This last couple of weeks were a little tough on Hubby. What I've always known, and appreciated, about him, is his pretty impossibly high standards. He operates by them and expects others to do the same. In particular, he values honesty, integrity, good work ethic, and accountability. Of course he is also very human and can be counted on to be empathetic and flexible and an all round good guy. Yes I know I'm biased, but I can confidently state the majority of people who know him would say the same. Sometimes he's an idealist and I try to ground him in the idea that corporate america is just not the place to find pure inspiration and perfect operation. First of all, it's populated by humans...and second, it is an inherently tension-rich environmental structure.
I won't get into the details here as it isn't my story to tell, but it raised the question in my mind, how do I define job satisfaction?
Unlike Hubby - who has worked at 7 different places in the past 20 years, I have been at 2.001. One for less than a year, the other for over 19...the .001 refers to a job I held for 2 weeks. I definitely experienced my share of job DISsatisfaction at the first two jobs, but the last one always seems to keep coming up positive on the balance sheet.
I guess that is the clue - that there is a balance sheet. There are days - many in fact - that I wonder what the hell I'm doing. But I truly don't dread getting up in the morning and going to work. And I truly don't groan every time my phone rings or blackberry buzzes. And I definitely appreciate the paycheck and benefits I receive. Most of all though, is I enjoy the people I work with, and mostly, for. And therein, I think, is the key.
My cousin, also having a tough time at work these days, just told me of a quote she heard once in a Human Resources seminar, "People don't leave companies, they leave bosses." While that may seem simplistic and there are certainly more reasons than toxic boss relationships that move people from company to company, I see that having a toxic boss is definitely a reason to leave.
But what I can ALSO say, without equivocation is: Having good people around you - at all levels - is definitely a reason to stay.
4 comments:
I agree. I loved my last job. Even when a recent hire turned out to be difficult I loved my job. When she began to undermine me and cause problems, my boss didn't do anything to support me - I had to go.
That's a long time to be satisfied with your job--I'm sure a lot of it has to do with your attitude.
It's very much to do with your boss, I agree with your cousin. I also feel quite strongly that having great colleagues can counter a crappy boss pretty efficiently. But only for a while. Then somebody has to go, and it's not always the boss, is it?
thas what keeps me happy plus the 5 minute commute!
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