How happy are you at work, out of 10?
Hello!
Ask someone how happy they are in their job out of 10, and you'll usually get an answer in about a second.
Ask them why exactly they chose that number, and things get vague fast: "It's a 6 because I quite like it but I'm not sure it's for the long term."
I've supported thousands of professionals with making career moves that genuinely excite them and, over the years, have found that excitement about your job and career is usually driven by a combination of the following 10 dimensions:
1/ Work-life fit – how well are you able to combine work with friends, family and the rest of your life?
2/ Compensation – do you feel fairly rewarded for what you put in?
3/ Progression potential – is there a credible path upwards (or onwards) from where you sit today?
4/ Personal impact – can you see the difference your work actually makes?
5/ Values fit – does what the organisation stands for sit comfortably with you?
6/ Strengths fit – does the role play to what you're genuinely best at?
7/ Interests fit – would you care about the subject matter even if it weren't your job?
8/ Learning & development – are you still getting better, or coasting on what you already know?
9/ Pride in your work – would you happily tell a stranger what you do and who for?
10/ Colleagues – do the people around you give you energy or drain it?
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Importantly, I'm not saying that all these dimensions are equally important – you'll probably find that you care enormously about some of the above and not at all about others. Moreover, the amount you care about each dimension will change over time – shifting with your overall priorities in life.
So whenever we coach someone, we give them a simple scorecard that allows them to see their priorities and how their (current or last) role stacks up against them – it's linked below in case you're keen to try it out.
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More often than not, it's an eye-opening experience. I've worked with people who were ready to hand in their notice, only to discover their unhappiness was driven by a single dimension.
I remember one person who thought they hated their job. It turned out they loved their job but hated working with two colleagues on their team, who completely drained their energy. For another, they had their resignation letter drafted because they couldn't cope with a 5-day-per-week role with travel and a young family. I encouraged them to ask about a new, 70% FTE role and their employer made it happen.
That's where the second step of the exercise comes in – once you know where the 1-2 biggest gaps are, you think about what you could do to address them. In some cases, the only viable solution might be to go somewhere else but, more often than not, you can significantly improve your working life simply by narrowing down what it is that bothers you and working out how to address it within your role.
Give it a go – link below!
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All the best,
Rich & the OUB team
