Job satisfaction and happiness... is it all down to money ?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Golden handcuffs. I know quite a few people that have ended up in senior management with a big salary and hate what the job but the salary affords them a big house, holidays, cars, bikes etc. Just biding their time and building their savings while they wait for an early retirement offer. A lot of them being trades of some sort that ended in management. IT seems a big one for this (those that I know), engineers and programmers that are great managers that would prefer to be given a task or project to solve and not have to worry about what other employees are doing.

I'd imagine that most people on this forum, on winning the lottery, would get bored after a while of not working and set up a little business or volunteer or something as a distraction. IMO working makes you appreciate time off.

I can easily fill days without going to work, there are track days and project bikes that need my attention, mountain biking, pubs, books, loads of things to do, anyone who says they'd get bored without work lacks imagination, I could happily never see another firewall again, and I don't see any point in choosing to work for less than I'm getting paid now.

[Taipan]

I thought lockdown had shown me that i'm not ready to retire, but I think it was the restrictions of lockdown that made me feel like that. I'm not in a position to retire just yet anyway and am still enjoying work, but if I won enough money to do so, then yes, I think I probably would?

[Bike Breaker]

Watch out for the senior manager (or director) that has been in his job for >5yrs without stepping up, you can get some great ones who are just happy being there, but many have hit their ceiling and they're operating out of their depths and spend all their time looking down to see what you're doing to poke their finger into your business and be a nuisance.

That's the Peter Principle, "...people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another."

That must be true. In my entire working life I was never promoted.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I can easily fill days without going to work, there are track days and project bikes that need my attention, mountain biking, pubs, books, loads of things to do, anyone who says they'd get bored without work lacks imagination

I don't think boredom is the right word for it. I think "unsatisfied" would cover it better for me. Trackdays or whatever are all well and good but they're a bit well....inconsequential and easy I guess. I dunno the right word for it.

It's a bit like asking a Premier league footballer if they would rather just do 5 a side for more money.

I suppose with a £100m Euromillions win i could some pretty fancy projects, but it'd be unfulfilling i suspect. As above though, it would be a nice quandary to have

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I can easily fill days without going to work, there are track days and project bikes that need my attention, mountain biking, pubs, books, loads of things to do, anyone who says they'd get bored without work lacks imagination

I don't think boredom is the right word for it. I think "unsatisfied" would cover it better for me. Trackdays or whatever are all well and good but they're a bit well....inconsequential and easy I guess. I dunno the right word for it.

It's a bit like asking a Premier league footballer if they would rather just do 5 a side for more money.

I suppose with a £100m Euromillions win i could some pretty fancy projects, but it'd be unfulfilling i suspect. As above though, it would be a nice quandary to have

What do you find fulfilling about work, my job is part of generating money for capitalists, it's not fulfilling in anyway, but it pays well.

If I wanted fulfillment I'd be helping the poor people of the world.

[JackyJoll]

That must be true. In my entire working life I was never promoted.

That can only mean you’re not incompetent.

[Docca]

Interesting thread, although I’m a bit uncomfortable with some of misogynistic comments- guess that’s more typical for this demographic though

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I quite like this; growth vs fixed mindset. The Peter principle is absolutely evident, as is a time-served approach to progression ( you’ve been here for ages Bob, why don’t you go for that promotion..). IME, you should be nurturing a mentality amongst the workforce that they can grow and move into leadership roles - but it needs a lot of investment, usually involves a lot of additional learning.

Not everyone will be cut out for senior roles. If you’re self aware, chances are you’ll know your ceiling. I know mine and have made peace with that. I am able to make inroads in more national leadership roles without being at the very top of my local organisation ( I’m on two national advisory panels-and it’s fun, because you don’t get the local politics).

Anyway, you’ll not get served progression on a plate- so if you want to advance into more senior roles, scope out the role/the requirements and expectations. It’s not just more money and I fact it’s ‘expensive money’ - you’ll get a few quid more for a load more responsibility.

Middle managers are 10 a penny. I quite like the Gallop ‘strengths finder’ approach ) you’ll have to look it up). This is where you assess strengths Of an individual and rather than try and qualify out perceived weakness with training etc- build the team that compliments the strengths of its individuals. I have 15 services in my portfolio and the very worst is the one that’s full of superhero’s who try and solve things as individuals ( fixed mindset). That’s changing, but all cultures need time to turn around.

[weeksy]

I read the first 3 words

[wheelnut]

35EF2FA2-EC4C-4F37-B1AA-ED0B49F5CBD7.jpeg

There’s a lot of truth in that graphic, but it’s not black and white. Sometimes a challenge is best avoided and a problem sometimes is best solved by using past experience rather than by risk taking.

[Docca]

35EF2FA2-EC4C-4F37-B1AA-ED0B49F5CBD7.jpeg

There’s a lot of truth in that graphic, but it’s not black and white. Sometimes a challenge is best avoided and a problem sometimes is best solved by using past experience rather than by risk taking.

Absolutely. I just like it as a reference. There are many references I call upon to try abs navigate the pea soup of my own responsibility and as you rightly say, it’s never black and white.

[JackyJoll]

35EF2FA2-EC4C-4F37-B1AA-ED0B49F5CBD7.jpeg

There’s a lot of truth in that graphic, but it’s not black and white. Sometimes a challenge is best avoided and a problem sometimes is best solved by using past experience rather than by risk taking.

The green side looks like wishful thinking to me.

[Taipan]

I thought it was grandiosity in full effect!

[Mr. Dazzle]

What do you find fulfilling about work

THat's a whole different thread in itself...but very briefly.

- It's difficult.
- It has a tangible outcome which other people can see / use. One of the very best thing about my job is the "I built that!" feeling when you see someone drive by in one of your cars / ride your bicycle on TV / when you fly on a plane you worked on. "Home" projects just don't cut it in the same way for me
- Cheesy as it sounds, it "makes the world better". Some of the time at least, I have also worked on stuff which would make people's day a hell of a lot worse. But not any more thankfully.
- I get to work with other people with the same mentality as me. I like solving problems, but I really like solving problems with other people of a similar mindset.

[Jody]

That's the Peter Principle, "...people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their "level of incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another."

IME that starts as a tech to junior management phenomenon. People assume that because he was a good shop floor guy then he'll naturally be a good supervisor or manager.

If you can manage ten people well then you can manage ten thousand.
The problem gets into middle management when the Peter Principle people drift further up and then employ more Peter Principle people to replace them.

There is some sort of theory about it, something like if you rate people on a scale of one to ten, then you must only have nines and tens in your team, because if you employ sevens and eights then they in turn will employ fives and sixes - then within a few years you've got fives and sixes in middle management and threes and fours under them. Then the corporate machine creates leadership schemes to fast track the fives and sixes and at some point you become Carillion and you've seen how that ends.

That happens a lot in my industry (Travel and Tourism). When I worked at Hotelplan the policy was "if you finished a season as a host, you can be a manager". The camping companies I worked for were similar " That guy and his Mrs did a great job on that 2 person campsite, lets make him an area manager and her in charge of a 12 person site"

The depressing bit is seeing good 'hosts' pushed into positions they aren't ready for, with not enough support, then they quit and they are gone forever.

[Potter]

What do you find fulfilling about work, my job is part of generating money for capitalists, it's not fulfilling in anyway, but it pays well.

If I wanted fulfillment I'd be helping the poor people of the world.

That sounds like slow death to me, there is no way I could keep turning up to do something that was not fulfilling in any way.

Life is short, ride some waves before you waste it all.

[slowsider]

Yebbut, I imagine most wave-riders do it in their own time.

[Whysub]

I spent 20 years in a role i loved. Great pay even with regular 16 hour days, sometimes 7 days a week, fantastic colleagues who I would trust with my life, interesting and highly rewarding work, plus I got to ride expensive bikes and drive some high performance cars very fast.

But then we started to get bosses dropped in above us who had no idea of the work we did, nor did they want to know. A number of my colleagues saw the writing on the wall and left for other jobs. That left fewer and fewer of us to cover their work.

New staff drafted in were all direct from Uni and 75% of them were worse than useless, didn't really want to do the job, and lasted no more than a year befire they left or were "let go".

So as soon as I could financially afford it, I retired. Which turned out to be 6 years earlier that I planned to. I just could not stand the toxic management structure any longer. Those of us that just wanted to do our jobs were all marked as having no ambition because we did not apply for promotion.

So, sold my terraced house in the UK and bought a much bigger detached house on a 5000 sq metre plot in semi rural Spain. Most days I potter around the garden doing whatever needs doing, or go out on foot or MTB on the mountain tracks that start at my front gate, or down to town for a very leisurely lunch. Life is as slow as I want to make it and I do not miss working one little bit. I have taken to retirement like a duck to water, although I do know it won't suit everyone.

Don't miss the wages, the stress, the constant interference by management, nor the 120 mile daily commute all year round. Only thing I miss from work are my colleagues, but hopefully there are a number of them coming over for a few weeks once Covid travel restrictions lift.

[weeksy]

Yebbut, I imagine most wave-riders do it in their own time.

Was that a DC Legends of tomorrow joke ?

[slowsider]

Yebbut, I imagine most wave-riders do it in their own time.

Was that a DC Legends of tomorrow joke ?

Im the silver surfer ?

No it was a response to iccy. Most jobs don't fully fulfil people.

[Yorick]

I spent 20 years in a role i loved. Great pay even with regular 16 hour days, sometimes 7 days a week, fantastic colleagues who I would trust with my life, interesting and highly rewarding work, plus I got to ride expensive bikes and drive some high performance cars very fast.

But then we started to get bosses dropped in above us who had no idea of the work we did, nor did they want to know. A number of my colleagues saw the writing on the wall and left for other jobs. That left fewer and fewer of us to cover their work.

New staff drafted in were all direct from Uni and 75% of them were worse than useless, didn't really want to do the job, and lasted no more than a year befire they left or were "let go".

So as soon as I could financially afford it, I retired. Which turned out to be 6 years earlier that I planned to. I just could not stand the toxic management structure any longer. Those of us that just wanted to do our jobs were all marked as having no ambition because we did not apply for promotion.

So, sold my terraced house in the UK and bought a much bigger detached house on a 5000 sq metre plot in semi rural Spain. Most days I potter around the garden doing whatever needs doing, or go out on foot or MTB on the mountain tracks that start at my front gate, or down to town for a very leisurely lunch. Life is as slow as I want to make it and I do not miss working one little bit. I have taken to retirement like a duck to water, although I do know it won't suit everyone.

Yo tambien amigo