Changes in the workplace triggered many of the challenges.  Businesses closing or transforming from an ‘in the office’ environment to a remote one had a domino affect in terms of the impact felt in other areas of our lives.  And the strong desire to return to a way of living that we recognize and want has had many people looking to change their job or field of work to reclaim control.  But is it?  And … is this the right time to make that decision?

I once worked with a consultant who introduced the concept of each person’s having an internal stress ‘bank’ account.  As we went along living our full lives, we continued to make deposits into that account creating a credit balance.  As things arose in our lives that created a degree of concern or challenge, we could dip into the account and withdraw some ‘coins’ to help us weather the stress of the moment.  What I also learned is that there are some events that are huge and accordingly, create major stress and require major withdrawals.  Things like job changes … relocating a residence … working remotely … marriage/divorce … having to contend with children at home being home schooled or zooming for classes … all create challenges.  Because they represent newness, and we are not experienced in how to best handle a situation we dip into our stress account big-time. 

Yet here is the catch.  Once we deplete our personal credit account, we tend to make decisions that are not in our best interest.  A depleted stress account can allow us to make decisions that, in fact, are NOT in our best interest.  As an example, … we might feel the best way to reach something on the edge of our roof is to put a box inside of our child’s wagon to serve as our ‘ladder’.  The potential of falling and causing major injury is a real possibility and it is the depleted stress account that contributes to the wagon/box approach looking like a good decision.

HOW TO DETERMINE THAT JOB CHANGE IS RIGHT FOR YOU

So here is my point.  Changing jobs while still reeling from the impact of that past 1 ½+ years may not be the best time because there is little doubt that our stress accounts have been taxed greatly.  Still, even contemplating a job change has several things for us to consider before taking the leap. Here are some of the key ones:

• Get very specific about what in your current job is not working

  

  • Are these things that will go away once we are again living in a COVID controlled environment?
  • Is your dissatisfaction something that has been there pre-2020 and you now want to make a change because you can?
  • Do you know that you need to work in an office environment full-time to be happy and productive and must find something that will allow this?
    
    
• What about your current career is not satisfying?
  • Is it the nature of the work you are doing that needs to change?
  • Do you find yourself feeling burned out and are open to making a major switch in terms of the type of work you do?
  • Is this the time to further your education to master new skills that will enable you to pursue your new and desired path?
    
    
• Your role as a manger requires enhanced efforts, trust and sensitivities that you consider unproductive
  • Emotional Intelligence (EI) has become a big factor in helping employees/team members adapt to the imposed changes of the recent past. This is not you!
  • You believe you need to ‘see’ your team and have actual access to them for you to know that the needed work is being done. Remote doesn’t cut it.

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  Evaluating the balance between job satisfaction and compensation 
  • Money isn’t everything becomes front and center as we realize we are not in the right job … for us.
  • Does the prospect of working in an area that generates true excitement override the concern for earning the same amount or more money as the current job?
  • Do you find yourself bored and looking forward to the weekend … by Tuesday?
    
    
• Your job dissatisfaction is having an impact on your personal life outside of work
  • Do you find that you are carrying the unhappiness with the job over into areas of your life that are not job related?
  • Is this not allowing you to be present to others and situations when not at work?

If considering these things, you realize that a job or career change is what is best for you, I still suggest that doing this now … today … may not be your ideal time to do so.  Identifying that a change is something you are open to or even desirous of doing is a good step 1.  Step 2 is to determine that now is the best time for you to make the change.  That you know there are opportunities available now is one determination.  And that you know that you have the credit in your stress account to be able to handle the move without any inclination to use the wagon/box approach to reaching a roof is a good … and healthy … determination.  Timing IS everything isn’t it?
Mike Dorman

This occurs at all levels of a company including senior management, department heads, project leaders and even same-level co-workers.  The fact that there are reasons that some tend to impose blame on others doesn’t make it any easier nor does it add anything positive to the job.  Realistically, it appears that many tolerate this because they like the organization. Or, they recognize the opportunities they have to do something they enjoy. Maybe they lack the self-confidence to stand up for themselves.  Any of these reasons evidently override the unpleasant experiences of viewing the bus from the underside.

What sent the game of ‘throw someone under the bus’ on hiatus?

Here is the interesting twist in this situation.  Since COVID-19 became a real and widespread reality, for 15 months the arches pertaining to being thrown under the bus greatly diminished.  During these months there have been many issues that have taken precedent and demanded our focus.  Some of these include:

• First and foremost was the concern of whether the employing company would be able to stay in business during this time. Thus, would I have a job.
  
  

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  The challenge of working remotely from home … a home now bursting with children attending school … remotely. A partner also needing to work from home.  The need to create workspace that would provide the needed focus and atmosphere to allow one to be productive.
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• The need for access to all the tools and technology that had been available at the office and that one now needed to successfully be productive at home.

• Adapting to working in a solitary environment that removed actual interface with others and learning to find zoom an acceptable replacement.

• Learning how to juggle the added responsibilities of being home with others present and still being productive in terms of fulfilling the expectations of the job.

None of these issues came with overnight solutions.  As a result, they became front burner focuses as we all tried to navigate a road on which we had no experience.  For 15 months we longed for the old normal when life would return to what we knew and accepted.  And finally, about a month ago, the world began to return to routines we knew.  Restrictions were lifted in many states and cities.  Thus, companies relaxed their rules and returning to the office at least part-time became a real possibility. 

Our choices emerging into OUR new normal

Now, once again, increased searches pertaining to one being thrown under that bus are on the rise. I am so curious.

My question is simple … why?  Is it possible that people came to accept this as being part of the job?  If COVID taught us anything it is that we have the ability to be thrown into a new situation and left without choice, can adapt.  What hopefully we have learned is that we get to redesign the evolving ‘normal’ keeping what things we learned that improved our worlds and reigniting those aspects of our lives that we missed and want back.  I doubt that getting hit by a bus is one of these.

In recent weeks there has been much written about the challenges of finding people to fill the many and increasing job openings. To me, this represents a tremendous opportunity to reassess our jobs related to our enthusiasm for both the work and the environment. To the extent that we see a bus waiting for us, isn’t this an ideal time to consider making a change rather than returning to this toxic situation?  Here are some reasons that some (perhaps known as backstabbers) tend to put others under the bus.

• They are highly ambitious, but politically unsophisticated. They think making others look small is the fastest path to looking big.
  
  
• They want to eliminate competition and believe that publicly challenging their target’s integrity or expertise is a way to make that person vulnerable professionally.

• Their professional qualifications and ability to deliver are in question, so they feel a need to deflect demands for accountability by calling into question the track records of others.

• They are highly insecure and want to diminish the status of those who appear to be more professionally successful.

What we learned is that although there is often no obvious reason for someone finding themselves under the bus, the individual who resorts to doing this has clear motivations to impact how they are viewed and the potential benefits that they believe they will derive as a result.

I get that pre-COVID, there was a tendency on the part of many to tolerate and accept the behavior of the backstabber as ‘part of the job’.  And today, what we have experienced and learned is that we can adapt and change as and when demanded of us.  Emerging from this pandemic carries with it opportunities.  For the employee and with so many organizations looking for qualified help there is the potential of working in an environment that doesn’t tolerate such negative behaviors.  For the company, there is the chance to make the bus throwers history and avoid losing valuable talent that attributes to its success.  What we now realize more than ever is that we do not need to be stuck in this negative aspect of the old normal.  Great choices on all fronts and they are ours to make.  Is this worth some consideration?
Mike Dorman