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A mid-career crisis?
Having bored and restless employees is not good. But is it their problem, or yours?
Pinelabs Chief Executive Officer Amrish Rau said that professionals in India, especially those in middle management positions, “suddenly get bored of their jobs and start wondering if they could do something different.”
The so-called “mid-career crisis” initially affected professionals in their 40s. Rau claims that it has arrived much earlier and is now common among staff in their 20s and 30s.
This phenomenon is not exclusive to India; it may be happening in your business and warrants closer examination. Employee boredom has serious implications for both individuals and corporations.
What’s a bored employee?
Bored employees feel the output has become too easy or too repetitive. They feel their skills are underutilized and crave a new challenge. These types of employees feel trapped in their role, as they see little or no career advancement.
They perceive that the role has no larger purpose to the general scheme of things and often doubt themselves, resulting in low self-esteem and low productivity. It eventually takes a mental and physical toll. Work is supposed to fulfill a person’s life, not question their existence.
Bored employees are disengaged, lack motivation, and are probably looking to jump ship to another company. To ensure organizational success, businesses must keep their employees’ plates full and fresh for those 8 to 10 hours in the office.
Push the envelope
People love to see and feel how they’ve grown as professionals over the years. They understand that to be promoted and raise their salaries, they need to hone their current skill sets and develop new ones.
Be it polishing their communication skills or learning the basics of a new software, workers take great pride in becoming better professionals and having the ability to take on more responsibilities. Not only do they look forward to those monthly paychecks, but they also enjoy being challenged at work.
Businesses must constantly revisit workflows and study industry trends to avoid having bored staff. There may be market gaps and unmet demands that need to be filled and could generate more revenue.
Developments in artificial intelligence and related technologies have eliminated mechanical tasks, and so corporations must modify workflows to include more high-value assignments. What about introducing client-facing tasks to non-client-facing roles and closely monitoring how they handle them? How about initiating quarterly reports?
Businesses must dare to make their staff uncomfortable because that is how they grow as professionals. It is by constantly and carefully pushing them out of their comfort zones that employees discover how important their role is in the company.
The question for your business
How do you challenge your employees?
