What defines job motivation?:
- Employee motivation is the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that an employee brings to their position and overall company. There are many intrinsic and extrinsic motivators when it comes to work, and these can include mental health, coworkers, company culture, work environment, career development paths, and opportunities for growth. What do you think of when you consider what motivates you at your current job? What do you believe stands in the way of you being fulfilled at your job, and how do you think your motivation will change if those obstacles were removed? Below are some examples of obstacles to career fulfillment:
Knowing when you have stopped growing in your current position/career:
- One telltale sign of having outgrown your current position or career is boredom: Chronic boredom, while not always the case, causes a lack of creativity and passion at work, leading to reduced productivity and increased anxiety. If you feel you’re not being challenged enough or at all, you may have outgrown your job. Another sign is if you’re not moving towards bigger career goals: think about your short-term and long-term goals: have your short-term goals been challenging enough? Do you see a future at this company in which you can achieve bigger goals and get more out of projects? If you feel you are “coasting” along, completing tasks mindlessly without much effort and consistently flying under the radar, you are not energized enough and the current position you’re in isn’t providing enough groundwork for focus and success. If you feel as if you haven’t been able to learn much from your recent projects, there is no room to grow. Learning gives employees the chance to implement new skills and grow with the organization.
Knowing when you’re being over-utilized/overworked at your job:
- If you are being overworked, you may have trouble disconnecting. You have little awareness of a work-life balance and with the usage of technology, you never really leave your work “at your job”- it follows you home, constantly stimulating you with texts and emails. You may feel as if you are always behind in your work and need to catch up- however, you are putting so much effort into your job that you are falling behind in all other aspects of your life (physical health, mental health, socialization). You may experience a decline in physical and mental health, such as persistent exhaustion, anxiety, depression, weight gain or loss, and insomnia. You may feel distant from friends and family, because you are isolated by spending more time doing work and at your office. This can cause you to feel overwhelmed and lonely. You may have also lost your passion as a result of being overworked- aspects of work that you once enjoyed and had no trouble doing now take all the effort possible to complete and can no longer fathom doing happily. There is no longer space for your own creativity.
Signs that you are underperforming at your job:
- Addressing underperformance, whether it be by the employee themselves or an employer, can be difficult, and if not talked about, can have an overall negative implication on general workplace productivity. Before resorting to first solely blaming an employee for underperforming, it is important to identify the reasons why they may not be meeting certain expectations and goals. Firstly, the responsibilities assigned to them may be somewhat out of their qualifications and skillset, and while they may be trying to perform as best as they can, they are unable to deliver the result that a person better qualified in the area can. There may also be a lack of training and poor communication: without guidance and transparency, projects can quickly go from being understandable to leaving one feeling completely helpless. Internal factors may also present as low motivation and other personal issues; an employee’s work-life balance can easily be disrupted when triggering life events and mental health issues get in the way. Some evident indicators of underperformance at jobs include missed deadlines, not working well with or refusing to participate in a team, absenteeism, poor attitude, reduced quality of work, and conflict issues when it comes to coworkers and the company’s culture. Communication can be heavily effective when it comes to combating underperformance: employers who are able to have a patient conversation with employees and who actively listening to their employee’s concerns are more likely to be able to reroute their employee’s performance levels. Setting adjusted goals may be another solution: employers can work with employees to meet goals better adjusted to their current work-life balance as they receive more adequate training and outside support. Finally, whether an employee or employer initiates it, feedback is crucial and can create opportunities for both inspiration as well as for employee’s to be able to honestly communicate what they are finding difficult within their responsibilities.
- As an employee of a company: are you finding it difficult to get started on tasks, even ones that at one point seemed relatively easy?
- Are you finding yourself getting easily distracted?
- Do you feel as if you are constantly rushing to meet deadlines, and therefore more often than not turning in work of less quality?
- Do you feel that you are developing an attitude of maintaining less responsibility?
Recognizing when you ready to assume a different position?
- Take into account any behaviors that you, yourself can examine as self sabotaging, not getting the job promotion or excelling at your job. This includes being aware of the skills you possess that make you great at your job, and showing others. You’ll need to show management that you can work well with others and can lead a cohesive team. You can also show management that you possess the ability to take accountability for getting along with all types of coworkers without the presence of conflict. You can request performance feedbacks, which show you what the gaps between your perceptions and your supervisor(s) perceptions are, and also that you are interested in being an excellent performer
Best Careers don’t just naturally come to fruition and excellent outcomes don’t just pass us by. You are the maker of your destiny and with knowing, comes planning and activity. We help you be in the know, while seeing you through your path of success.
For this and other types of career advice, keep us on your automatic dial:
www.Centerforworklifecounseling.com
info@centerforworklifecounseling.com
321-758-5161
