Career
Smart Emmanuel: What Do You Do When your Hard Work is Not Appreciated at your Workplace?
Bolu works at 123 Inc. She works very hard and gives her best to her job but all her hard work and dedication hardly gets the applause and appreciation it deserves. Bolu is sad that she gets the same compensation and treatment as other employees who are lazy on the job and do not take work seriously. Bolu’s story is the same with many employees who feel unappreciated by their boss, team mates, colleagues and company. In some cases, people are recognised for their hard work but they are not financially rewarded. Some employees are promised a better life that never comes and live on promises their company or boss make. It’s hard to continue to work hard when what you do remains unappreciated.
What do we do when our best work is unappreciated?
Many employees plan to leave the unappreciative company, which is a smart choice if regular complaints and feedback to the employers fall on deaf ears, however, they make one mistake: they stop giving their best before they leave. In order to get a better job, you need a good story. Story, here, are the tales of the great job you are doing at your current company before leaving. While laying back sounds like the right thing to do and every bone in your body may be itching towards giving average effort like other employees, it’s not in your best interest to do this. Why would any company hire an average staff? You want better wages and perks? The ‘beautiful’ story of your everyday work at your current company is your ticket. Your current company may keep the profit from your good work but the story of what you did and how you did it belongs to you, and this is the key to your next big job. If you achieved it in company A, it’s easy to say you can do it for company B.
To avoid working with a company that doesn’t reward employee’s hard work, ensure you ask what incentives are given to top performing employees during the interview. There are many companies who have a good work culture, but many times, we settle for anything because we are desperate.
If you have the right qualifications, talent and skill, then you’re deserving of your dream job. You deserve to work in a company where your hard work is appreciated. Former Microsoft employee and CEO, Steve Ballmer, is worth $100billion today because Bill Gates and Microsoft appreciated his hard work.
Another factor you need to consider is your network of people. If you are planning on leaving your job, networking should be a major part of your job hunting. While some people may get their dream job with a good LinkedIn page and great job applications, others need to do more. Human resource persons and other employees of good companies have useful information that makes job hunting easier. These people can be found anywhere, you never can tell where you’ll meet them, but you should always be prepared. Have a soft copy of your resume, don’t be shy to introduce yourself, talk about what you do, or tell them you’re looking for new opportunities.
It’s the mix of a great story, your qualifications and skills, and networking that increases your chance of securing your dream job – one where your skills are well acknowledged. Until then, remember that the unappreciative boss you have and the toxic environment you work in is for a limited time – like all your past challenges, this too shall pass.
