You don't have to resign - consider a redesign of your work life

Why now?

Phrases like ‘The Great Resignation’ or ‘The Great Rethink’ have become commonplace since Covid so comprehensively disrupted traditional ways of working. The option to work from home has offered many people the opportunity to understand what a fruitful work environment means to them. Some love the flexibility and convenience of no commute and fewer distractions, while others have missed the structure and face-to-face encounters work places offer. There are as many ways of viewing the changes as there are individuals living through them.

But the thinking hasn’t stopped there. As the anxiety and, let’s be honest, the fear the pandemic brought into our lives has coloured our consciousness, the big questions have also surfaced:

• What really matters to me?

• Is my work actually worthwhile?

While it’s not always easy to find answers to questions like these, they have been insistent. And as industries have disappeared or reshaped themselves, there have also been big changes in patterns of employment. 

What role does a Toxic Work Culture play in driving career change?

In the US for example, research carried out by Dr Donald Sull & Charlie Sull discovered that 24 million people resigned from their work in 2021. In their research entitled: How Toxic Work Cultures are driving the Great Resignation, they listed reasons for these changes including:

job insecurity; hard work not recognized while slacking tolerated; and constant internal re-organisations.

As the title of their work makes clear, these researchers were particularly interested in the role toxic cultures played in this shift. I listened to their discussion with Brené Brown on her Dare to Lead podcast where they revealed that their research identified five features of a toxic work culture:

1. Non-inclusivity - inequity and undermining the value of belonging

2. Disrespectful - contempt and tendency to de-humanise

3. Unethical – lack of integrity, dishonesty

4. Cut throat – undermining each other

5. Abusive managers

Together, these undermine fundamental individual needs, lead to significant personal problems in mental and physical health, and high rates of attrition.

To tackle these toxic elements of organizational culture, the authors argue that change has to come from the top, otherwise there is a clear excuse to opt out. Leaders need to create a culture of psychological safety, trust and respect - and model it daily in their behavior, thinking, and actions.

During their discussion, Brené Brown and her guests also explored their forthcoming research that suggests 4 actions managers can take in the short term to reduce attrition:

·      Provide opportunities for lateral job moves for employees to meet individual

need for growth and learning

·      Offer remote job options

·      Sponsor social events to provide connective tissue, allowing employees to

feel heard and seen

·      Provide predictable work schedules

What do YOU really need to thrive at work?

Work culture impacts everyone who works in an organization, but it may not be the most significant factor that leads to a desire for career change. So if you’re trying to get to the bottom of what’s driving your dissatisfaction at work, it’s important to know what you REALLY want and need for a fulfilling career.

As a starting point, here are 5 questions about your current work:

• What’s wrong?

• What’s right?

• What’s missing?

• Can you be yourself at work?

• What are you proud of about your work?

I suggest you take each of these questions separately and give them space. Try free writing, or bullet journaling to gather your initial thoughts, then walk away and see what continues to come up when you’re not consciously thinking about the question.

As you focus on each, you might start to see words and ideas repeating themselves. If words like autonomy, collaboration, flexibility, trust, integrity come up more than once, this shows how important that value is to you, and perhaps how it’s being undermined at present.

Draw out these recurring themes and try to put into words what each means to you, where it can be expressed at work, and where it’s clearly limited or compromised. Also think about where else this value finds expression in your life and times when you’ve expressed it fully.

If you’d like to understand what this information tells you about next steps, take a look at my Values Discovery service or get in touch for an informal chat.

Whatever you discover, the fact is that your options are many. You don’t have to resign – in fact it could be much smarter to consider how you can redesign your current role to meet your needs.

Redesign – knowing WHY

But how do you know what needs redesigning?

Examining your answers to ‘What’s not working’ and ‘What’s missing’ could be a useful starting point.

Or you could go back to the foundations – what YOU actually need at this time in your life. The chances are that those things are very different from when you first launched your career.

When you know WHY you need some changes, clarity grows and motivation builds. There are 3 vital components to understanding your WHY:

1. Your values – what really matters to you?

When you understand your highest values, you can start building activities into your life that honour each of them. If family is your priority for example, how can you tweak your work to give them the time you want to?

You will also see – as plain as day – those times when your values are compromised. If integrity is crucial to you, when is that values in conflict with what you do at work?

When your values are brought into focus and you begin using them to make daily choices, you start to feel more at ease. You are acting authentically.

2. Your purpose – what gives your life and work meaning?

It takes longer to understand your purpose – sometimes a lifetime. One place to start thinking about this is by considering your contribution in different aspects of your life and the kind of impact you have in each. What do people appreciate you for?

You could also look back over your career and ask WHY you made each move. It’s quite possible that some of those moves were driven by values or a desire for more meaningful work. I’ve developed a worksheet to help with this – request it here: Joining the Dots in my Career Transitions.

3. Your strengths

Understanding your unique blend of strengths (as described in this article) provides you with the clarity and confidence to act. But how will you choose to use these strengths? 

This may require a pause to reflect on the word ‘choose’. Many of us stumbled into a career many years ago and have developed professional skills which we use daily. These may be an important part of your strengths mix, but don’t forget to recognize emotional intelligence and mindsets that can also be considered as strengths.

Then consider which of these strengths you really enjoy using, skills that take you to a state of flow, and that leave you energized and fulfilled. 

How and where can you best deploy these strengths to better align with your values and express your purpose? This is a direction towards a work life where you can thrive.

Knowing WHY a new direction is perfect for you opens up the possibility of change, but what form might these shifts take?

Redesign – knowing WHAT

A new career direction to honour your WHY needn’t mean a complete career change. If you’re less inclined to contemplate huge changes, there are options for you too.

1. Job crafting – this often means an internal move, possibly laterally, in order to access opportunities to use your strengths or explore an interest. This is an interesting way of exploring what a new direction can offer and gives you telling experience to work with. It can be a stepping-stone to something better.

Or simply asking for a rebalance of your responsibilities to include projects that match your strengths and interests could bring you a newfound energy and motivation.

2. Change organization for a culture that is a better fit – perhaps you already have your dream organization in mind, but if not, some local research will help you find what you’re looking for. Speaking to existing contacts or accessing others through your network or platforms like LinkedIn will help check this option out.

3. Career change – a new direction to express values, deploy favourite skills and strengths, and provide greater purpose. So, a completely new career! This may look daunting but once you know WHY this is right for you and that the shift is practical, you’ll be able to take one step at a time. 

If you’d like support and guidance, or a process that allows you to discover and make an informed choice for your new career, take a look at my Quickstep Career Change Programme, available as a coaching programme or self-study edition.

4. Portfolio career – this refers to two or more income strands that meet a variety of fulfillment needs. This is an option that is becoming more popular, with many recognizing they have skills and interests in more than one field. Adding a new string to your existing professional bow is a common way of developing a portfolio career – but with all these suggestions, knowing WHY each strand matters is vital to making a successful transition.

So this desire for more doesn’t have to be a desperate leap from a sinking ship, in fact it’s better if your move is calm, well informed and practical.

Make it a positive choice to redesign your working life with your WHY at its beating heart.

If you’d like any help with gaining clarity to make a positive move, just contact me below to set up a free 30-minute career chat. That much needed change need not be the mammoth task you imagine!