Are You Happy At Work?

This post was inspired by an insta reel; A little girl asks 'tu khush hain?' - 'Are you happy?'. That got us thinking.

We believe the simplest way to answer this truthfully is to answer the following question:

“Would you recommend your current job to your family member?”

It is important that you think of a family member you are close to, not the distant cousin you would love to see fail. If you have children, think of your child. Yes, that close.

So, “Would you recommend your current job to your family member?”

Now, when we ran this internally, some queries came up. ‘What if the person I am thinking of is better suited to something else?’. Fair enough. If the answer is No, because of that, think of someone who would be perfect for this job and then ask the same question.

Is the answer still a no?

Hate to break it to you, but at this very moment, you are not happy at work.

Here is another question to make sure this is not a one off.

‘Knowing what you know now, would you take up this job opportunity if offered to you today?’

For this imagine you are not working at your current job and you get a call from us (we are hospitality recruiters). Would you go ahead or politely decline? Would you tell us not to send anyone else there?

That’s the short version. The longer version is below.

These are simple yes, no, questions. If you find yourself saying ‘yes’ to at least 6, congratulations! If not, it is time to think about your happiness at work.

Answer Yes or No

• I know what is expected of me at work.

• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.

• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.

• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.

• There is someone at work who encourages my development.

• At work, my opinions seem to count.

• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.

• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.

• I have a best friend at work.

• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.

• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

• At work, I am treated with respect.

• I have received meaningful feedback in the last week.

• My organization cares about my overall wellbeing.

• My organization always delivers on the promise we make to customers.

This is from Gallup.

Did you get six or more 'Yes'? Brilliant! So you are happy at work. Tell us and the world about it. Leave your feelings in the comments below or send us a small note on newsletter@eclathospitality.com. Also, You can stop reading this article now.

If you are not so happy at work, it is time to do something about it.

Here are our suggestions:

1. Introspect
   Do not start contacting recruitment consultants, do not start looking for a new job. We know, considering our core business is helping people find new opportunities, this should probably be our first suggestion, but it is not. For one, do not change a job until you have completed at least a year in your current position, it just ruins a resume if it becomes a pattern. If you have completed a year, it is time to do some introspection.
   Look at each of the questions above and try to articulate a why you think you answered with a no.
   Let’s take two of those questions as an example:

   1. At work, my opinions seem to count.
      When was the last time you shared an opinion at work? Did you spend enough time thinking about the idea or the feedback? Did you share it in the appropriate forum and format? Did you make it sound like a complaint? Did you offer to do the work required to make your idea come true? Did you ask your colleagues what they thought about the idea before offering it as a solution? If you have done all this and now reached a point where you do not even offer your opinion at work, this is a big NO.

   2. I know what is expected of me at work.
      This seems like the easiest thing to get right on this list. If you have joined at a particular designation or have been promoted to one, then the job description is automatically what is expected, right? Wrong. JDs are usually made for a generic designation, something that can be used across units and teams. Your particular workplace might be a little different. Your team maybe a little different. The expectations of your immediate supervisor, manager maybe a little different.
      For e.g. we know of a hotel company, that insists that the Front Office Team that checks out a company billing guest, must also be responsible to send that bill to the company and collect the payment. Just because at your last job, something was not expected, it may not be true at your current job.

      1. First, ask. Schedule sometime with your manager and ask what all is expected of you.

      2. Second, make notes. Notice the tasks your co-workers do. The ones that are done before you start a shift or at the end of a shift (closing tasks) are usually a good place to start. If you have done all this, and you are still not sure because your work keeps changing without notice or your boss keeps agitated and saying ‘this also I need to tell you!’ then maybe the answer to this is a definite NO.

2. Talk to someone you like at work
   It does not need to be somebody from your team or your department. It could be anyone in your workplace or company, but it should be someone you like and trust. Tell them that you took this little quiz (share the link with them as well), and you feel you are are not happy at work. Share with them the points you have answered NO to and see if they have any opinions or ideas. Maybe there is something that they have learnt on how things work.

3. Talk to your supervisor / manager
   This is your career and you must take control. If you are anything like most hospitality professionals, you are spending a great deal of your time at work. You can demand that you find happiness. Ask for one-on-one meeting. Schedule the time. Do not do this in the back area while operations are in full swing. Tell her you need 15 minutes, and then use those that time well. Tell her you really want to enjoy your work and give more to the company, but somethings are holding you from doing so. Talk about the top 3 points from all those you said NO to in the quiz. DO NOT dump everything on her in the meeting. DO NOT threaten to quit, DO NOT tell her we told you to demand this meeting.

4. Look for a new job
   If all the above fails, submit your resume to us. If nothing is going to change at your current job, change the job!