Has Your Job Flat-Lined ?

by Colm Cavey, Professional Career Consultant.

I frequently meet clients who will say that their job has ‘flat-lined’ for the want of a better expression. When they first started they were enthusiastic and delighted to have got the job. The first period of time was a big learning curve, lots of new things, lots to learn and all very exciting. After a year or two or three things seemed to get monotonous, tasks were boring and just no enthusiasm can be mustered up. They can’t understand how it’s all gone so wrong and is there any repair job that can be done.

As sure as night follows day the next statement will nearly always be; I not sure what kind of a move I could or should be making but the only thing I am certain about is that it’s not more of the same.

This is usually the last resort after continuous disappointments in work. Things have not progressed, responsibilities or promotions have passed you by and tedium sets in. ‘Get me
out of here’ you think.

However if you do get out of there it’s no guarantee that the same won’t happen again in the next place you go to. So think and think hard of the sequence of events that bought you to this point in your career.

If you think back to the progression of events since you joined your present company it’s probably reasonable to assume you applied, were interviewed and got the job. Clearly several people liked you, your style, and your experience and agreed you’re the person for the job on offer. More likely than not you were given assignments or projects to look after, which brought you to where you are now.

So there are two questions to ask yourself.

Being hard, factual, pragmatic and add any other adjective you can think of, ask yourself has your performance being poor, good or excellent since you joined the company. You may have started on day one like a greyhound out of the traps doing great work and full of enthusiasm, but in the absence of any recognition, did you start to wane and slow down and becoming noticeable despondent. If this is the case I suspect that you now find your work uninteresting and your work doesn’t give you any satisfaction.

In this situation it’s probable that you weren’t quite as good as you though you were or maybe is there a clash of personalities between you and your manager.

If it’s a competency issue with you and your work it’s within your own remit to do something about it. Do some further training or if your organisation is big enough go to HR and explain what you are looking for. They will usually know exactly what you need as you can be sure you are not the first person with a request such as this.

If on the other hand there is a personality clash between you and your manager then it’s probably best to seek a transfer to another department/division. Personality issues are rarely ‘repairable’. If there is dislike between two people it’s all but impossible to change your ways and repair the damage. That is of course if you know what has to be repaired. Sometimes people just bounce off each other for no apparent reason.

If you are in this kind of situation, do something about it, don’t do nothing and let the problem fester. Training, relocation or new job search are the probable courses of action but before doing anything rash take advice. Take professional advice as your career and salary cheque every month are too much to risk.

Good Luck