The world is experiencing ‘the great resignation’.
The cost of putting other people needs first is high.
We all do it… From personal experience, I stayed in a job a year too long.
I told myself I am looking after my staff, buffering them from higher up the chain. Eventually, after a few more broken promises the turning point for me was upon my return to the office after a four week overseas business trip. I said to my newish boss that I was going to take a couple of days off. She said I could have 1 day off, the rest had to be leave. My old boss use to say ‘spend a couple days with your family and get back into the time zone. After all Australia is the other end of the world’.
On my first day at home, I became really sick. I slept for 6 days straight and ended up going to hospital because I was dehydrated. I missed the 60th birthday of one of my closest friends.
Sadly, I missed my brother’s wedding.
I knew I was tired when I got back, however when my boss said, and I quote, ‘If you are going to hang out with the big boys, you need to hack it like the big boys’. I think that tipped me over the edge.
After two weeks sick leave, I went into the office and handed in my resignation. I had nothing else lined up. I just did not want to work there anymore.
It is something that I should have done a year earlier. I could see the signs, I told myself that it is not that bad and I loved my staff and to this day we are all still friends.
I am now seeing similar patterns repeat in the workplace. People are tired. They have had enough. Organisations are starting to talk about what to do. They are starting to take the great resignation seriously, a little too late. My interest remains on a personal level.
Why do we avoid life’s big decisions?
I believe for me the challenge was the dual hats I was wearing. One being a young manager in a global organisation. The other being a boss with a team that I loved. And I loved working with them every day.
I left because I had no hope that the organisation would change. I had no hope that my boss would change.
The price was quality time with family and friends. I cannot get that back and I am fortunate that I was not seriously ill.
My husband and I were outside talking. Remember, I had been away for 4 weeks and then sick for 2, so we had a lot of catching up to do.
My husband quietly said. ‘Why don’t you quit?’
I looked at him, and said nothing.
He said, ‘Just resign, the company is not worth it.’
I closed my eyes, leant back in my chair and stretched my neck. I could feel my shoulders drop and I started to smile.
He said, ‘If I had known that that was what it would take to put a smile on your face I would have suggested that you resign a year ago.’
Moving on is challenging. Kylie helped me. Yes, Miss Minogue. We are creatures of habit, as Kylie says, You did it again….
‘Clever girl
Think you are but you think too much
Shut down, turn around
Don’t look that way any more…
You know it’s all in your head
You better put that business to bed
By your fair hands of design you met with
The monster in your mind’
You did it again…’
I know it is hard choosing the long-term benefits, especially if you have to go through short-term pain.
If you relate to this, then it is time to turn the tables on the past and create space for your new future.
How much calmer will your life be once you put your needs first?
How much happier will you and your loved ones be when you have left the organisation?
The company will get over the great resignation. They can replace you. And yes, your replacement will do things differently. However, your family can’t replace you. They can’t get that overtime back.
You might just lower your blood pressure, start to sleep at night, feel your mood becoming lighter, find time for that coffee with a friend and every day take a walk in the sunshine.
You might just begin to feel ‘the old you’ again!