Don't Quit Yet!: An Insider’s Guide to Workplace Success

By Robert Ernest PhD

Have you ever felt so frustrated with your boss, coworkers, endless meetings, and work demands that you wanted to quit?
A recent study by Gallup reports that almost 60% of employees are unhappy – and half are planning to leave. While there are many books and experts telling us that work satisfaction is just getting a good education and finding the right company, the truth is that workplace savvy determines job satisfaction and career success.
In Don’t Quit Yet! you’ll learn how to deal with demanding bosses, difficult coworkers, and dysfunctional teams. Find out how to:
• optimize networks, navigate the culture, and build your personal brand;
• develop a mindset and attitude that will keep you motivated;
• adjust the “hat” you wear based on the situation.
The author also highlights the three pillars of savvy: thinking differently, working differently, and being seen differently. In fact, the book is divided into three sections, with each section delving into one of the pillars.
Get innovative solutions to real-life work frustrations with the easy-to-follow steps in this action guide to career success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9781663260369

Robert Ernest PhD

Robert Ernest, PhD, has more than twenty-five years of experience as a human resources executive, career coach, consultant, and instructor at Northwestern University. His consulting clients include Northern Trust Bank, Budget Rent-a-Car, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Chicago Board of Trade, DeVry, and Stanley Tools. He is a founding partner of Trends Research, a consulting firm dedicated to educating employees about the workplace and helping organizations to better engage their people. He earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from Loyola University and lives in the Chicago area with his wife, Terri.

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Don’t Quit Yet!

An Insider’s Guide to Workplace Success

Robert Ernest, PhD

DON’T QUIT YET!

AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO WORKPLACE SUCCESS

Copyright © 2024 Robert Ernest, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-6038-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-6037-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-6036-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024903154

iUniverse rev. date: 04/03/2024

To my wife, Terri, my love, support, and anchor

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Crazy Organizations and Work Life

Pillar 1: Think Differently

Chapter 2 Belong

Chapter 3 Have the Right Mindset

Chapter 4 Find Motivation

Pillar 2: Work Differently

Chapter 5 Manage Your Bosses

Chapter 6 Be a Team Standout

Chapter 7 Optimize Your Networks

Chapter 8 Build Strong Relationships

Pillar 3: Be Seen Differently

Chapter 9 Listen and Be Heard

Chapter 10 Accelerate Learning

Chapter 11 Adjust to Culture

Chapter 12 Polish Your Brand

Epilogue

References and Notes

About the Author

Introduction

Everyone wants to belong. No one wants to quit; we just don’t know how to stay.

—Employee who quit

You went to college and found, at last, an interesting major. You studied hard and researched careers you knew you would enjoy. After graduating in four years, you began your job search. Over a four-month period, you checked out company websites, built a profile on LinkedIn, networked with others in your field, and polished your résumé. During those frustrating months, you did part-time work, including waiting tables, babysitting, and retail sales. Finally, you found your first real job, doing things that were exciting and rewarding. The pay wasn’t great, but the work was what you loved. Starting those first days was rough, but you held out hope that this was the right job at the right company and that it would lead to a lifetime of satisfaction.

Fast-forward six months, and things were much different than anticipated. While the work was OK, you felt you weren’t growing or making a real difference. Your opinions didn’t seem to count, decision-making was slow, the office was disorganized, your boss was out of touch, and many of your coworkers acted nuts. The place was crazy! You wondered if this was the organization for you or if it was time to make a change. You updated your profile on LinkedIn, began looking at other company postings, and reached out to friends.

Sound familiar? It does for millions of employees entering the workforce. A recent study by Gallup reported that up to 60 percent of workers are disengaged or unhappy with their jobs. Half are looking for new work and planning to quit ¹ (the Department of Labor calls them quits). The term quiet quitting, popularized on TikTok, reflects those who have checked out and are doing the minimum just to get by. ² This is the experience of many; the careers, jobs, and plans that looked good on paper, at school, and with friends slowly unravel.

What’s going on? Our work life is supposed to be happy and rewarding. We work hard at developing our skills, researching careers, and finding the right job. Something just isn’t clicking. Somehow, workers are not connecting with or feeling like part of their organizations. How can this be? Of course, the reasons are many, including bad bosses, hopeless strategies, and difficult people who would drive any of us away from the work we love. There are other factors as well, such as lack of advancement and learning opportunities, policies and politics, inadequate compensation, and inflexible work arrangements that can impact our satisfaction. But maybe there is something beyond the job and company that accounts for frustration and discontent—something we can control!

Maybe it’s not only the company but also how we learn to work within the organization that determines satisfaction. After all, there are people happy with their jobs and companies. Satisfaction largely has to do with successfully applying what we know within the context of where we work. Even if we have the education and choose the right career, our satisfaction and ultimate success depend on how we use our knowledge at work. This is called workplace savvy, or how well we apply our talents in the workplace. Simply put, workplace savvy means we know how to get things done.

To be savvy, we must have good knowledge and a practical understanding of something. For example, if you are financially savvy, you’re smart at managing your money. You not only understand your finances but also can apply that knowledge to making a budget, planning for retirement, paying off a loan, and so on. Being workplace savvy is similar. You know how to put your professional and technical knowledge to use in a practical way. You understand the organization and know how to manage demanding bosses, work on teams, optimize networks, communicate effectively, and build your brand. Along with your skills and knowledge, being workplace savvy counts!

Workplace Savvy

Today’s companies are, without a doubt, complex, challenging places, and sometimes we feel frustrated. As never before, organizations are facing aggressive global competitors, heightened government regulations, innovative technologies, economic pressures, and increasing customer demands for innovation and service. To thrive in this environment, companies have changed, becoming more focused, purpose-driven, nimble, efficient, and socially conscious. With these changes also comes the need for employees to have flexibility; critical-thinking skills; up-to-date knowledge; creativity; and the ability to function in matrixed, virtual, and team environments. Employees must now think differently about their work, enhance their people skills, and position themselves within the organization as people who can be trusted and get results. In today’s workplace, being savvy is as critical to job success and satisfaction as professional knowledge and abilities.

While there are many books, podcasts, coaches, and experts telling us how to choose our careers and find jobs, there is little guidance on how to practically apply our skills and knowledge within the workplace. Most of us learn how to work in companies through trial and error, often making costly mistakes that hurt our advancement and pay. For example, a career can be derailed by not knowing how to work with difficult people, being a poor team player, not being trustworthy, or misreading the culture. Don’t Quit Yet! is a guide to speed up learning and avoid these missteps. It will be most valuable for those just entering the workforce, and those already working but not experiencing the job satisfaction hoped for. My goal is to provide a framework for you to build your workplace savvy and make work-organization connections that lead to greater career success.

Don’t Quit Yet! takes you on a career journey. Chapter 1 starts with the big picture, or organizational road map, reviewing companies and workplace experiences. This lays the groundwork for building workplace savvy, which is explored in the subsequent chapters. As seen in the illustration, work satisfaction and success are based both on technical and professional knowledge and on our workplace savvy. With technical and professional knowledge as the foundation, the three pillars of savvy emerge, which I have titled Think Differently, Work Differently, and Be Seen Differently. Don’t Quit Yet! is divided into three sections, with each section delving into one of the pillars.

Pillar 1, Think Differently (chapters 2 through 4), presents new ways of thinking about our jobs and our personal connections to the workplace. How we think about our work and company is critical to our satisfaction. Our thinking shapes how we feel and our behaviors. Having the right thinking and perspective leads to feeling good about our work and the workplace. You will learn how to think so that you belong, have the right mindset and attitude, and are motivated.

Pillar 2, Work Differently (chapters 5 through 8), focuses on the people skills we need to effectively apply our technical and professional knowledge. More than ever, in today’s challenging environments, we are expected to juggle multiple bosses and demands, navigate teams, build networks, and develop strong relationships. In these chapters, you will learn how to work differently to be more effective and get great results. By mastering your people skills, you will increase your credibility and work satisfaction, making yourself a standout!

Pillar 3, Be Seen Differently (chapters 9 through 12), discusses positioning within the organization. We want others to view us in ways that lead to more opportunities, career growth, and more success. Let’s face it: others’ impressions of us affect how we’re treated, how we feel, our advancement, and even our pay. These impressions are largely based on the strength of our communications, how quickly we learn and adapt, our brand, and how we fit into the company’s culture. In the pillar 3 chapters, you will learn how to communicate in ways that allow you to connect with others, accelerate your learning, build a strong brand, and navigate the culture. By being seen differently, you will be noticed and be treated differently.

All three pillars of workplace savvy are important. By thinking, working, and being seen differently, you can become savvy. A great way to begin is by talking with others about what you’ve read, trying new behaviors, and then reflecting on what worked and what didn’t. To help you do this, I have included, at the end of each chapter, questions you can discuss with friends and coworkers. I have also added exercises so you can practice what you have learned. Finally, to support your reflections, I recommend you keep a journal of your personal takeaways or the ideas you have found most valuable from the chapters, discussions, and exercises. By periodically reflecting on what you’ve learned and what you will do differently, you will build your workforce savvy. You can then confidently apply your knowledge in practical ways that are both effective and satisfying. Give it a chance, and start your career journey!

Workplace Savvy and Success

1

Crazy Organizations and Work Life

Chapter 1 sets the stage for building workplace savvy, or how we apply our professional and technical knowledge in organizations. No longer do companies solely rely on strategy, structure, and processes to achieve goals; increasingly, they rely on such things as networks, boss communities, teams, and vision. This has implications for our work lives and the workplace savvy we need to ensure success. One way to begin is by thinking about organizations with the aid of the organization road map. The map is a bird’s-eye view of how companies transform their inputs (e.g., money, materials, and time) into outputs (e.g., products and services). By applying the road map to your own organization, you have a perspective on how your job fits into the big picture. In the following chapters, I will discuss how work life has changed and how to build workplace savvy to successfully navigate your company’s road map. With this more organization-centric (versus job-centric) view of the workplace, organizations and work won’t seem as crazy!

Picture in your mind the ideal place where you would want to work. If you’re like many others, you want a place of interesting challenges, caring bosses, helpful coworkers, and, of course, good money. It almost goes without saying that we all want great places of employment, but what exactly are organizations? When we hear the term organization, scenes from The Office may pop into mind, with ridiculous bosses, goofy employees, free-for-all structures, and cultures of mediocracy. Others may think of Apple, Google, Amazon, and other companies moving at lightning speed, with genius leaders and entrepreneurial environments. Still others may think of government agencies steeped in bureaucracy or retailers, such as Home Depot or Best Buy, providing valued products and services. Finally, some may see churches, the Boy Scouts, or small mom-and-pop shops. The diversity of organizations is endless!

I teach organizational behavior courses, which focus on structure, processes, and behaviors within the workplace. Most of my college students have some work experience, so they are familiar with the struggles and challenges of today’s workplace. I start each class with a fun exercise. I ask students to visualize their ideal organization and what it would look like if it were an animal or an object. They describe pictures in their minds of lions representing organizational strength and focus, giraffes reflecting high ambitions, and owls portraying companies of wisdom and purpose. They see birds flying in the same direction and pieces of puzzles perfectly fitting together. I flip the question around, asking them to describe their current places of work and the animals or objects they most portray. They see snakes indicating lack of trust and uncaring bosses pictured as rats. They visualize disconnected boxes, arrows flying in all directions, and three-headed monsters suggesting conflict and fear.

Are my students atypical? Many of us do experience a gap between our ideal workplace and what we experience. We desire order, but amid our trying to get our jobs done, things get in the way. Directions seem conflicting, strategies seem illogical, and what should be simple turns out to be complex. Organizations should be just that: organized. But the work itself can feel more like disorganized behavior or just plain craziness. In this disorganization, we can easily become lost. We focus on our own needs and goals, forgetting what the organization is really expecting of us. This impacts not only the organization but also our careers and chance of advancement. The journey to better understanding both organizations and how we experience them starts with examining the structure of organizations and what’s at their core.

So what is an organization? The definition of organization is the coordinated activities of two or more people working together to achieve an outcome. ¹ Coordinated means the activities in an organization don’t take place by themselves but are connected to each other; two or more people working together implies organizations have structure, with reporting relationships and people operating in teams, departments, or divisions; and outcome suggests that any organization has a purpose.

One way of thinking about organizations and our work experiences is with the help of a road map. An organizational road map is a framework of how a company’s strategies, structure, processes, and work activities come together to achieve its goals. Simply, it’s how work is ordered and accomplished. If we understand how organizations really operate, we can ensure our work adds the most value to the company and others. Organizational road maps are also helpful in understanding our work experiences and growing our careers. In the same way that knowing how the human body functions can help us make better decisions regarding our health, by understanding the inner workings of companies, we know what counts and is needed to personally succeed.

A Closer Look

Let’s say you, I, and ten of our close friends want to take a two-week vacation together and need to get started on planning. One of the first steps, of course, is choosing where to go. Some may want to travel out of the country, others to a beach, and some to Disney World. Deciding won’t be easy. We will have to meet, find out one another’s interests, and somehow reach a decision that’s right for everyone, considering such inputs as how much money and time we have. Once we decide on our destination, we can make plans for how to get there and what to do. For example, if we decide to vacation in California, we may want to drive to save money, fly to save time, or take a train to see the countryside. Once there, some of us may want to visit museums, national parks, or local hangouts, while others may prefer going shopping, seeing the sites, or just taking in the scenery. The choices are many, so understanding the various options will require some research. To do this, we might talk with other friends, search Tripadvisor, or use social media, such as Instagram or TikTok. Once we decide on our activities, we can determine how best to do them. It might make sense for us to pick a leader who can direct the work, organize activities, and make decisions. We also could break up our larger group into smaller teams, with each team doing different jobs. For example, if we intend to stay in hotels, a leader might assign the tasks of researching hotel options and making reservations. That team will still have to inform others to ensure agreement, but at least accountability for the work is clear. Other teams might be responsible for arranging transportation between the hotels and places of interest, while others might be assigned the job of keeping track of expenses. But whatever the work, there will have to be a high level of coordination. We will need our best teaming, communication, and relationship skills. Once we’re at our destination, the work continues. Someone could take on the role of coordinator, making sure people arrive at their chosen activities, while somebody might be the facilitator, dealing with any unexpected issues and conflicts. The planning needed to make our vacation a success seems almost endless—jobs, roles, groups, coordinating, leading, networking, and facilitating. Clearly, we need a logical approach to make our plans a reality. We need a road map of what work must be done and how to do it.

Like the approach to our vacation planning, the organizational road map provides a framework for how organizations transform their plans into reality. The organizational road map ² provides a structure to help answer