For some people, leaving a job it’s a no-brainer. For others, it’s a decision to agonize over.
If you belong to the latter category and are not sure if it is time to do this start looking for a new position, then you are lucky as one psychologist has discovered the best way to understand it.
George Sik, a workplace psychometric expert and HCPC-registered psychologist, claims five words can signal whether you’re right role or not, and these words are related to our individual values.
“When it comes to job satisfaction, it’s more likely that our values—work or personal—are not being fully met,” he says. subway.
Does your work meet your values?
George continues: ‘As companies hire candidates who fit their values, happy employees work for companies where, every day, their values are being fulfilled.
“If your five core values are met, or even four out of five, you’re likely to be happy in the role, even if there are some day-to-day tensions or problems that can be resolved by your manager.
“However, if three or fewer of your values are met, it is highly unlikely that your work will ever be fixed and it may be time to move on.”
How do you figure out what your five words are?
It’s actually very simple and can be completed in 30 seconds, although it can take as long as you need.
Start by thinking of a job in which you felt happiest, and then write down five words that represent what you enjoyed most about that role.
These words cannot be negative; they should be things that fill you with energy and often relate to your personality traits. Examples might include creativity, freedom, ethics, safety, autonomy, stability, and payment.
Once you have your five words, then you need to go through them to find how many of those values are met in your current job.
This quick exercise is an example of psychometric testing, which George explains is great because there are no ‘wrong answers’.
he adds: “It’s about trying to apply meaning or quantification to things that often can’t be explained – like job satisfaction beyond salary and job title.
“It’s essential to think about the job you were happiest in. Or the moments in a job where you were most satisfied. What did that job feel like for you – where were you proud to describe what you did to people? Where did it feel like the days flew by? The answer to the above will reveal patterns in your career so far, which can then be extracted as characteristics.
You can also do this by looking at the activities you find exciting in your role – meetings (collaboration) versus less meetings (autonomy).
However, if you find yourself thinking any of these words about your job, the expert says it’s a sign it’s time to go: uninspired, bored, repetitive, chaotic, dramatic, tedious or inflexible.
Similarly, if you constantly talk about your work and say ‘at least…’, or ‘if I can wait/hold back…’ then it’s also a bad sign.
This article was first published on January 8, 2025.
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