By Deborah L. Jacobs
Special to Online Career Tips
This is a guest post by Jorg Stegemann, who has been a headhunter for more than 10 years–half that time focusing on Europe. His blog is My Job Thoughts: Career Advice From a Headhunter. His recent articles for FORBES include “Seven Things A Headhunter Won’t Tell You.”
No job is as wonderful as it seems when we interview for it, or as terrible as it appears to be on the worst day at the office. In fact, we go through cycles in a job, just as we experience life cycles, as I noted in my last post, “Six Signs You May Be In A Dead-End Job.” Understanding where you stand in the seven phases of the job life cycle that I described there can help you better manage your career and identify the right moment to leave.
Phase 1: The honeymoon. Starting a new job can be a huge thrill. Your boss is supportive, patient and positive. Colleagues seem welcoming as they help you through housekeeping details. Meetings are new, different fresh — maybe you even appreciate the company’s innovative approach. Your motivation and energy level may be higher than they have been for a long time. But as you start to get around, having lunch with members of the new team, you notice they are a little reserved. Some express opinions about what’s wrong with the company. You tell yourself these people have been there so long they are jaded, resistant to change, or just don’t have the right mind-set.
Phase 2: Reality sets in. Within a month or so of your arrival, you notice that not everything is perfect. Actually, your last company was not this bad and some things were even better there. You begin to notice that some of the critical remarks you hear are not completely wrong. As you spend more time actually doing the job, some of the work already feels routine. Feedback from your boss has become more direct and unvarnished. Now that you understand the internal culture better, what may have looked like an innovative approach, now seems a deficiency. Not knowing how to interpret things sometimes leaves you feeling a little frustrated. This is the first of three critical phases in your job.
Phase 3: Learning the ropes. For the rest of your first year on board, you will progress steadily and learn to accept the imperfections of your new employer. If team members have broken your trust or let you down in some way, you have become more cautious. Once you know the cast of characters, you can distinguish between “good and bad animals” and build solid work relationships. For the next year, your performance will steadily improve and you will earn your chops as a team member. Your boss, peers and team know what they can expect from you–and vice versa. You position yourself firmly in internal meetings and get bolder in your statements.
Phase 4: Mastering the job and achieving solid results. In Year 2 on the job, you will deliver solid results. You have established a natural authority and can build on your successes. The job and the company seem to have no more secrets (though this is a misconception) and you can sometimes operate on autopilot. You ask your boss less often for feedback and have gained a high degree of autonomy.
At the peak to the end of Phase 4 — usually around Year 3 — you stabilize at a high level. You manage all dimensions of your job, people have a clear idea of what you stand for and you have created a solid internal and external network. Your position in meetings is clear and you are actively involved in making this company a better place. Your personal performance and productivity will not get any higher in this company. This phase can last several years, though it usually will not last longer than 3 to 5 years. It is the summit of your career at this company.
Phase 5: The first question marks. As time passes, your motivation decreases. More and more often, you doubt your firm’s strategy or do not fully agree with your boss. If you articulated your concerns in the past and believed in your ability to change things, now you keep mum. You realize that you can’t change your boss or this company anyway, so why even try? Meetings seem unproductive and annoy you. You trust your boss less and notice his or her defects – and there are many! As your commitment level goes down, you leave the office earlier, come in a little later, or take a longer lunch break. Meanwhile, you polish up your LinkedIn profile and resume, contact ex-colleagues you have not been in touch with for years (and frankly did not particularly like) and start to look at job openings in other companies. This is another critical stage in your job cycle.
Phase 6: Demotivation. The company and its culture aren’t what they used to be–especially not since Tom/ Dick/ Harry left. The negative things here become hard to stomach. (Why didn’t you notice them sooner?) Your results decline – and you don’t really care. Your boss observes what’s going on, tells you that your performance used to be better and gives you a chance to turn things around. You have the impression that the only purpose in his or her life is to make yours miserable with insignificant requests; stubborn narrow-mindedness; or rigid, unrealistic deadlines.
This is the final critical stage in your job cycle. Either you achieve a fast turn-around or you leave. Ideally, you will leave in Phase 5, before it gets to this. Staying through Phase 6 will have a negative impact on your results and behavior. Sooner or later, your boss and colleagues will notice.
Phase 7: Burnout: You are profoundly demotivated and feel worn out when you get up on weekday mornings. On Sunday afternoon, you are in an awful mood because you can only think of returning to the office the next day. You might even badmouth your boss or company with colleagues or (worse yet) with customers or suppliers. Insignificant things upset you and the people around you notice that something is wrong.
Your attitude has an impact on your private life and your health. Your spouse tells you that you have to motivate yourself or change jobs. You are in a maelstrom that pulls you down with increasing speed. In an extreme, you have panic attacks and are afraid of your boss, colleagues or the work itself. One 45-year-old IT manager at this stage told me that when he got up in the morning, he started to cry. Either you or your employer will cut the Gordian knot soon, and it sounds like an unpleasant ending.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Observe all men, thyself most.” Do not wait too long. Manage and drive your career wisely – you only have one.
Which phase of the job life cycle are you in?
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