Generally speaking, loyalty to a job, an employer, to an employee is a good thing. However I’d argue that it doesn’t hold the same value as it once did when the employee/ employer relationship lasted for decades. For reasons tied to a global marketplace, economic drivers and health care costs employers have come to value a workforce where they can swap out skill sets as needed in order to remain flexible and agile while containing costs. This has become necessary for some to even stay in business. However many employees still feel an enormous sense of loyalty to their employers sometimes even to their own detriment. They overlook and fail to see the signs that it is no longer a good or healthy place to be, or worse yet they do see the signs, know it’s not good, and still stay. So what keeps them there? Outlined below are some common reasons I see people stay in difficult jobs or dysfunctional places.
1. overriding and disproportional sense of loyalty – often one that is not equally shared by the employer
2. fear of venturing out into the less familiar
3. lack of self confidence that they can do something else
4. unclear about what they would do next
5. tied to a compensation and benefits they don’t believe they would attain elsewhere
6. discomfort with change
7. disbelief that it is better someplace else
If any of these resonate, know that there are always options. Those options may not be clear however they do exist. In this season of hope, my hope for anyone stuck in a job is that they see beyond their doubts and fears at the possibilities that lay ahead in the New Year.