Employee engagement in the U.S. has sunk to an 11-year low, with a growing number of people feeling uninspired, stressed, and in some cases stuck, according to a recent Gallup survey. Author and New York University psychologist“If you are feeling disappointed, if you have anxious boredom, if you're experiencing ennui in the workplace, just this kind of low-level malaise around your career or your job, you're in good company,” West says.
“I love this question. What happens when your boss is okay with you being stretched too thin, but you aren't? “So what you want to do is actually ask, ‘Is the work I'm doing in this role relevant to that decision?’ And I think often what you'll find is just because you can hobnob or press the flush with a manager or the CEO of the company doesn't mean that that's going to translate to you moving ahead or you getting appreciated on the dimensions that you care about. So you kind of need to communicate openly about what those dimensions actually are.
“In fact, I don't recommend anyone break up with any job or career until they start going through these steps. So baby steps, small steps you can take to really align the practical with those emotional needs that you're looking for at work.”Most of us, at some point in our lives, will question whether we’re on the right career path. For some, that questioning comes after months or even years of going to work in a state of low-level malaise.
As a psychology professor at New York University, I’m an expert on interpersonal relationships and communication. As a social scientist, I’ve studied the language people use in dozens of social contexts, from negotiations at work to interactions between physicians and patients in the doctor’s office. Outside the lab, I’ve applied my expertise in the science of communication to help hundreds of people resolve conflicts in the workplace.