
You also need to redefine how you see your situation. Instead of “walking away,” look at this as going after what you want.
Stop being a glutton for punishment. Examine your motives for staying so long in a bad situation. Eleven years is too long to be miserable.
