There are many great things about Sunday – enjoying the paper, lunch with friends, going for a walk. And yet, as the end of the day comes ever closer, a number of people will unfortunately start having that gnawing in the pit of their stomach – the onset of Monday and the ominous dread of the week ahead.

It is extraordinary however, since these same people were at one point exceedingly happy they got the job, for I cannot think of one person who was disappointed to find employment. And yet, some time down the line, maybe weeks, months or even years, the joy of work seems to elude them.

So what happens? Making things simple, we can break it down to three main scenarios: The first is the person who is excellent at what they do and is promoted. One would think this is a good thing.

However, often, people are promoted either out of their core competence or into a role that eliminates an essential element that brought them great satisfaction. We often see this with sales people who are promoted to a managerial role and find themselves carrying out administrative duties as opposed to dealing with clients. In effect, the ingredient that brought them success is the one which gets greatly reduced, and in some cases even removed.

The second are those who aspire for a role, are developing themselves and working hard to attain it. Then they find out someone was hired into the position, in effect wiping out the opportunity for them to grow to the next level. This is extremely de-motivating, finding themselves becoming increasingly disillusioned and their job, which once was a source of inspiration, becomes a have-to.

The third is a misalignment of some sort, in most cases of values. This is where the employee has a perception of the organisation and what it stands for before joining, and experiences a different standard once employed. This removes the element of belonging, a key ingredient in fully engaging the human component of organisations.

So how do we rectify this?

The truth is, there is a great difference between being employed and being engaged, and enhanced employee engagement is at the core of successful organisations. It is worth remembering that we spend half of our waking life at work, so if we do not enjoy what we are doing, or are not happy about certain aspects, we had better start asking ourselves some great questions on how to shift the situation.

What can we do to avoid the three scenarios above?

If you are an employer, find out your employees’ innate talent, interests and aspirations, and hire people that are in line with your corporate culture. One of the factors that influences employee turnover is cultural mismatch, so be aware, and regardless of how desperate you may be to fill a role, it is worth getting it right first time.

Otherwise you have a great chance of having to rectify the issues from mis-hiring and having to go through the entire process again some months down the line. To keep in touch with your employees’ aspirations, many companies these days have formal reviews.

Unfortunately in some cases, these become part of the administrative process with much time passing between one formal review and the next, and just like with our New Year’s resolutions and other goal setting exercises, the less time you review where you are heading, the less likely you are to reach it. A partnership between leader and employee should be fostered, creating an environment of openness and dialogue.

The safer we create the environment for people to open up, express themselves and be given opportunities to expand, the greater the level of trust and engagement.

From an individual’s perspective, now is a good time to start to explore and understand what your strengths are and to be honest about them. We sometimes act like Cinderella’s ugly sisters, trying to squeeze ourselves in a shoe that does not fit.

We are all aware of financial pressures that tend to place even greater stress in our job search, but bear in mind that the probability of you having to go through the process again some months down the line will be greatly enhanced if you are not honest with yourself.

So ask yourself what you enjoy in your work, what you are great at and share them. Take a genuine interest in the organisation and find out what aspects of the company draw you the most. This will help you carve your path. Yes, most organisations have systems in place to develop talent and look after their human resources, but they cannot help you if you do not know who and what you are and what you would like to become.

So before you embark on your new week, take a moment to reflect on how you fit into the particular tapestry that formulates your unique work community and have a great week.

deborah@newworldfoundation.net

The author is an advisor in the field of human talent, having profiled, advised and coached senior leadership from international and regional businesses across the world.