Self-Helpless: True Tales of a Working Girl: Your Knee-Jerk Reaction Might Be Kicking You

6/24/2006

Your Knee-Jerk Reaction Might Be Kicking You

I just read this article on careerbuilder.com called “When You Love Your Job But Hate Your Boss”.

In it, it says that a recent Gallup poll of 1 million workers revealed that the most common reason employees leave a company relates to a stressful or problematic relationship with their immediate supervisors. No real surprise there, right?

(On a sidebar, most supervisors believe that employees leave because they don’t see themselves as adequately paid for their positions… not because it has anything to do with them… COME ON FOLKS!)

So anyway, this article goes on to say that MANY people that leave their job due to this type of situation end up REGRETTING their decision. Now, if you read the article it gets into the “things to do if you don’t want to leave your job”.

In my opinion, the most important thing to do is take a step back and really look at your situation. What’s really going on at the office? Everyone has rough times at work. There’s always times where you and the boss clash, or a problem comes up with a project, or a coworker or whatever, who knows. For the most part, people know when the job is no longer redeemable. And frankly, I can’t think of ONE person who regretted leaving their job because of a bad boss. Every person I know that left for that reason (and sadly, that’s a lot of people) is much better off in their new job.

The article needs to stress that it’s the knee-jerk reaction to quit the job that you should avoid. It would be silly to up an

d quit your job over one disagreement. If it’s possible, try other routes around the boss. Show how good you are to the boss’s boss and the company. This could help you. It might not, but if you like the job, you owe it to yourself to give it that shot.

Don’t do what Albert Breneman did in Hitch to score points with a woman. For those of you who didn't see it, he quit abruptly during a board meeting when his boss argued with him to stay in line. Funny movie, but don’t do that in real life. Remember that your actions have consequences.

# posted by The Pied Piper @ 8:43 PM

Comments:

That's my point - you didn't quit over one incident. You quit because this was a permanent condition. And you're happier because of your decision. Nothing was going to change for you there.

# posted by

The Pied Piper : 11:25 AM

We get questions on this topic too from time to time. We agree that tought times happen, and some can be worked out but its also good to look at the signs and see if it is really just time to leave your job and move on to greener pastures. Sometimes things can't be worked out with vastly different personalities or work styles.

See more on this topic and others at CareerBuilder Work Life Job Blog: http://www.careerbuilder.typepad.com

# posted by