INTHEBLACK November 2021 - Magazine - Page 69
Clockwise from right:
Rachel Service,
Happiness Concierge,
David Simpson,
Melbourne HR, Michelle
Gibbings, Change
Meridian and Kathryn
MacMillan, CIRCLE
Recruitment & HR
to resigning, it’s hard to get a positive reference
if you were unhappy and unfocused.”
It is also important to be clear about your career
goals, reminds Michelle Gibbings, founder and
managing director at leadership consultancy
Change Meridian.
“There are times in life when you may want a role
where it’s comfortable,” she says. “You know your work
back to front and inside out, you’re happy with your
salary and you like the people you work with. There are
other things that you’re focusing on in your life, which
are the priority. There is nothing wrong with that.”
HOW LONG IS TOO LONG?
There is no simple answer when it comes to how long
is too long in the same role. Much depends on the role
itself, says Simpson.
“Excluding senior leadership roles, I think people
shouldn’t spend any more than four years in a particular
role. Saying that, spending four years in every role in the
junior and middle sectors would be too long. There is
nothing wrong with spending four years in one role, but
in the next role you probably need to spend only two or
three years to get where you need to go.”
On the other hand, if it is a senior leadership role,
time is far less important, he adds. “You could spend
10 or 15 years in a single role. It doesn’t really matter.
Once you’ve been made a partner of a boutique
financial services firm, you may want to sit in that
role for quite some time.”
Kathryn MacMillan, managing director of CIRCLE
Recruitment & HR, takes a more generous view.
“If someone has stayed in a role for about five to
seven years, that could be seen as excellent tenure,
particularly if it’s a more senior role. When you start
looking at those really long-term roles – which are more
than 20 years – someone may then start to question
why somebody stayed so long. Was it a lack of
ambition?”
Gibbings believes there is no hard and fast rule.
“If you’re continuing to learn and you like the work and
the environment, then you shouldn’t feel pressured to
leave just because someone has given an arbitrary
number on how long you should stay.”
WARNING SIGNS
A number of warning signs herald the need to get a fresh
start, say experts. If your performance is dropping, you
feel bored and no aspect of your work gives you a buzz,
it may be worth considering your next move. Or perhaps
you have become the office cynic and fire off multiple
cross emails to your manager about trifling issues.
Gibbings says that a disconnect in values is a strong
indicator that it is time to call time. “If you feel like you’re
coming into the work environment and can’t be yourself,
that causes an unhealthy psychological disconnect.”
Service adds, “If you are having to give yourself a pep
talk every morning and are getting the Sunday blues, you
are clearly no longer happy.”
CAN YOU OVERSTAY YOUR WELCOME?
When some of the more insidious hallmarks of
unhappiness take root, it is likely that you have
overstayed your welcome at your organisation.
“You see it quite often,” says Simpson. “It doesn’t
make someone a bad person – it just means that there
is friction between them and the organisation’s culture
and leadership.”
Service says that the last person to realise what is
happening is often the person whose time is up.
“If you are unhappy, everybody knows about it already.
You have to take ownership of it. When people are
disengaged but haven’t yet taken any steps to do
something about it, that’s where really unhelpful
behaviour influences workplace culture.”
She acknowledges that taking the leap can be
daunting, and suggests calling a recruiter to have an
off-the-record discussion, or investing in a personal
coach. Try to remember that a change can be enriching,
Service says.
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intheblack.com November 2021 69