Feeling satisfied with your job is important to how well you enjoy your workday. Often when we don’t look forward to going to work it has little to do with the job and more to do with something else happening at work.
So here are four tips to increasing your satisfaction at work
1. Sense of purpose and meaning
Having a sense of purpose and meaning in your work is crucial to your feeling happy at work. Knowing that you are going to make an impact or have an achievement in your day can make a huge difference.
You know your job better than anyone else so there is nothing worse than finding yourself having to do tasks that you know don’t benefit the bigger picture. It could be preparing for a meeting that later gets cancelled or writing a report that no one reads. Make sure the work you do in the day has meaning and brings you a sense of joy.
You spend most of the week at work, so looking for the positive aspects help bring satisfaction. Remember, it may also be the atmosphere within your team that gives you a sense of purpose as much as it is the work.
2. Have a learning and development plan
Whatever level you are working at right now, having a development plan in mind can give you a goal to work towards. You may want to get that promotion or deepen your current skills. Make a list of what you want to learn that will either help you with your current role or progress your career.
3. Feeling psychologically safe
Psychological safety is where you feel able to speak up and contribute. It is where your workplace gives you the opportunity to say when something is wrong. Google considers psychological safety to be the one thing teams need to work well together and to get the most out of their staff.
If you feel you can contribute your ideas in meetings, or say when you see your job can be done better then you are more likely to feel satisfied with your job.
Likewise, if you do speak up but then feel unsupported by the leadership team, it can bring a sense of dissatisfaction. It can make you feel like your knowledge and experience is not valued.
4. Being valued
In fact, feeling like you are valued at work is key to satisfaction with your job. Getting positive feedback about your work can give you that extra push you need. Consider saving any emails or messages that congratulate you on your hard work. Not only do these show how great you are at your job for any future career progress, but they can also be a nice reminder of how much you are valued at work.
Feeling dissatisfied?
Feeling dissatisfied at work or having that Monday morning dread is often about something other than your job. It can be a new manager or a change in circumstances with the company. Often it can be many little things that add up and you can’t exactly put your finger on what it is that is making you feel uneasy.
Our advice is to talk to someone about it as early as possible. Often someone listening from the outside can identify the cause that you cannot see.
No one should feel that pit in their stomach when they think about going to work. You should feel valued and have a sense of purpose and meaning when you do your job.
If you do feel like something isn’t right at work, get in touch and see if we can help.
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