How to... increase your job satisfaction

If Christmas was the season to be jolly and January was the one to sober up, then February is the month when resolutions really take hold, priorities are re-evaluated and the future really comes into focus.

Mostly, it’s a time of change – changing our consumption patterns, lifestyle habits, even our working lives.  But with Britain in the midst of the worst recession since WWII, change at work is now harder to achieve than ever before.  Recruitment is at a 20-year low, salary rises are redundant and work/life balance has been banished as people pick up the extra man-hours created by whole teams being halved.

It’s increasingly difficult to weather this financial storm with a smile on your face – but the experts say it’s still possible.  Here, they give their advice on increasing your job satisfaction when you take money out of the mix.

Made to Mentor
Becoming a mentor and helping to guide, advise and develop less senior employees can have a dramatic impact on their happiness and yours.  Rebecca Douglas, a former finance manager at Ernst & Young and British Airways, says: “Apart from it being flattering that my opinions are valued, I enjoy seeing my mentees develop and realise their potential, and I find it rewarding to think I’ve played a small part in that.”  This is typical of how mentors feel, according to Alessandra Alonso, co-founder and director of Shine People & Places, a business which organises coach/mentor programmes in companies.  “Mentors gain by understanding the next generation coming up, they enhance their interpersonal skills and often feel more satisfied that their experience and knowledge is being tapped into.”  www.shinepeopleandplaces.co.uk

Flex Yourself
When a salary rise or bonus is unrealistic, flexible work options are another reward people can pursue.  If money is not an object, then reduced hours to a part-time or job-sharing role can give people the boost they need to develop hobbies and other work-related pursuits in their spare time.  If a financial cut isn’t convenient, then compressed hours are a great alternative, working the equivalent of five days in four.  Azita Qadri, MD of Eat Your Cake, the specialist job-sharing company, sees an increasing number of people seeking out flexibility.  “It can be women with young children at home, others undertaking MAs or even athletes taking time out to train.  Whatever the reason, flexibility enriches their lives,” she says.  “It allows people to enjoy work when they’re there and to revitalise when they’re not.  It’s an optimal way for people to exist, especially senior professionals who still work but want to start enjoying their lives more.” www.eatyourcake.com

Boost the Bond
People spend at least seven hours a day and 35 a week with work colleagues.  Having good relationships with them can dramatically enhance people’s happiness at work.  One way to achieve this is through team-building days.  Sarah Bergman works in a PR agency with seven other women.  “One woman was constantly sniping, negative and bringing down the atmosphere.  At our team-building day, this was finally broached and things have definitely improved since.  We’re closer as a team because everything was put out there, and we now have the dialogue to openly stop her in her tracks if she starts going down the road again.”

Re-wire Your Inner Workings
Nina Grunfeld, author and creator of Life Clubs, sees it all the time - people who confuse their happiness with their work achievements.  This can lead to frustration, anger and deep unhappiness.  The key, she says, is to separate out life and work, and establish different parameters in which to identify your happiness and success.  How to do this?  She advises:

• Taking stock of what you’re achieving every day.  “Because we’re always multi-tasking and have ten things on the go, we rarely stop and say ‘Well done’ to ourselves and acknowledge what we’ve achieved.  I normally get people to write down three things they want to achieve each day.  And at the end of each day, to highlight what’s the best thing that has happened.  If you’ve done good things, appreciate them at the time and then move on." 
• Identifying your strengths.  “People are often shocked to identify their strengths.  A lot of us spend our time trying to be good at the things we’re not naturally good at and running away from what we are!”  How to do this?  Grunfeld says: “Notice the compliments you get, notice what people ask you to do and even ask people ‘What do you think I’m really good at’, I think the answers are often a shock to people.”
• Taking time out.  When your work and life are both manic, it’s easy for the lines to become blurred.  “One very high powered woman wasn’t going home and she was blaming her workload.  It later became apparent that, in fact, she didn’t like her home. Since selling and buying a new one, she’s not working anything like her old hours,” says Grunfeld.  “If you’re working too hard, everything stops being satisfying – your job, life and creativity are gone.  Time out is essential.”  www.lifeclubs.co.uk

The Life Book by Nina Grunfeld is out now. 

By Barbara Walshe