If you are having problems at work, you May be tempted to
quit your job. There are certainly
good reasons
to leave. Some problems, though, can be resolved without quitting. If
you would rather stay at your current place of employment, it may be
worth trying these solutions. Here are some common workplace problems
and possible fixes you should consider before you resort to quitting
your job:
- Your Job is Interfering With Your Family Responsibilities
If you are having trouble achieving balance between your career and your family, you may find yourself stressed out.
You may have even considered taking a hiatus from your career
altogether but don't know if that is the best thing to do. Here are
some alternative work options that can help make your work schedule more bearable. For example, you can see if your boss is amenable to letting you work a flexible schedule.
This may mean working four 10-hour days each week or working
non-typical hours, like 8 to 4 or 10 to 6. Other alternative
arrangements include telecommuting or working part time. Some employers
even allow their workers to job share, which involves sharing a full
time job with another worker.
- Your Commute is Getting to You
Many
of the alternative options mentioned above can help you if your commute
has gotten to be too much. Working a flexible schedule may give you a
break from traveling to work one day a week or may at least take you off
the road during rush hour. Telecommuting can keep you from having to
commute at all or may cut down on the days you have to travel to the
office.
- Your Work Place Relationships Are Bad
If
you don't get along with your boss or one of your coworkers (or any of
your coworkers) your work life can be extremely difficult. Given the
amount of time you spend at work, it can be as hard as a bad marriage.
Before you get a divorce ... um ... quit your job, see if you can improve your relationships
with your boss and coworkers. That sometimes means looking inward and
doing things to change your own behavior. Also consider asking the human
resources department to intervene.
- You Received an Unsatisfactory Performance Review
An poorf performance review may
leave you staggered and wondering if your best bet is to quit your job.
Unless your boss has something else in mind, you don't necessarily need
to leave. The first thing you should do is look at the review with an
open mind. If you conclude that it is fairly accurate, find out what you
can do to improve your performance. This probably requires a serious
talk with your boss. If you think the performance review was unfair, then you should also talk to your boss but wait until you can do it calmly.
- You Are Unhappy About Some New Policies at Work
We
all get stuck in our ways and the familiarity of consistent work
policies can be very comforting. When your boss decides to change things
it can be disconcerting. Often it isn't that the changes are bad, it's
simply the fact that they were made at all. When your boss makes changes
to policies at work, the best thing you can do is give yourself some
time to get used to them. Take a few weeks to figure out whether your
unhappiness stems from your resistance to change or if you truly feel
the new policies are bad for the company. If after a while you come to
the conclusion that the changes are truly not working well, turn your negativity into
something positive. Set up a meeting with your boss. Be prepared to
present a clear rationale along with suggestions for improvement.
