Is It Time To Leave Your Job?

Is It Time To Leave Your Job?

It goes without saying that “we’ve all been there” at one time or another. You find that there is more negativity in your day than anything else.  You hate getting up in the morning…and find more than enough reasons to hit that snooze alarm.  Energy?  Enthusiasm?  You can’t seem to find either as you fight your way to get into the office.  Coffee…there is the reason that you are there. What you need to ask yourself, is why do I feel this way?  Have I hit a glass ceiling?  Am I no longer growing in my career?  Is my new boss stifling my ability to “do”?  What stumbling block am I dealing with? …and can it be fixed?

Many conclude that the best option is to look for a new job.  But have you done all that you can to salvage the career that you have been building?  First thing you need to do is pinpoint the problem.  There are good reasons and bad reasons for changing jobs.

SIGNS THAT IT IS TIME TO MOVE ON:

1)    You are no longer having "fun".

Everyone has good days and bad days.  But when the bad days outnumber the good ones for months…it is time to move on. 

2)    Your company is struggling financially.

If you are hearing of impending layoffs and financial troubles, it makes sense to take a look around.  Job searches can take a long time…and it is easier to find a new job when you are currently employed.

3)    Your career goals cannot be met.

If there is no upward mobility and your career path is questionable, it is time to move on.  Some things cannot be changed.  For example, if your wish is to move into a management role, and you are working for a small family owned company, where you know this is not possible, then you owe it to yourself to consider looking for another job.

4)    You are not performing to the best of your ability.

We all have bad days.  But when days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, you may be burnt out.  If you are under-challenged…or (gasp!) overworked, and you see no way to change this, it is time to update that resume.

Certainly these are not the only reasons to consider making a career change.  My point is that you need to get to the source of the problem and whether or not it is fixable.  Then you need to determine your course of action. 

Why Traditional Salary Ranges May Not Be Relevant in Today's Economy

Why Traditional Salary Ranges May Not Be Relevant in Today's Economy
by:  Ann Bares on January 23, 2013, 10:15 AM

Our salary ranges are not serving us as well as they once may have.

We know it. Unhappily, most employees know it, too.

My Compensation Cafe colleague Margaret O'Hanlon called attention to this reality last week in her post Do You Know What Your Salary Ranges Mean?

Margaret notes that the traditional salary range model, which communicates the essence of the deal we offer employees, no longer delivers on its purported promises.

This is tough to deny and not hard to understand. The salary range architecture most organizations use today gained much of its popularity in a period when base pay was moving at a much faster pace (e.g., 8-10 percent annually in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s compared to the tepid 3 percent of today).

The key issue about salary ranges

But what I found particularly interesting was the debate that popped up in the comment stream to Margaret’s post. At its essence, as I read it, the central question raised was this:

Do – should – salary ranges still reflect the cornerstone of the employment deal in that they outline and communicate the rules for setting and growing base pay?

OR

Are they an antiquated theoretical construct whose time has come and gone, an idea no longer in step with the realities of the real world?

My thoughts? Yes … and yes.

I’ve had the chance to work with many organizations who don’t have a formal salary structure, either smaller organizations yet to put in place any pay rules and policies, or, more established businesses who have (at some point) ditched their structures in an attempt to foster more “flexibility.” What I’ve found, more times than not, is that salary decisions in these places are all over the map, with little rhyme or reason, and often made in response to pressure (employee complaints or implicit/explicit threats of leaving).

And everyone knows it. Especially the employees.

Our salary management system may be out of step

With salary dollars being in scarce supply today and likely for the foreseeable future, having a salary structure in place ensures that there is a “median” and a set of guard rails to prevent pay decisions from falling too far off the road. And perhaps more importantly, and to Margaret’s point, having a salary structure in place typically gives employees at least a minimal amount of assurance that there are rules which are followed and that salary decisions aren’t based entirely on whim, favoritism or discrimination.

And yet, clearly, our long-held model of base salary management is falling out of step with business and economic reality.

Where do we go from here? I don’t believe that ditching structure entirely is an answer.

Broadbanding has taught us that less is not necessarily more (or is it that bigger isn’t necessarily better?). Tighter salary budgets, if that is our longer-term reality, might call for tighter ranges,  but will these fly in today’s fast-paced and fluid reality?

Do we move toward a newfangled mash-up of pay steps and ranges? Does this issue portend the long-awaited, often-touted death of the job and the corresponding advent of person-based pay?

What are you seeing, and what’s your take?

This was originally published on Ann Bares’ Compensation Force Blog

Ann Bares is the Managing Partner of Altura Consulting Group.  She has over 20 years of experience consulting in compensation and performance management and has worked with a variety of organizations in auditing, designing and implementing executive compensation plans, base salary structures, variable and incentive compensation programs, sales compensation programs, and performance management systems. Her clients have included public and privately held businesses, both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, early stage entrepreneurial organizations and larger established companies. Ann also teaches at the University of Minnesota and Concordia University. 

Is It Time To Leave Your Job?

Is It Time To Leave Your Job?

It goes without saying that “we’ve all been there” at one time or another. You find that there is more negativity in your day than anything else.  You hate getting up in the morning…and find more than enough reasons to hit that snooze alarm.  Energy?  Enthusiasm?  You can’t seem to find either as you fight your way to get into the office.  Coffee…there is the reason that you are there. What you need to ask yourself, is why do I feel this way?  Have I hit a glass ceiling?  Am I no longer growing in my career?  Is my new boss stifling my ability to “do”?  What stumbling block am I dealing with? …and can it be fixed?

Many conclude that the best option is to look for a new job.  But have you done all that you can to salvage the career that you have been building?  First thing you need to do is pinpoint the problem.  There are good reasons and bad reasons for changing jobs.

Signs that it is time to move on:

1)    You are no longer having "fun".

Everyone has good days and bad days.  But when the bad days outnumber the good ones for months…it is time to move on. 

2)    Your company is struggling financially.

If you are hearing of impending layoffs and financial troubles, it makes sense to take a look around.  Job searches can take a long time…and it is easier to find a new job when you are currently employed.

3)    Your career goals cannot be met.

If there is no upward mobility and your career path is questionable, it is time to move on.  Some things cannot be changed.  For example, if your wish is to move into a management role, and you are working for a small family owned company, where you know this is not possible, then you owe it to yourself to consider looking for another job.

4)    You are not performing to the best of your ability.

We all have bad days.  But when days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, you may be burnt out.  If you are under-challenged…or (gasp!) overworked, and you see no way to change this, it is time to update that resume.

Certainly these are not the only reasons to consider making a career change.  My point is that you need to get to the source of the problem and whether or not it is fixable.  Then you need to determine your course of action.