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The pandemic provided a collective, societal jolt, leading many of us to rethink our relationship to work.
Anthony Klotz, the professor at University College London School of Management who coined the term “The Great Resignation” to predict that postpandemic situation, says jolts are common because for most people there is a crucial gap between what they want out of their work versus what the job provides.
“Most of us are one event away from leaving our job. This insight, that quitting is often triggered by a single event, is one of the most underacknowledged realities in our work lives today,” he writes in Jolted.
Jolts are an event that knocks us out of the autopilot our work life normally takes on. They put our relationship to work under the microscope, pushing us to reconsider the various tradeoffs we have been making and shortfalls that exist. They lead us to recalculate whether the benefits of staying outweigh the costs of leaving.
Jolts can be large or small. They can be collective, as with the pandemic or price hikes in the cost of the gas we use to commute. They can also be individual – a colleague who continually insults us, an overbearing boss, a promotion denied or a spouse becoming unemployed.
“Jolts aren’t good or bad. They can be treasures, spurring us to make career changes that place us on the path to ‘the good life.’ Or they can lead us astray and cause us to make decisions that harm our careers and our happiness,” he notes.
He says jolts play a role in more than half of all resignations. Dealing with their effects can be a lonely process, filled with doubts and incomplete information. He also warns people often take “hasty, rash and incorrect action” after a jolt because immediate action, especially quitting, feels urgent and liberating. “Quitting, of course, is risky. For every person who is glad they resigned, there’s another who regrets doing so,” he adds.
You are more likely to overreact emotionally if the situation is novel, disruptive or critical to you. Another problem is that too often after a jolt, people don’t take a balanced look at their work. Our mental energy is drawn to the source of the jolt and we under-consider the importance of other aspects of our relationship with work. If we were denied a raise, for example, we focus on pay. If we just had a health scare, we focus on work-life balance. Those are important, of course, but letting them crowd out consideration of the other elements of our jobs can lead to responses we ultimately come to regret.
Instead, you must zoom out, trying to look at the situation from a distance. Consider what makes for a healthy relationship with work over the long term. Think about your colleagues and your ties to them. Try his quick diagnosis, evaluating your overall contentment with work and the meaning it provides by rating these four statements on a one-to-five scale, one for strongly disagree and five for strongly agree:
- All in all, I am satisfied with my job.
- In general, I like working here.
- The work I do is meaningful to me.
- The job itself is very significant and important in the broader scheme of things.
Your responses may reveal that despite the jolt your relationship with work remains strong. Or it may reveal the jolt – the denial of a promotion or a new boss who undermines you – has dramatically changed the overall happiness and meaning you get from work and you must take action.
Quick hits
- Korn Ferry chief executive officer Gary Burnison says the four qualities he looks for when interviewing people are hunger, hustle, heart and humility. Heart, he notes, is where inspiration lives – where passion meets compassion.
- Julia Minson, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, uses a four-point framework for communication during disagreements she dubs HEAR for the first letter of each element: Hedge (add nuance to the conversation and avoid absolutes); Emphasize agreements (find common ground when possible); Acknowledge (show you’re listening to the other person in the discussion); and Reframe positively (avoid negative language when discussing the other party’s position).
- Author Mark Manson believes an underrated life skill is knowing when to give up. He asks: What are you still holding onto that you know isn’t working? What happens if you give it up?
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.