CAREERS:Happy in your work? If you answered yes, congratulations - and can you tell us the name of your employer? If not ... read on ... there's help out there. Things can get better, writes Michael Kelly.
GIVEN HOW MUCH of our lives we spend at work, far too many of us settle into jobs we don't like. We go through endless cycles, by turns enthusiastic, satisfied, bored, frustrated and even angry. Sometimes we switch companies or careers, only to make the inevitable discovery that the grass on the other side isn't so ravishingly green after all. Or occasionally some promising development - a new boss, or a promotion - sends us back to the start of the cycle all over again and we settle down for a few more years. Complacency is always a danger.
It doesn't have to be that way, according to career psychologist Sophie Rowan, whose new book, Happy at Work, is designed as a practical guide to make working life more enjoyable. Rowan has spent 14 years as an occupational psychologist in Dublin and London and wrote the book on a career break last year.
"Sometimes people confuse a work crisis with being in the wrong career, when in fact the problem is how they are handling a particular situation in their current one," she says. "We have to try and be clearer about the source of dissatisfaction. About 50 per cent of people who are unhappy are not in the wrong career at all - there's just a very poor set of dynamics at play in their job. Working out how to fix these dynamics is the real challenge."
Rowan believes that many people who say they are "sick" of their current job and want to move on, could fix the problem by applying some basic career-management skills.
"I get people coming to me all the time who will say that they don't like their job, that they are profoundly unhappy and want to switch jobs or careers. Sometimes, people around them have been promoted even though they weren't in the company for as long a time. But when you drill down you discover that, in fact, they have never put themselves forward for promotion or there is a dysfunctional relationship in the workplace that needs fixing. It is often the case that people are changing jobs because of a relationship with one particular person, often a boss."
The book focuses on three main areas of development - managing yourself, managing others and managing the world of work.
"Ultimately it's not up to your employer or your colleagues to make you happy at work - only you can do that. Compatibility is the key here - it's about finding a job that fits your personality, a company that you are compatible with and finding people to work with that you get along with. One of the book's key messages is about being more optimistic. How you perceive a situation determines how you feel about it. Traditionally, when we have a problem in work, the focus is on weakness and problems. We use a number of positive-psychology initiatives that turn this mentality on its head and focuses instead on what's good about a situation."
Is there a risk that this approach could encourage people who really do need a change of job or career to stay put in a job they've outgrown?
"For some people a career change isn't necessary and for others it isn't feasible. For example, to retrain in your thirties or forties and start from scratch in a new career, might not be an option for some people. The question is how can you create a job that is a better fit? For example, maybe working for a large corporation doesn't hold as much appeal anymore, or the culture of a family-run outfit is difficult for you."
Given all the recent talk about tightening belts and making do, Rowan's book focuses on steps you can take to improve your job satisfaction within the environs of your current employment.
"In times of affluence people have more choice and in some cases have very unrealistic expectations. They are constantly thinking that they could have a better job, a better boss, more money. In times of recession people tend to be more resourceful about creating job satisfaction and so become more happier with their lot at work - focusing on what you have rather than what you don't have works wonders for your job satisfaction."
Happy at Work - Ten Steps to Ultimate Job Satisfaction by Sophie Rowan (Prentice Hall Life, €15.95).
TOP TIPS FOR A HAPPIER WORK LIFE
• Count your blessings -At the end of each day, reflect on five things that went well for you. Highlighting the positive stops you getting into a negative frame of mind.
• Talk time -Nurture and invest in key relationships such as those with your closest colleague and your boss
• Get physical -Exercise for half an hour three times a week
• Phone a friend -Contact an ex-colleague you have not seen for a while and arrange a meet up
• Have a good laugh at least once a day -Take time out for light-hearted banter
• Daily kindness -Do a 'good turn' for someone each day. Being kind actually makes you happier