Unhappy at your job but not sure if it’s the right time to leave? You’re not alone. A survey by Bayt.com entitled “Work Satisfaction in the MENA region” (November 2012) found that 42.1% of professionals in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are not satisfied at their current jobs. In fact, 60% would consider work opportunities outside their company “very enthusiastically”, while a whopping 64.3% would consider changing their jobs if approached with a better offer.
Looking into the reasons that would encourage employee retention in the MENA region, respondents in Bayt.com’s “Employee Retention in the MENA Workplace” poll (February 2013) said that the top three factors for keeping employees are competitive salary and benefits packages (26.6%), performance recognition (17.7%), and good manager-employee relationship (17.6%). Everyone has bad days at work or even long periods when they feel disheartened about their job.
But how do you know the difference between ordinary, occasional dissatisfaction and a genuine mismatch? How do you know when you're truly ready to move on? Here are five reasons it may be time for you to quit your job:
Whether it’s your mental or physical health that is being significantly impaired by the stresses of the job, heed the early warning signs and don’t wait until the symptoms are long-term and severe. Developing chronic back problems, headaches, stomach pains or sleep issues may all signal a problem job. Equally telling are weekends spent dreading going into work, feeling completely drained at the end of each day or a sharp drop in productivity.
If you find yourself working over-time or doing a job that is best suited for two people or more and you have been unable to marshal the resources or support to lighten the workload to a more realistic level, it may well be time to leave before you completely burn-out. This state of affairs may be due to a recent merger or acquisition, cost-cutting activity or simply oversight by your boss; whatever it is, make sure your boss is made aware of the nature of the burden you are carrying before you call it quits and seek more realistic job responsibilities elsewhere.
While 39.2% or professionals who took part in Bayt.com’s “Work Satisfaction in the MENA region” poll said that there are no opportunities for advancement and promotion at their company, the need to be recognized and appreciated by your employer is a key motivational factor and nothing is more demeaning and unsettling than being consistently overlooked for a raise or promotion particularly if your peers and subordinates are rising through the ranks while your position remains largely static. Make sure you talk the situation through with your boss before making any rash decisions. If your boss is unresponsive and you see no future growth prospects either in your present job or in other roles within the company, it may well be time to seek momentum for your career elsewhere.
When boredom sets in and the job becomes a routine monotonous ordeal with no learning curve left to speak of it is may be time to move to greener pastures. The means and opportunity to explore new challenges and acquire new skills and knowledge is an important aspect of any job, especially if you value your career progression and don’t wish to be pigeon-holed or unfairly pushed to a premature learning glass ceiling. Make sure you have tried to broaden the role, acquire new training and add more challenging tasks and responsibilities before you commit to seeking growth and learning elsewhere.
If you work in an uncomfortable workplace setting, find yourself morally misaligned with your employer, or if your employer is asking you to do something remotely unethical or that does not fully agree with your own values, standards and beliefs, leave immediately.
You can mitigate some of the risks of quitting your job by deciding what’s next before you leave. Bayt.com experts agree that it’s better to have at least an inkling of what you want to do, if not a full-fledged plan. Analyze your situation objectively, talk it through with your family and friends and make sure you don’t jeopardize your career by acting too hastily or by declining to act fast enough in response to the writing on the company walls. Staying in an undesirable situation can be somewhat unpleasant, but quitting a job on an emotional whim can damage your career and disrupt your personal life.
