Motivation

[P]

How do you stay motivated? 

I've been in my position almost four years.  There have been a lot of changes, new bosses, new responsibilities even training coworkers as they joined the company.  My company merged with another company in 2010, which brought almost double the work load, long hours, and frankly some job satisfaction that we were able to keep our heads above water!
After all that, there will not be any bonuses this year and most likely not any raises.  The company is public and all about the stock price and the bottom line. 

I want to stay in my current position and am trying to find the positives other than a short commute and not having to learn a new company and new people.  I'm disheartened after all the hard work that there will not be any kind of monetary reward and I'm having a hard time keeping positive, looking for more efficient ways to work, and being the consummate admin.

How do you stay motivated?  Would a position title change be enough, flex time in work hours (4-10s), extra vacation or what other perks would make up the difference in not getting a bonus or raise? 

[gee4]

Without sounding boring, you do what I have done for years after facing several rounds of redundancy...be thankful you are alive and well and have a job to go to every day.

I am now into my 4th year (yes!) with this company and if you read some of my previous postings you will know what I have gone through - 2 company re-orgs, 3 line managers and 2 office moves - all of which I have survived.

In my second year we did not get a pay rise but were offered 2 one-off payments which was better than nothing.

We already work flexi-time and get very good holidays.  Prior to this job I was not always guaranteed a pay rise, except in the public sector, where I was on a salary scale and went up an increment every year.

You have to be thankful for what you have and not get carried away with things you think you "deserve" to have.  Some people who have been here 20+ years think the world owes them a living but they have never gone through real life experiences like redundancy or unemployment.

I stay motivated by making the most of what I have and filling my time with other things outside work.

Remember, you work to live, not live to work.

[Brighton Rock]

I'm with Gee on this one. 

I happen to enjoy my job very much indeed, whether it was my "old" job as EA to our CEO or my new role as ACS.  I like work itself and I like the work I do.  Yes, there are days when I feel less than bouncy.  There are days when I wish I could send Bossie on a very long trip, out of reach of telephones and emails, but we get along very well 99 per cent of the time.  My company has been very kind to me during periods of great personal stress.   So, my working life is pretty normal, I think.

I have been with my current employers for quite a while so naturally there are those days that I have described above.  Those are the days that I try hard to count my blessing.  I have a good job with considerate and, on the whole, fair employers who obey the law and follow their own policies.  Our pay isn't lavish, but it is good.  Our holidays are not lavish, but more than the statutory requirement.  We have union representation.  We don't have many perks, as such, but we do have tea, coffee and water free of charge, food when we go to meetings, and a proper kitchen if we wish to store and prepare our own food.  We have pleasant, but not extravagant, offices with decent furniture and good equipment.  We have plants inside and a small garden outside.  So there is nothing to dislike, except the usual "rub" of getting along with very different characters of our colleagues. 

There are people living just down the street from my workplace who don't have enough to eat, are poorly housed, and have a low income.  Friends of mine are losing jobs.  Others are losing welfare benefits.

I also have a husband and children.  I could, I suppose, not work because my husband's income is more than large enough to pay for our needs.  I work because I want to and it helps pay our family's school fees and, more recently, college education. 

I'm lucky, and I know it.  So, I suppose that my natural character is my motivation and also simple gratitude.

[Jackie G]

Brighton, what a great post.  I think it sums up a lot of what I feel too (although sometimes I wished I did have an other half who earned enough so that I didn't have to work!).

I also like my work - most of the time! - and think that, apart from days like this when the weather's great and I hate having to be inside, I'd generally go nuts if I didn't have something to fill the 9-5.  It'd be fine if my bossie wasn't around too!  But then we have great days and then there are the not so great days.  We also have free tea, coffee and water as well as a full working kitchen (plus smaller units with a fridge on every floor) so we can cook a roast if we wanted to!  There are even company biscuits which we can filch if we're starving (I keep these!).  We have an outside area on our roof which is great on days like today and a large staffroom with TV for folk to catch up on the news or Loose Women at lunchtime (take your pick) - and of course, Wimbledon in the summer!  We have up to date equipment and software, nice furniture

I've not been here that long - about 16 months - but have had a major tragedy just recently and everyone was very kind.  Lost my first bossie in housing to cancer after a short 7 month battle.  We got on famously from the first minute, and were very alike and I've taken it very hard, despite knowing deep down this was coming although I thought she might have longer.  She was also a bit younger than me so that hits home on the mortal front too!  I was allowed to take time out to not only attend the funeral (a bunch of us went and it was standing room only for those who were late, as she was so well known in the housing world) and I also went to the after event, using my flexi but returning to work in core time (generally you have to be in the office for the start of this unless out on business).  I wasn't told I had to be back by a certain time (I had to come back - board papers to issue and an audit committee meeting that evening, or I would have simply gone home and moped).

[raindance]

This is all very good advice, P, even if it is not quite what you are looking for. 

I can understand the wish for a new job title, a little extra vacation time and so on.  None of these will actually change things.  Your title may now be "Personal Assistant" or some such.  You could change it to anything, but it won't change your job.  You can have four weeks more vacation, but you will still have the same workload. 

Life for most of us is a round of work, travel to and from work, house chores, family commitments and so on. It can be, and often is, very "ordinary" - even boring, regardless of the economic climate.

Your motivation has to come from within yourself, and perhaps you are also in a position to set the tone in your office. Lunches or coffee and cakes after work with colleagues can do a great deal to cheer things up.  Making your workspace attractive, if company regulations allow, is a way of improving your day. 

I also think that what you do outside work is AT LEAST as important as what you do at work.  Hobbies and interests, exercise, voluntary work, cultural and spiritual pursuits all make for a rounded, happy person.

I truly sympathise with you. If you have an increased workload and no extra pay, I'm sure you feel rather "put upon" and taken for granted.  Your extra pay, however, for the moment is that you get to keep your job.  Harsh as that may seem, it is the reality for many millions of people.  I'm not advising you not to complain.  Your complaints are those of anyone who feels as though they are in a rut. I do, however, advise you to look outside work and find resources that will help you to weather this challenging period.

[P]

Believe me I am thankful to have a job and the life I live and being healthy.  For the most part I enjoy coming to work every day, facing new challenges finding new things to learn.  Just at the moment the phase is blue.  I know we all go through it, is the answer just to find the good things in your life and move on?  This time that just isn't working for me, and it doesn't help that most of my co-workers are in the same rut.  I bake all the time for the office and try to bring my smiling face to work, find ways to get my bosses to laugh.

I actually think a title change would make a difference for me, but I don't even want to get my hopes on that if it doesn't or can't happen.  I do like the idea of changing the work space, I have a few plants maybe something brighter cheerier nearby.

[peaches2160]

We all have days when we have to dig way down deep and find that one spark of motivation to get us through.  I too have been in a similar spot of late, with our offices moving to cut costs, another boss leaving, no recognition or credit, no raises...  However, I am thankful I am still employed and have been placed with a great boss.  Things are looking up, and hopefully thistime next year we will be moved into a decent work environment and my old boss will be back.   I just bloom where I am planted and make the best of it and continue to earn a paycheck.  After all at the end of the day, that is what it is all about:-)

[Katie G]

Believe me I am thankful to have a job and the life I live and being healthy.  For the most part I enjoy coming to work every day, facing new challenges finding new things to learn.  Just at the moment the phase is blue.  I know we all go through it, is the answer just to find the good things in your life and move on?  This time that just isn't working for me, and it doesn't help that most of my co-workers are in the same rut.  I bake all the time for the office and try to bring my smiling face to work, find ways to get my bosses to laugh.

I actually think a title change would make a difference for me, but I don't even want to get my hopes on that if it doesn't or can't happen.  I do like the idea of changing the work space, I have a few plants maybe something brighter cheerier nearby.

P, it sounds like you are trying to keep positive, but I understand when it just gets you down, particularly if many of your coworkers are feeling the same way.  It starts affecting the overall atmosphere of a workplace.  We've just been through such a phase.  Fortunately, there's been a turnaround since two toxic individuals were let go.  I don't like to see anyone lose their job in this environment, but there was a lot a damage done to the department by these people and now we're all trying to work together to "heal". 

Do you have a good relationship with your boss?  Might it be worth voicing your concerns regarding the overall feeling in the office and ask for his/her blessing to come up with some morale boosters that might benefit everyone?

[peaches2160]

I agree with the comment about toxic individuals.  Went through a similar situation not long ago.  However, I call it kudzu, once it starts spreading it is hardto get rid of.  When the negative folks start yapping, I turn it positive and walk away.  It reinforces a positive attitude in me and gives them something to think about.

[countrigal]

In my short 2+years as a supervisor, one of the classes I had to attend was on Motivation.  Remember, what motivates one person does absolutely nothing for another.  P... if you feel that a job title change would help motivate you and get you through this period, and you have a change of duties, responsibilities, etc to go with it, then by all means I say talk to your boss and see what he/she says.  Nothing ventured is nothing gained.  Do not go into it with the raised hopes that it will happen, but it can't happen at all if you don't speak up.  This will help keep from getting more depressed if it doesn't happen.  Realise that your boss may not realise the changes in your job and by having the conversation, you may open his/her eyes to the situation, and though it may not be able to happen now, it plants the seed that this is something that may be considered down the road.

In the meantime, I wish you good luck.  Try to continue in the most positive way you can, as you have been, and hopefully you and the office will pull through this blue phase and get back to a more positive atmosphere soon.

[officepa]

I've been following this thread with interest.  I think it was a great question initially posted by 'P' and am certain lack of motivation affects us all at some point.  I like the practical solutions offered and some of them certainly gave me some ideas on how to see things from a different angle when motivation is lacking.

Hope things are improving for you 'P'.

[peaches2160]

Saw this today and wanted to share it:

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence.  A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes.  A boss knows all, a leader asks questions.  A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting.

[JessW]

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence.  A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes.  A boss knows all, a leader asks questions.  A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting.

So (she asks cheekily), does that mean that the more extreme communist countries have a 'Dear Boss' rather than 'Dear Leader'?