7 signs that you might want to quit

• First: the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. “Many people who would have liked to quit their job during the first few months of the crisis have postponed this decision,” Klotz explains to the Handelsblatt. For some time now, companies around the world have been seeing that employees are making up for these postponed termination plans.
• Second, the pandemic has made many employees tired. According to the latest AOK absenteeism report, the number of psychosomatic complaints in the pandemic has risen significantly, while other sick leave reports have decreased. “Burn-out is always a harbinger of fluctuation,” Klotz sums it up.
• Third: Many employees are asking themselves the question of meaning in the pandemic. “During the crisis, many realized that they wanted to make bigger changes in their lives,” explains Klotz. Some people had aha moments – also when it came to their own careers.
• Fourth: The desire for flexibility is growing. Hundreds of millions of knowledge workers worldwide were forced to work from home in the pandemic. “While many people are looking forward to returning to the office soon, many others want to continue working from their home office,” says Klotz. Those who are ordered back to the office look around for other, more flexible options. In any case, the chances are good. The job market is booming – even in spite of Corona.

So much for the scientific deductions. But what are the specific signs that you should really quit? And what can be done about it? The Handelsblatt asked HR professionals, management consultants and founders – and identified these seven signs.

1. You have Sunday blues every day

On Sundays, somewhere between 3 and 5 p.m., a carousel of thought sets in motion for many employees: “Tomorrow the alarm clock will ring again. Then it’s back to work. And there are still so many things that are due next week of all places. ”

Almost everyone is familiar with the Sunday blues phenomenon. To put your mind at ease, it’s normal. “But anyone who lies in bed every evening of the week except on Fridays sighs and mournfully thinks: ‘I don’t want the next day to start!’ because the working day is imminent, you should take action, ”advises Cawa Younosi, head of HR at SAP Germany. Because it is not uncommon for them to be the harbingers of burnout, which in many cases has nothing to do with stress.

That can help: In such cases, Younosi advises: Talk to your manager. “It is important to make concrete suggestions for solutions in conversation with the manager and to communicate clearly what is needed to improve the situation.” This is the basis for constructive change.

2. You feel that you don’t earn enough

Even if only a few openly admit it: Your own pay is still one of the main reasons why good employees leave. According to the EY survey, 58 percent of all employees would change jobs because of better pay. Points such as greater job security or a better corporate culture only follow clearly afterwards.

That can help: Experts say that the signs for a salary increase have not been as favorable as they are now for a long time. Because during the crisis, many employees had refrained from raising their salaries. These demands are emerging after months of renunciation – even if the pandemic is still not over.

“High achievers in particular have a good chance of demanding more, because in the current situation every company has a great interest in retaining its best people,” says Sebastian Pacher, remuneration specialist at the Kienbaum management consultancy. According to EY, employees are currently asking an average of ten percent more.

3. Your boss prefers to talk about numbers rather than people

The news hit the headlines – and it was brutal: A few weeks before Christmas, Vishal Garg, boss and founder of the mortgage broker Better, announced 900 of his employees via video call. “It’s my decision in the end, I want you to hear it from me. We’re laying off 15 percent of the workforce, ”he justified the mass layoffs. Then to add, “If you are on that call, you are part of the unfortunate group. Your employment is over. “

Seldom has a case been so clear-cut, but when managers generally tend to put numbers in the foreground and not employees, all alarm bells should be ringing, according to Debbie Lovich: “If managers show no interest in or support for the needs of their employees, that’s one clear sign to go, ”says the senior partner of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Another indicator of termination is when colleagues almost never thank each other or offer each other support.

That can help: In this situation, quitting seems like an obvious option – and in fact, in definite cases, it is healthier to leave companies with a poisoned culture. However, if you have the feeling that this phenomenon is limited to your own department or your own team, an internal change or a conversation with someone at a higher level in the hierarchy than that of your own manager can make sense.

4. Your career has reached a dead end

After a few years in the company, employees often have the impression that they have reached a dead end and that they cannot achieve their professional goals with their current employer. “In many cases, the time has actually come for an external change,” says entrepreneur and outplacement expert Sophia von Rundstedt. Because what is behind this vague feeling is a lack of further development prospects.

That can help: Von Rundstedt’s recommendation is: “Talk to your supervisor, even if you are already thinking about resigning. Describe your wishes and be open to new and different opportunities that may arise right now with your current employer. ”That could change a lot for the better.

In a majority of the companies, profound changes are due in the next few months – not only due to the pandemic – which will result in completely new tasks. Perhaps this will result in an exciting new career path.

5. Shake your head at the goals of your company

Even before the pandemic, there was a lot of talk about purpose and the search for meaning in companies. In the crisis, however, it is now becoming clear who is really serious about winning their employees for a common mission.

“You are only really good when you identify with the company – with the product, the service, the attitude towards customers and employees,” emphasizes Sirka Laudon, HR director at the insurance company Axa. “If you deviate from it too much, it costs a lot of energy to ignore this and still motivate yourself.”

SAP manager Younosi adds: “If the feeling prevails that the commitment of the lifetime is reduced to the equation ‘work for wages’, then one should think about a more meaningful activity.”

That can help: Axa board member Laudon suggests initiating a process in the team by intensively exchanging ideas on strategy and meaningful topics and developing a point of view shared by everyone. The results can then be broken down into individual sub-goals for each corporate division.

For the Berlin fintech founder Sebastian Seifert, this includes above all remaining realistic and looking at feasibility: “Completely overdone missions are more frustrating than motivating.” That means: Big visions are allowed as long as they are implemented in small steps leave.

6. You smell intrigue everywhere

In 1969 Elvis Presley sang: “We can’t go on together with suspicious minds”. From the point of view of SAP manager Younosi, the king of rock ‘n’ roll has thus written the ultimate resignation song: “If it has come to the point that every email is suspected to be a nasty trick by the employer, every call from the supervisor as a A tactical maneuver appears and most conversations with colleagues revolve around finding out whether there is ‘something in the bush’, you should think about a separation. ”

That can help: When trust is permanently damaged, change is difficult. But it also helps for future jobs to work on your own perspective. “Try not to stay too long with the actual problem, but also point out possible solutions,” says Laura Gaida, coach for mental health in Düsseldorf.

Even if these solutions may not be suitable for the current job, “you have at least gained a lot of clarity about what is important to you,” says the expert. With a view to the next interview, it is certainly not the worst prerequisite.

7. You are threatened with dismissal anyway

In many industries, entire business models are changing now or in the coming months. As a result, some companies make offers to their employees to leave the company voluntarily. Anyone who is approached – or suspects it – can take action themselves and often leave with a severance payment.

This helps: Outplacement consultant von Rundstedt sees in such situations, as a function, the opportunity to proactively think about where one’s own strengths and abilities could be better used. In addition to the severance payment, employers often also offer perspective and career advice in order to quickly move employees into other roles – both internally and externally.

“In such a situation, it is important to realize that breaks are part of working life today and that temporary work is the norm,” says von Rundstedt. In view of the enormous speed with which some companies have to turn and change, it is often not in the hands of the individual. “A separation from the employer,” summarizes the entrepreneur, “is not a sign of failure.”

More: Is there a threat of dismissal? Five tips on severance pay, legal protection and job hunting