Get The Most Out Of Your Work

Careers Articles | June 11, 2007

According to Baednoch and Clark’s ‘Happiness At Work Index’ less than half of the UK’s Finance and Accounting workers are happy with their job.

According to Baednoch and Clark’s ‘Happiness At Work Index’ less than half of the UK’s Finance and Accounting workers are happy with their job. For the professional services labour force overall, the figure is around a quarter.

How might you start to get more out of work?

Decide The Type Of Role You Want

It is all too easy to believe that you have no choice. You have a choice in everything. Get clear on what it is you want. It might be:

To specialise in tax

To work for a non profit organisation

To work in investment banking

To work for a Top 100 organisation

To move into consultancy

Determine what you want and write it down.

Determine What You Enjoy

In all jobs there are aspects that you really enjoy. Capture a list of these. They will be those times when you are highly motivated and at your best. Start that list today and keep adding to it until you have captured everything.

Determine What You Don’t Enjoy

As well as areas you enjoy, there will be areas you don’t enjoy or enjoy less. Accept that there is nothing wrong with this. Think about it, if we all enjoyed the same things the world would be a pretty dull place. Take the time to create a list of the things at work that turn you off.

Look At How You Can Change Or Develop Your Role

Review your current role. How can you incorporate more of the things you enjoy into your role? It may be that you have a colleague who is desperate to do some of the things you detest. Could you swap some tasks and create a win-win?

Speak To Your Manager

So often the first time a manager finds out an employee is unhappy is when they get a letter of resignation. Good managers want to create opportunities for their staff to grow and develop. If there are opportunities you want to access, speak to your manager. Who knows they might be able to:

Help you to re-design your role

Get you involved in some projects

Offer you a short term secondment

If you don’t ask you will never know what is possible.

At the end of the day you want to get the most you possibly can from your work and be happy. Take the initiative and be proactive.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Duncan Brodie is a Leadership Development Coach and Management Trainer at Goals and Achievements http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

He specialises in helping accountants and professionals to make the transition from technical expert to manager and leader.