What Should You Do If You Aren't Satisfied At Work?

1. Task Variety

We all understand just how difficult it can be to stay motivated and interested when carrying out repetitive and boring tasks. You struggle to maintain your focus as your mind drifts off to more exciting things.

The level of variety at your place of work has a significant impact on how satisfied you are likely to be and the more variety your job offers, the higher your chances of actually sticking around.

If your job has lost its shine recently, consider speaking to your superiors about the possibility of taking on new projects or helping out your colleagues to mix things up.

2. Relationships with Colleagues

Your colleagues become more like your extended family than just co-workers considering the amount of time you spend at work. You probably even know somebody that has a work wide and the kind of relationship they enjoy.

Since you spend a lot of your valuable time with colleagues, it is hardly surprising then that your relationship with colleagues can play a big role in job satisfaction. The better your workplace relationships are, the happier you are likely to be.

Interestingly, studies reveal that this correlation is usually much stronger when it comes to relationships with colleagues compared to relationships with superiors.

While you would probably be forgiven for wanting to rush home after putting in hours at your place of work, you can definitely enjoy some benefits by spending time with your colleagues outside of work.

You should make it a point to go out for dinner or the occasional drink after work. While it might be hard depending on your personal commitments, studies reveal that it can help improve how you feel about your job and general wellbeing.

3. Working Conditions

One of the key considerations when determining whether or not a job is right for us is always the working conditions. It includes the available facilities, office environment, the job location, and even the organization culture.

You obviously don’t want to spend 5 days every week in a dark, dingy and uninspiring space, away from civilization in an office without windows. It is why companies in amazing locations with amazing offices tend to be attractive to us since research has shown the importance of the environment.

Company culture is unsurprisingly also important with people desiring fairness and open communication with good reputation also having a positive impact on job satisfaction level according to research.

If your office space isn’t the best, try taking time to step outside during your workday even for five minutes. The fresh air will boost your energy levels and time spent away from the desk will help clear your mind so that you can focus better. If everything else fails, find a colleague with a better desk location and recommend a move to mix things up a bit.

4. Workload

It can be great to be busy, with time flying by, and before you know it you are at the end of the day. Conversely, being overworked, or at the very least feeling overworked is a completely different feeling.

A high workload means different things to different people, but no matter how your workload might appear to another person, if you perceive that you have far more work than you can manage and thus start feeling under extreme pressure as a result, you are less likely to be satisfied with your job.

People have increasingly started to value balance since the benefits have been highlighted, with the effects of work-related stress being discussed more widely.

If you have a workload you consider too high that’s translating to elevated stress levels, speak to the Clarity clinic for help with managing stress.

5. Autonomy Level

If you have ever had a micromanager, then you are probably all too familiar with what it feels like to be constantly under scrutiny and supervision, being given very little opportunity to either do things your way or to simply make decisions.

According to the Self Determination Theory, along with relatedness and competence, tasks and situations involving some degree of autonomy not only get the best out of people with regards to performance, but they also tend to be more engaging thus making them more motivated to actually do them.

Working in an organization where you have the autonomy to decide how you should do your job, or at least some elements of it along with being able to make decisions have been found to have a high positive impact with regards to job satisfaction. After all, people want to be seen as trustworthy, capable, and competent.

If the only decisions that you make at your place of work are about your mid-morning beverage, you should consider being honest with your superiors. Think about some of the other smaller areas where you could enjoy more autonomy and what the benefits are likely to be, then block out that time for a much-needed meeting.

The 5 factors discussed here are just some of the many that can influence your job satisfaction. Keep in mind, however, that there are many more. In a future post, you will find out what the other remaining key factors are as well as what they mean for you and job satisfaction along with career happiness.