What to do if you are Malemployed
What's worse than having no job? How about having a job that you hate and or that is slowly killing you? This is what the term 'malemployed' refers to, according to theUrban Dictionary, and it's a major problem.
In a difficult economy, businesses are less likely to recruit new staff members. A permanent new employee is an additional financial overhead and in an uncertain business model, that may not be a risk that the accountants are prepared to take. Inevitably, that means that the existing workforce is asked to take on more. Burgeoning workloads, pressing deadlines, poor management, harsh performance management and zero job satisfaction become the order of the day.
'Malemployment' is bad for both employee and employer. For the employee, stress-related health problems become ever more likely. Work/life balance suffers further and what you end up heading towards is a meltdown. That's no good for the employer, either. Working on a shoestring payroll budget, with very stressed employees is a recipe for disaster and one that is certain to fail. The reality is that if the glass is full, and you keep pouring water in, then the water overflows and is wasted.
As the chances are that you are more and more likely to find yourself 'malemployed', what can you do about it? Resigning is, of course, always an option and for some people is probably the only solution. But if you do actually enjoy the nature of the work and or there are other benefits from staying put, then you need to take steps to take the 'mal' out of your employment contract. The next step requiresconvincing the boss.
Talk about quality
Your boss needs to understand how quality can suffer. Demonstrate what a 'good' job looks like and what an average one looks like and show how this is bad for the business. Ensure that your boss understands the reasonable time it takes to do something and how contingency is required too.
Talk about skills and training
Malemployment often occurs because the business doesn't invest enough in the people (another symptom of financial caution). Without a fully skilled team, your boss is running at half capacity. Explain how the initial investment will reap dividends in specific terms.
Talk about absenteeism and presenteeism
Explain to your boss how the job is making you and others ill. Talk about the level of presenteeism (when people still come to work but aren't fit to do the job) and demonstrate how much this costs the company.
Talk about how you feel
Above all, be honest about the personal impact of this work on your life. In many cases, leaders and managers aren't always aware of he human cost of the decisions they make. Confronted with an unhappy, stressed and anxious individual can sometimes be the shock to the system that he or she requires to do something about it.
