I often wonder about what causes a person to quit his/her job. Occasionally, when the curiousity bug bites me, I will post a question to one of those frequent job hoppers. "So, what's your motivation for switching companies every three years?"
The young ones answer, "Of course it's because of salary increment! Do you think I'd job hop if they paid me well?"
Seasoned professionals would sip coffee, give my question a serious thought and reply, "Well, it's to enhance my technical skills. Had I stayed on, my learning curve would have been flat. Sometimes, you need to venture out to test your capabilities."
Yet, if I ask those who have worked in the same company for more than a decade, their main reason for staying would be, "This company provides excellent benefits to its employees. So, why should I quit?"
Others, who are more career minded, would say, "Well, I visualized my future growth in this company. I found that I could explore my skills and develop my potential. It grooms up young employees to be future leaders. So, I stayed. Without realizing it, this is my 30th year with the company!"
Some, stay on because they dislike taking risks. "What if I quit, and I dislike the new job? What if I discover the new job is very demanding and I don't have what it takes? What if I am fired after just three months of taking up the job? To whom shall I turn to?"
When the going gets tough, I have a strong urge to quit. Yet, I haven't done so because I find that there are very few organizations who value ethics such as integrity and open communication, and emphasizes it as their core values. In most organizations, you'll find that one often has to compromise their values and principles to answer to the higher management.
One of the veterans advised, "Before you quit, you must ask yourself this question: 'Are you quitting because of your boss or your company?"
"What's the difference?" I asked. At this moment, boss is equivalent to the company.
"Well," the veteran explains patiently. "If you're quitting because of your boss, the risk that you're taking is not worth it. How sure are you that in your new company, you won't have an equally bad or maybe even worse boss? Don't you think that you should learn how to handle and face your present situation instead of running away? If you had a different or 'better' boss, would you quit? If you're quitting because of the organization, then it's probably because they provide less insurance coverage, no retirement benefits, no career development, no future growth, etc. Oooh.. my dear, " she croons. "Trust me. It makes a huge difference."
A friend advises, "It's very important to work in an environment surrounded by positive people. If you've found it, you've hit the jackpot!"
As we climb up the career ladder, we reach a point where we realize that money is not everything. Other factors that we should weigh include job description, job satisfaction, benefits, vision and employee development programmes.
Hence, don't quit just because you feel like it, or think it's time. Sleep on it. Give it some thought before making a hasty decision. As a wise person once said, "Very often, you have to respect a person's position, even if you dislike the person."
Recently, somebody asked me this, "Think about it. If you've been in a company for more than ten years, and all you'll ever be, is an engineer, do you think that, is an accomplishment? Don't you think that by the time you're 30 or 35, you should be a manager or a specialist reservoir engineer?"
The question reminded me of this famous prose, "Fame or Fortune?"
Is that all we're after? Fame? Fortune? When we talk about career progression, is it the money that we're after? or the title? Does it matter? Why?
There's something else that we ought to be seeking after.
Pause for a minute.
Step back, look at the bigger picture and carve your future.
That, is what I am going to do today.
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