Completely disengaged at work but need cash

LegacyUser

Im in my job close to 8 years and I have lost all passion and interest in it as you do when time passes (i find it impossible to believe anyone can still like their job after 5 years). I literally do the absolute bare minimum just to get by and management have a pretty good idea at this stage- very few will ask me to commit to helping out on a project because they know I will only do whats required and offer zero ideas or innovation. To be fair I dont think being innovative should be asked of someone in a job, you just follow the procedure and end of.
Thing is, I do need the cash after a recent string of home-related repair jobs and a new car so its not like I can walk out when I have these bills over my head and the frame of mind Im in my indifference would come through in an interview. How can you stay engaged, even if just enough to keep your job, when you stop caring? Anyone else in this situation?

MillField

Could you not just look for a new job in the meantime that you might be more interested in? Or are you pretty much stuck where you are?

snoopy12

Sounds like You'll either have to look elsewhere or what about courses that might renew your interest? Is progression an option?

Mrs OBumble

Endoftheroad2015 wrote: »

To be fair I dont think being innovative should be asked of someone in a job, you just follow the procedure and end of.

Have you every considered moving to the medical devices industry as an entry-level worker? That's the only place I can think of where an attitude like yours could be considered to be an asset rather than a problem.

ongarboy

Endoftheroad2015 wrote: »

To be fair I dont think being innovative should be asked of someone in a job, you just follow the procedure and end of.

I think this attitude will mean a long life of either not working and always struggling for cash or else constant disengagement and dissatisfaction in any job. No offence but what you've described above is a nightmare for any manager of people.

Innovative employees will always progress further than those who aren't. Being innovative makes your job more interesting and by default, more engaging. If you can't see this then I'm afraid you are the architect of your own destiny. There may be some conveyor belt manufacturing job that might meet your requirements but even those jobs welcome and encourage some form of initiative, innovation and engaged employees.

Life is too short. Have you considered another career or different job. It would be a tragedy to spend the next few decades in something you hate when there may be options out there that could bring out the best in you. Indifference is probably worse then hatred as at least the latter may prompt you to change.

LegacyUser

ongarboy wrote: »

I think this attitude will mean a long life of either not working and always struggling for cash or else constant disengagement and dissatisfaction in any job. No offence but what you've described above is a nightmare for any manager of people.

Innovative employees will always progress further than those who aren't. Being innovative makes your job more interesting and by default, more engaging. If you can't see this then I'm afraid you are the architect of your own destiny. There may be some conveyor belt manufacturing job that might meet your requirements but even those jobs welcome and encourage some form of initiative, innovation and engaged employees.

Life is too short. Have you considered another career or different job. It would be a tragedy to spend the next few decades in something you hate when there may be options out there that could bring out the best in you. Indifference is probably worse then hatred as at least the latter may prompt you to change.

To be fair not everyone can be innovative and forthcoming with ideas etc in fact I would guess that it's the minority who come to work positive every day. There is no hope of me moving up as the managers know I don't care so they won't take a risk on me however I'm doing a part time masters by night in college for my own self interest. I can't afford to leave and I'm in a bad frame of mind for interview. Can you get away with just going in, marking time and then going home? I see lots of workers getting away with this in any job I was in...

Stheno

EndoftheRoad2015 wrote: »

To be fair not everyone can be innovative and forthcoming with ideas etc in fact I would guess that it's the minority who come to work positive every day. There is no hope of me moving up as the managers know I don't care so they won't take a risk on me however I'm doing a part time masters by night in college for my own self interest. I can't afford to leave and I'm in a bad frame of mind for interview. Can you get away with just going in, marking time and then going home? I see lots of workers getting away with this in any job I was in...

They'll eventually manage you out if you continue just marking time.

They already treat you as the lowest of the low, all it will take is one or two slips on your behalf and you'll find yourself facing a severe disciplinary process, and boom, you'll be gone.

You are literally playing into their hands to enable them to legally fire you once you give them the opportunity

skallywag

Endoftheroad2015 wrote: »

How can you stay engaged, even if just enough to keep your job, when you stop caring?

Maybe do the math on how ca 800 Euro a month will work out for you?

Endoftheroad2015 wrote: »

There is no hope of me moving up as the managers know I don't care so they won't take a risk on me

What's stopping you turning over a new leaf and making an effort to impress?

You seem to want everything handed to you on a plate, and are happy to try and justify your attitude with 'sure nobody likes their job anyway' etc.

Clearlier

Were you always like this endoftheroad or was there a stage in your life where you were enthusiastic, positive and innovative? If the latter, what's changed and is there anything that you can do about it?

seamus

A lot of jobs have a limited lifespan for the single individual. You start off in the learning phase, you move into the contributing phase, where you know enough to both help and improve the systems, and then you move into the expert phase where you know everything inside-out. You're a significant asset in terms of knowledge and training. But soon after that you'll usually hit a bit of a wall in terms of making a big impact at the company and improving yourself.

This is often a combination of being limited by the scope of your role, by the financial or political will of the company and by the scale of any further changes necessary.
Your ability to educate and learn new skills is limited too because you have little scope to apply these new skills in your current job. So you can learn them, and then forget them again two years later.

Knowing that you now lack the ability to effect any major change, you settle into the position in the company because it's easy and stressless and your enthusiasm for the job drains. Because you're bored. And you convince yourself that you've in fact become bored of the entire career into which you were trained and maybe you should do something else.

This is the reason why many of the big software companies tend to focus on paying the big money to the people who've been with them 2/3 years, and the people who've been there longer either get moved onto something completely different or they get managed out. Employees unwilling to push themselves into doing something engaging are known to end up costing more in the long run, and they get left behind at bonus time, salary increase time, and when it comes time to hand out the interesting projects. Someone who's been working in the same role for 5 years often ends up being less productive than someone there 2 or 3 years.

The one thing I've learned is that no-one is ever going to come along and make work better for you. If you're not getting paid as much as you want, find somewhere that will. If you're getting treated like ****, find a company that's good to employees. If you're bored and intellectually handcuffed by your current role, go find something new.

Go and have a look at what's available in the market for your current job. Even a step or two above what you're doing now. Although you find yourself bored right now, that can be combination of the work and the company. Simply changing company can be enough of a kick in the arse to reignite that bulb in your brain and get you engaged again.

Move to another company, plan on hanging on for a year. If nothing else, the raw fear of being fired should keep you engaged enough to collect a salary, and the immersion in something new - even just a new environment and new colleagues - should change your mindset enough to help you feel more confident about pushing onto the next thing in 12 or 18 months' time.

I can guarantee that even switching to a basic job serving coffee or working a till would have enough new interactions to keep me interested for about 3 months.

That is of course not to say you have to do a job that's continually engaging. Plenty of people live life just fine without it - in fact they relish work as a chance to switch off and relax.

But the very fact that you're picking your boredom up as a problem tells me that you're not happy to be a by-the-numbers guy who runs through mindless procedures all day.

LegacyUser

Endoftheroad2015 wrote: »

Im in my job close to 8 years and I have lost all passion and interest in it as you do when time passes (i find it impossible to believe anyone can still like their job after 5 years). I literally do the absolute bare minimum just to get by and management have a pretty good idea at this stage- very few will ask me to commit to helping out on a project because they know I will only do whats required and offer zero ideas or innovation. To be fair I dont think being innovative should be asked of someone in a job, you just follow the procedure and end of.
Thing is, I do need the cash after a recent string of home-related repair jobs and a new car so its not like I can walk out when I have these bills over my head and the frame of mind Im in my indifference would come through in an interview. How can you stay engaged, even if just enough to keep your job, when you stop caring? Anyone else in this situation?

How big is the company you work for? Chances are if it is a large Corporation, I would not be moving too soon. Large Companies that are poorly managed tend to have problems getting rid of "coasting" employees. The bigger the company, the more chances an employee can simply hide away for years unnoticed. This can also happen in small companies.

Now onto the innovation issue, I would NOT contribute any innovative ideas for a simple reason. People who are part of the "Management" team will take your ideas and probably pass them off as their own. It happens all the time.

Not to mention, any intellectual property you create in a corporate environment tends to have a clause in your contract which states the ownership of these ideas becomes company property, as you are doing this stuff on their clock.

Just do the bare minimum, smile, and take that paycheck every month. At this stage barring forced redundencies, it will be pretty much impossible to get rid of somebody with 8 years service. Use this to your advantage.

Sabotage projects by "misplacing" documents and follow instructions to the letter while exploiting flaws and ambiguities, if the people who manage you aren't the brightest. A bit of paypack of they hassle you for working the minimum requirements. Managers tend to give low performers a harder time. Use this as ammunition. If you are feeling this disengaged, chances are the people you work for contributed to this.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the replies, to answer your questions, I guess I was more enthusiastic when i started but a mixture of office politics and me simply not liking a lot of people there just resulted in me not caring anymore. I did try to show initiative a few times but was just shoved back into my box, so after that why would I bother? But the worst part of the job is that other people can stroll in, do little to no work all day, chat to their buddies, and yet, because they are that small bit more likeable than me, all of their incompetence and poor timekeeping is forgiven by upper management and yet Im just scorned and ignored because I only want to do the bare minimum. The workplace is a very, very strange place.
My evening course at college is very enjoyable and i will get a pHD in 2 years if im successful so I hope to branch out in a different job with that but until then im stuck (unless i get fired!)

thegreatgonzo

EndoftheRoad2015 wrote: »

But the worst part of the job is that other people can stroll in, do little to no work all day, chat to their buddies, and yet, because they are that small bit more likeable than me, all of their incompetence and poor timekeeping is forgiven by upper management and yet Im just scorned and ignored because I only want to do the bare minimum. The workplace is a very, very strange place.
)

You sound like an awful person to work with to be honest. It's a bit rich pointing fingers at other people's incompetence etc when you admit to only wanting to do the bare minimum yourself. And yes people who are otherwise likeable will be given a free pass now and then. Nothing strange about that.

davo10

The 3 A's employers look for, attitude, aptitude, ambition.

Mongfinder General

Time for a new start. If you could weasel your way into the public service that would be perfect for you. You can get away with the bare minimum in there as long as you keep your mouth shut and don't disturb your bosses from their torpor.

On the other hand, if you stay in your current job, you are going to have to adapt your approach somewhat. Life is not too short, it is the longest thing anybody ever does, besides being dead. Working for a living is a b4stard, few of us get what we deserve, the hard work pays off motto is a load of crap. Playing the game or the politics of the workplace is how you can get ahead or at least get people of your back. It's about perception more than anything else.

You need to get on the good side of people in influential positions- it may mean attending social functions at work and feigning interest in your peers and managers hobbies. This will get you so far. Most people are playing the game in their workplace without being very good at their jobs. No reason why you can't.

ush

What exactly is the problem?

Listen, you're competent and you actually work. Which is probably more than can be said of your managers.

Don't listen to those who've swallowed and internalised management speak. Attitude, aptitude and ambition. Utter bollocks.

Don't listen to any of that motivational management bollocks. Its designed to guilt trip people. They've done you. They only need a certain amount to look after their interests, the rest they'll keep in their place.

Treat work as a means to an end. Find something outside of work that you burn for. The whole corporate career thing is just a social game. Someone has to do the heavy lifting and that's what your doing. Those positive career types just learn to say hallelujah and amen in the right places.

Don't challenge the hierarchy or you'll get shown the door. If your workplace is big enough, find others who know the score. You'll identify them by quirks of clothing or their cynical quips. Small comfort, I know.

Try and get your hands on a copy of Corinne Maier's Hello Laziness. Check out her 10 commandments on the wiki page for the book.

Stheno

EndoftheRoad2015 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, to answer your questions, I guess I was more enthusiastic when i started but a mixture of office politics and me simply not liking a lot of people there just resulted in me not caring anymore. I did try to show initiative a few times but was just shoved back into my box, so after that why would I bother? But the worst part of the job is that other people can stroll in, do little to no work all day, chat to their buddies, and yet, because they are that small bit more likeable than me, all of their incompetence and poor timekeeping is forgiven by upper management and yet Im just scorned and ignored because I only want to do the bare minimum. The workplace is a very, very strange place.
My evening course at college is very enjoyable and i will get a pHD in 2 years if im successful so I hope to branch out in a different job with that but until then im stuck (unless i get fired!)

Do you have any sort of formal performance evaluation system in your company?

lanos

old thread I know but it reminded me of this

https://youtu.be/_iiOEQOtBlQ