“Find out what you like doing best, and get someone to pay you for it.” – Katharine Whitehorn
It is time to look inward when answering this question. Maybe a very broad statement that we can narrow down but great resignation has shown that people are looking for peace and joy at work.
How do we break that down? Is this an unusual answer? Should we not ask for that? Isn’t that our goal when we try to make a living? We are humans with emotions and we do not just work to meet our ends, we want more than that. We want work-life balance by balancing personal and professional needs!
Is supporting the emotions and well-being of people against capitalism? What is the root cause of this problem? What are we looking for in the next opportunity?
→ We want to work for a company, which is focused on creating a community-like work environment. They support each other in sadness and celebrate happiness together. We can do that even working remotely in COVID times. Though we do not connect at the water cooler or coffee machine or do not randomly go out with our colleagues for lunch, we can still practice empathy in the workplace and develop the patience to understand them. People have a very low tolerance for working for a narcissist, dealing with a toxic manager, and a higher sensitivity to toxic work culture than ever.
→ Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace. COVID is not an easy time, remote work and not being able to socialize adds its toll of not meeting people in person. It is even harder for people who do not have family close by. One of my good friends left the country to join her family, after selling her house in just a short period of having her green card as COVID hit. With the green card, she decided to let go, for which she waited for so long while working in a difficult environment for a narcissistic manager and being underpaid. Burnout, stress, anxiety, and imposter syndrome are some of the common conditions that can kick in and the performance can go down drastically of a performing employee. More on this topic
→ Coaching and Mentoring for Managers, and Leaders. Coaching with compassion, mentoring with patience, and showing rich leadership and invisible leadership are important during this time. Companies should have training programs available to train their managers, people need support more than ever. An unfit manager can destroy the culture of the company easily. Trust your people, and understand the individual needs and flexibility they are looking for. Understand their individual needs and give them space. While making a new policy, get the poll from people.
→ Tips for Career Growth and Development. People are tired of higher inflation and lower pay. They need growth in terms of career advancement opportunities, promotions, freedom to explore various paths, be ability to openly discuss their needs and wants, ask stupid questions without being judged, making mistakes, and the opportunity to correct them and get paid well while focusing on their personal development and quality time with family.
→ Work for purpose. At the end of the day, work is work but what problem in society can we solve while working together on a product or a project? How can we make this world a better place? People want to focus on making a positive impact in this world. They want to be part of the ‘why’ of purposeful work to stay motivated and add value.
People are looking for all of the above to feel fulfilled, satisfied, peaceful, and happy and it is not too much to ask. These are basic human emotional rights that every human should have.
