Six Signs the End is Near

When I was young I set out to explore life. In my search for my niche in the world I wanted to try my hand at as many things, and acquire as many skills, as I could. I got my first job when I was 11 (making about $6.00 per week). And I've had more than a few jobs in the decades since. I've been self-employed and I've worked for others. At one time or another I've been paid for my work as a reporter, carpenter, scientist, writer, salesperson, artist, janitor, dishwasher, manager, paperboy, soldier, electronics technician, farm laborer, computer programmer, editor, gardener, engineer, publisher, speaker, event organizer, disc jockey, web designer, comedian, campaign manager, actor, and taxi driver.

I've had some great jobs and some miserable ones. I've worked with some marvelous, talented people and some nasty, incompetent jerks. And through it all, before I retired from the workforce, I learned quite a lot about when it was time for someone (me, a co-worker, or my boss) to leave a job and look for greener pastures. So here's a countdown of my top tips on when it's time to jump!

6) If The Money Isn't Coming

If you feel like you've been working your bottom off, the pay raises aren't coming, and you know it isn't because of the lousy economy (no matter what they tell you) then something is wrong and it might just be you. At the very least, someone in your company isn't happy with you.

One of my former employers had a peculiar method of determining annual pay raises. They put our names in front of ALL the company managers - like Christians in front of the lions - and they all got to swipe their paws at us as they competed for the meat of the pay-raise budget. What this meant, of course, was that someone I might never have worked with - maybe some jerk who just didn't like the way I looked - got to influence my pay raise and the performance review that was written thereafter to justify whatever meager sum they had collectively decided I was worth. Mostly this meant that the managers all collaborated on keeping the biggest, juiciest cuts of the pay-raise cow for themselves and left the rest of us the scraps. This was so dysfunctional that when I first learned of the process I knew right away that I should look for another job.

5) If You Feel Like You're Being Watched

Most of us know intuitively if we're being watched. If you're feeling eyes on the back of your head at work then perhaps there's a reason. MAYBE you're being considered for a promotion or a higher level of responsibility. But more times than not it's because an ax of some sort is about to fall and you're being considered as one of the heads it might take. The winning strategy in this situation is to keep your head down and nose to the grindstone to enhance your chances of avoiding the ax while, outside of work, you start pinging your social network for job opportunities. That way, no matter what they do, you'll be in the position to decide your own fate.

One company I worked for had the bad habit of totally reorganizing all their departments every 2-3 years. This was great for generating the illusion of progress but it cultivated an ultra-competitive, cut-throat work environment and kept everyone paranoid about where they might end up after the next iteration of "progress". And since good employees often ended up in positions which held little interest for them the result was a ridiculously high turnover rate with a corresponding loss of in-house expertise to their competitors.

4) If A Great Boss Leaves Suddenly

If someone above you in the chain of command leaves suddenly - and they weren't fired for something obvious or illegal - then consider that a red flag. When someone of higher status leaves of their own free will it is almost always a sign that major changes will be coming to your department soon. That can be a good thing if the boss who left was a Scrooge widely despised by those who worked under her. But if the manager was generally liked and respected then that's probably a sign that rocks will soon come rolling downhill (and possibly land on you). The rapid exit of a decent supervisor usually means that someone above them in the management chain didn't like their (possession of) ethics or their style of management or that there was some fundamental disagreement or battle (which they lost) about where to take the section of the company which employs YOU. So take notice and get your ducks in a row in preparation for a strategic exit.

3) If You Get Too Much Glowing Praise

Once in my career I took on, by choice, a temporary assignment outside of my group that nobody else wanted. I took the assignment because it actually sounded interesting to me, because I had some considerable experience in the task area, and as a favor to my co-workers who were all averse to it. I thought my "taking one for the team" might actually lead to bigger and better things for me; particularly since I knew the project manager for the assignment was planning to leave soon. But oh how I was wrong!

After a few months of working on the new project, and receiving nothing but complimentary feedback on my outstanding performance, I got a letter from my division manager congratulating me on my upcoming transfer to field operations. This, of course, was a complete surprise to me; and not one I welcomed because I had come up into my current position from field operations in another state.

Apparently much of the praise I had been getting about my performance was management's subtle way of trying to shmooze me into accepting a position which they desperately needed filled but which they knew nobody (including me) wanted. And they apparently had interpreted my "taking one for the team" as indicating that I would resist the transfer less than my coworkers. What they got in short order was my resignation.

2) If You've Been In-House Retired

If the boss stops asking for your advice, if she excludes you from important meetings, if you're getting no respect, if you've been moved into a closet-sized office or the cubicle by the break area, if your coworkers are acting strangely or avoiding you, if you've been demoted in status but not in fact, then guess what? You've been in-house retired.

I once worked for a company that, having made a decision to change its operational focus, decided that some of its senior personnel were no longer cost-effective (i.e., the company could hire two young pups for the salary of one graybeard). Yet it knew that it couldn't just fire them without risking lawsuits of various sorts. So the strategy the company adopted was to move them all into do-nothing positions - which it knew they would find unsatisfying - and thereby motivate them to quit. Most did just that; although a few recognized what was happening, stood their ground, and fought for decent severance packages secure in the knowledge of the leverage they held because they had been with the company long enough to know where the bodies were buried.

1) If You're Not Happy

One of the wisest men I ever knew - a fellow who was still happily working at the age of 86 just before he passed away - once told me that he loved his job because he was getting paid for doing something that he would have done for free. If you're one of the lucky few that can say that then stay, live long, and prosper. But if your work no longer excites you, you're stressed out, and you're not doing something you're passionate about then get out. Just plain get out! You'll be happier, you'll save on bar tabs at the watering holes you're hitting every night, and the rest of us will feel better when we're around you.

And as exasperating as work might be these days just remember that there ARE some great employers out there. All you need to do is find one!