This is Why You Hate Your Job

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Melanie L Denny, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

According to Forbes, 70% of Americans hate their job and only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, based on Gallup’s new 142-country study on the State of the Global Workplace.

Buy why?

When I first saw this statistic, I was initially shocked…but then I thought back to my days of working for various corporations and I remembered how unhappy I was. I recalled how miserable many of my colleagues were and I figured, 70% actually sounds about right.

So, why on earth do so many people dread going to work every day?

There could be various reasons, (they don’t like their co-workers, they don’t make enough, there’s no room to grow, they feel over worked, their boss is an idiot…I can go on…)

What I’ve realized is that all these reasons really just boil down to one underlying concept.
Their core work values and the values and practices of their employers are misaligned.

Here is what I mean…

Let’s just say you need to feel a sense of autonomy in your daily activities and want to be trusted enough by your management team to make viable decisions. If you work for a micro manager who has to approve everything and nitpicks at all your tasks…it’s going to become a problem.

Or perhaps you find pride in being recognized for your efforts and the positive results you produce for your company. Maybe you love being rewarded for your hard work and feel you deserve the recognition from your superiors. If your company doesn’t give out kudos for employee achievements and views hard work as part of the job…it’s going to become a problem.

Maybe you have a benevolent spirit that needs to be fed and you experience great joy from helping others live a better quality life. If your company doesn’t offer a product or service that facilitates the enrichment of humanity, eventually…it’s going to be a problem.

The purpose of this article is not to just go on and why people are miserable at work, my purpose here is to enlighten you to tap into your core work values and uncover the true reason you hate your job. It’s not just because you aren’t being promoted, it’s because you value personal and professional growth and your employer may not see find more value in hiring externally.

So, take some time to consider what you need out of your career and your daily work activities that will foster an overall sense of reward and fulfillment. Here are a few examples to get your juices flowing…

Recognition
Leadership
Advancement
Philanthropy
Autonomy
Teamwork
Responsibility
Influence
Money

Don’t take this lightly. If these are the things that make you tick or give you fulfillment, make sure they are present everyday so you can become more fulfilled and perhaps we can see those statistics shrink.