why do we stay?

‘Why do we stay?’

What an applicable question to so many, many facets of life. Why do we stay in abusive relationships? Why do we stay to watch the crashed car burn? Why do we stay friends with people who think that wearing black with brown is okay? But one of the most fundamental parts of our lives that I will consider here below is: why do we stay in our jobs?

To put it plainly, we stay in jobs because they’re good. What makes them good, you may ask? Statistically, there are ten characteristics of jobs that people define & use to consider whether their jobs are good or bad. And those would be:

For reasons that are blatantly obvious & so stupidly commonsensical, the factors listed above are scaled characteristics of our day-to-day interactions in our working lives. And we’re gonna talk about how they rank when considering to stay in your job.

1. Paid well. Hell yes I want to be paid well. I for realsies don’t know anyone who wouldn’t say that they want enough green for at least some thing or some reason. But #fuckingduh people like to stay in jobs that pay them handsomely, whatever their definition of handsomely may be.
2. Mentored. As discussed in quite a few previous posts, millennials seek mentorship in the workplace. I would rather be mentored than bossed. Mentorship creates a relationship based on mutual respect & wisdom-sharing, rather than the traditionally authoritative superior-subordinate relationship, which is far less desirable.
3. Challenged. Contrary to popular belief about my generation, we/I actually am not a lazy sit-on-my-ass-&-do-nothing kind of person, & I enjoy being challenged at work. I like using the skills that I acquired & am still acquiring whilst I complete my expensive, fancy degree. That’s why we get the damn things! I would rather tackle a problem that requires me to engage my creativity & knowledge base rather than complete mindless tasks that contribute little to nothing to the greater good of the company or the world. Shocking, right?
4. Promoted. No surprise here, if you do a good fucking job at your job you should be fucking rewarded. Employers, at this time, please refer to #1. kthanksbyeee
5. Involved. In the vein of mentorship, us millennials like to interact with one another. It fosters a respectful (hopefully) & fun work environment. Now, I know that work isn’t supposed to be all fun & games, but taking the time to be involved with your co-workers & maybe even build friendships with them makes working more fun & enjoyable.
6. Appreciated./7. Valued. This combination is a huge one for me. Coming from personal experience, I know very well what it’s like to work for a company that under-appreciates & under-values its employees so much that you actually cry of happiness when they force you to quit.* Businesses, particularly small start-up companies, have a very apparent top-down effect re: respect & value. If there’s an issue up at the top, that behaviour trickles down to the front of the house employees, & it fucking sucks. It literally makes employees feel like they want to simultaneously cry their eyes out & smack their manager in the fucking face. Believe me, I know. As an employer, manager, etc., if you do not show your employees that you, well, basically that you give at least a single fuck about them, you can create this bottom-up effect of happiness & even financial success. Happy employees –> Happy managers –> Happy execs…….what a concept.

seriously…this one should be so easy.

8. On a mission./9. Empowered. Show me a problem, I’ll show you a solution. It really can be that simple. Employees are hired for a reason; they provide something for the company that it doesn’t already have or is seeking: they have a mission. Let your employees pursue that mission! Empower them to find a solution to your problem, & they will. Or at least they will feel like they can even try. These are two very important concepts in the workplace that encourage employees to stay in their jobs. If employees have something they want to work toward, & their management team is not just letting them, but telling them to pursue that, there are gonna be some happy employees.

Aaaand finally… 10. Trust. FOR REAL. Employers hire employees when a certain level of trust is present. Equally so, employees accept positions with employers when a certain level of trust is present. Now, that level of trust is up to the individual, but relationships, whether they be superior-subordinate or personal or romantic, simply cannot exist without some form of trust.

*that’s a whole ‘nother story

you talentless fool.

Greetings, you talentless millennials! How is this marvellous Sunday morning treating you? You’re still wasted, right… Stupendously? Excellent!

We millennials, as I’ve mentioned before, continuously take the heat for having a bad rap, for being senseless & stupid & talentless & unfortunately unavoidable. And honestly, we’re not helping ourselves too much. Living the #instagramlyfe isn’t exactly maintaining our image to our elders as professional or not a waste of our time & youth. So to add to that pre-existing headache that juuust never stops pounding with the constant disappointment we’re both feeling & causing, I’d like to discuss a few parts of life that require absolutely zero talent. And here they are!

I shall discuss these ten things in much further detail below…but right after I take a break, because I can’t.

…

*yawn* Ah, that nap just hit the spot. Oh, hi! Mkay, we’re back. Let’s go.

1. BEING ON TIME wake up & smell the coffee, peeps! Being on time really isn’t all that hard. Now, as a millennial who honestly loves nothing more than spending the forty-eight glorious hours of the weekend lying in bed, I feel obligated to mention that this particular brand of laziness may actually work to your advantage re: Monday punctuality. Sounds crazy, right!? WRONG. By eight o’clock Sunday night, I’m so exhausted from doing nothing all weekend that I actually go to sleep. Like fall asleep at this time & sleep the whole night through. Personally, I’d call that talent, but others (aka my mother) prefer to call it “intellectual understimulation,” or “lack of exercise,” or worst of all “a shame to generations past.” But whatever. Talent is talent, my friends.
2. WORK ETHIC now this one is a toughie for us Gen-Yers. Work ethic is defined as:

noun

1. a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character.

          Now, I’m sure those words are a little scary &/or undefinable in some of your cases. But let’s break it down:

• belief: you, like, actually have to believe
• moral benefit & importance: repeat after me: “work is a good thing. work is helpful.”
• inherent ability: work is naturally a positive influence on your life
• strengthen character: work can improve your life

Essentially, just get a goddamn work ethic & care about the shit that you do.

3. EFFORT actually try at something in your life. You many find one day that you actually like the feeling you get when you do.

4. BODY LANGUAGE this is actually super important & a subconscious part of our every day. Naturally, when you have positive feelings toward someone, your body relaxes & tends to orient in the direction toward that person, while, for instance, engaged in conversation. When you hate don’t have positive feelings toward someone, your body naturally closes off & recoils. Be conscious of this – when interviewing, or in the workplace, or even on a date, it’s important to realise how you naturally come off to people.

5. ENERGY see #1.

6. ATTITUDE see literally every other point.

7. PASSION work ethic & passion often go hand-in-hand. If you have a passion for something, it makes sense that you would work harder at it #duh. Many of us were raised with the mentality that we could grow up to do anything we wanted, anything we loved, & that it’s important to find something about which you’re passionate. And now as adults, we see that passion & salary don’t always coincide. But happy people exude passion. When you’re talking about something that you love, your eyes shine a little brighter, you smile a little bigger, & your friends understand you a little more.

8. BEING COACHABLE *rolls eyes at another sports-related core value* As sports analogies abound, this one is actually kind of valid. As millennials tend to seek out mentorship rather than management, being mentorable is a huge asset. You show your moldability every day by unconsciously working as a team with others, by making compromises, & by listening to criticism. Your reaction to/ability to handle these things in stride represent themselves as you being receptive & open.

9. DOING EXTRA just do extra. Don’t be lame. BE extra.

10. BEING PREPARED now this one applies not only to your work life, but also your personal life. Bring the shit you need. Look up directions to wherever you’re going. Basically just don’t be an idiot.