As of: March 14, 2024, 4:45 p.m
By: Laura Hindelang
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Permanent dissatisfaction at work can lead to internal termination.
How to recognize the first signs and what you can do about them.
If frustration is high and motivation is low and you only do the bare essentials (“work by the book”), you may have mentally finished your job.
According to the Gallup Engagement Index,
the psychological phenomenon of internal dismissal affects
more than seven million employees in Germany.
The annual study provides information about the level of emotional bonding of employees and thus the level of commitment and motivation at work.
Internal resignation occurs gradually
According to the current results, among the 1,500 respondents, only 14 percent feel a high emotional connection to their job, while 67 percent feel a low connection and 19 percent no connection to their employer.
It's no wonder that 45 percent of those surveyed are looking for a job or are open to a change.
This also applies to those who have just started a new job: four out of ten respondents who have been with their current company for less than a year are already looking for other positions.
In the case of an internal termination, the employee ends his job purely mentally, although the real employment relationship still exists.
© Westend61/Imago
The high level of job dissatisfaction, which often leads to internal resignation, usually occurs gradually.
Little by little, those affected begin to feel an inner dislike for their work and mentally distance themselves from the workplace: they resign and increasingly refuse commitment and initiative.
There are many reasons that lead to long-term professional frustration.
The personnel service provider
Randstad
and the
Career Bible
portal list the following points:
Negative experiences at work such as failure or conflicts with colleagues
Lack of appreciation and lack of feedback culture
Lack of perspective and meaninglessness of work
Constant pressure to perform and excessive demands
Monotony and under-challenging
Unfair pay
According to the career bible,
when companies fall into economic difficulties, cut jobs or cancel projects, this is
accompanied by feelings of powerlessness and loss of control for many employees.
This can lead to increasing job insecurity, which in the long term can also lead to internal termination.
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If you feel dissatisfied, it is important to take countermeasures early on.
Employees often remain in this state for months or years, reports
Randstad
.
Signs of internal termination
It is not uncommon for this to result in psychological suffering such as burnout or depression or physical illnesses.
Career and personal life can also be affected.
According to Randstad
and
Career Bible
, the first signs of inner resignation can
be the following symptoms:
Disinterest and even indifference:
You don't care about what's happening in the company because you no longer see a future for yourself there anyway.
They no longer ask questions and withdraw more and more.
Lack of participation and initiative:
You no longer show any willingness to get involved in professional matters.
Randstad
cites silence in team meetings, waiting for instructions or constantly putting off important tasks
as examples .
Lack of creativity:
You no longer want to mentally engage with work.
You no longer come up with creative or productive ideas.
As a result, the enjoyment of the job decreases even further.
Dislike of job and colleagues:
Even if others often can't help it, if you dislike your work, the negative attitude is also reflected in how you think about your colleagues.
Bad stomach feeling and even nausea:
you feel uneasy when you think about going back to work.
The ArbeitsABC
portal lists that you cannot recover sufficiently and develop the first physical symptoms
.
The phenomenon of inner resignation is also known by its English equivalent “Quiet Quitting” and – thanks to social media – has received even more attention in recent years.
The inner termination is not a permanent state.
If your frustration grows, you should take urgent action.
Possible solutions could be:
Balance in your private life: According to
ArbeitsABC
, this can
be a hobby from which you gain appreciation or other methods to find more balance and maintain health despite the difficult situation at work.
Time off:
If your company offers the option, you could consider a sabbatical or other form of time off.
This can help you collect yourself and think about other things.
Reflect regularly:
Ask yourself regularly whether you still enjoy your job.
If you have already mentally resigned, you should ask yourself, according to
the career bible
, what exactly led to it.
But also look into the future and think about where you want to develop professionally and what would have to change to achieve this.
Conversation with the superior:
Ask the boss for an interview.
Ask for feedback and let the manager know that you are dissatisfied.
This way you can work together towards change.
Set a deadline:
Give yourself a specific time frame in which you will try to make changes.
Leave no stone unturned so that you don't have to blame yourself afterwards, advises
Career Bible
.
If nothing has happened after the deadline, you should think about changing.
Internal change:
There may be another position or a new project in your company that suits you more.
With an internal application and a change within the company, the frustration may resolve itself.
Job change:
If you no longer see any future in your company, you should consider quitting and looking for a new job.