Some months ago I was working with a client who had a senior member of staff, James, in the same job for over ten years. Whilst James had done an excellent job for the first six years he had lately lost the drive to implement new ideas. In recent times James admitted that the jobwas easy and enjoyed the social aspects of his work. He was well liked by his colleagues and those that reported to him.

James was full of expectation that he could remain with the company for many more years. However, he felt that the company should be rewarding him more for his long and faithful service. He had mentioned his expectation of a substantial increase to his salary to his new boss at the last appraisal.

James thought his new boss, Philip, was difficult to work with and had a difficult management style. James often found that his boss gave him irritating tasks to do and he often didn’t understand their purpose. James thought that Philip was demanding and often rejected his warnings that change caused reduced morale and confused working methods. In particular James was able to point out to Philip when suggested changes had been tried before and failed.

Philip, his boss, saw things differently, however. He felt that James was the kind of individual that he longed would leave so that a more enthusiastic employee could be recruited. Someone with new ideas and who wouldn’t always verbalise the reasons why something couldn’t be done. In fact James was the type of employee that the boss dreamed of supplying a job reference that read, James Smith has informed me that he has led the production department for the past ten years to HIS entire satisfaction. Philip was against giving James a merit increase on his salary for his past year’s work.

Indeed, for the past six months Philip has been working with HR Director to develop a strategy that would result in the Company not being taken to an Industrial Tribunal in the event of James being dismissed. Over the past twelve months Philip and the HR department has been creating a log of the times when requests had been made to James and which had not been carried out or completed in an unsatisfactory manner.

You don’t have to be a soothsayer to predict that James is heading for trouble and whilst not every situation is as clear-cut how do you recognise when it’s time to jump ship? After all, the trick is to jump ship on your terms and to avoid the situation where you are being asked to leave where there is little chance of a good severance package and it will be difficult to find another job.

There are three distinct areas that you should consider:
The first is the way you feel about the work itself

• Has the work ceased to be fun?
• Has the work ceased to be a challenge?
• Have you stopped learning?
• You’ve stopped communicating with the boss
• The work is comfortable without being stretching or bringing joy
• Does the current job afford you the benefits of a desired lifestyle in terms of leisure time, time with friends and family?
  

Secondly consider the management style of the boss and the actions that your boss might be taking. Never concentrate on just one of the situations detailed below to decide the time has come to find another job. Consider them in clusters and based upon past behaviour: ( If the boss begins to check you expense claim form in detail it might just be because the Finance Director or Accounts Department have instructed all managers to reduce expenses).
However, if three of more of the situations below become evident over a period of three or more months then alarm bells should be ringing.

Finally there is your overall career pattern.

However, before you rush to write your resignation letter you might like to consider gaining some career advice from a professional. There are many companies on the Internet that offer such services. However, be clear about the sort of advice you are wanting as many of the companies that advertise on the Internet are job search firms and their advice may not be what you are looking for.

Then you need to develop that network of contacts you should have but never got around to contacting. Too often people leave a business and find that they have few people outside their current employers that can help find a new job or offer practical help and advice if wanting to change career. Joining on-line networking clubs such as Linkedin and Ecademy long before you jump ship can provide many contacts. In addition begin attending those networking events run by the institute that you are a member of or join one. Networking isn’t just something that the self-employed do, it’s important to everyone.

Choosing the exact time to jump ship is always problematical, not least because it often has an impact of family as well as oneself. The art is to do it at a time that suits you, giving a better set of work results than exist and which provides a further career prospects when it’s time to jump ship next.

Stephen Harvard Davis is a leading business relationship specialist and the author of  “Why do 40% of Executives Fail?”  He advises senior executives and organisations on transition management and how to attract and retain top talent within the business. He is also a sought after speaker at high profile conferences and business meetings. Stephen can be contacted on 44 (0) 1727 838321 www.stephenharvarddavis.com & www.busrelcon.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Articles, Job Transition.