Four Major Responses to Work Troubles

Cathy has been working with TPL Ltd for about six years. Recently Cathy has been dissatisfied with her boss Mark. She knew Mark was short of integrity before she got the job but when he made ambitious promises she bought into them.

Three years into the work tenure, Mark hadn’t delivered on any of his promises of promotions, perks, etc. Cathy had tried to be “understanding” and didn’t tell Mark how much it bothered her. She prayed he’d be able to repent and come clean- fulfill his promises.

Mark was full of excuses though- one after another. First, it was COVID, then it was post COVID then it became the economy.

Cathy decided to voice her concern. She told Mark how important it was to her to progress in her career. She pointed out that something always seemed to get in the way. Mark responded with the usual excuses.

She started to wonder if anything would change. She asked herself whether she could accept mediocrity at work. Her heart sank when she realized she could not be happy with things the way they were. Cathy began to shut down. She quit asking Mark about his promises. She quit caring about whether he would change. She gave less attention and effort to work at TPL Limited. Still, she wasn’t sure she wanted to quit.

But as more time passed, she found herself secretly hoping TPL Ltd would fire her. Eventually, she suggested to be allowed to explore other prospective employment opportunities. In all this she expected this would upset him. Instead, Mark agreed to the new arrangement.

Cathy changed her LinkedIn Profile to “available for jobs” She sat for numerous interviews, and before much longer she felt ready to finally end things with Mark and TPL Limited.

 From my experience , there are four broad categories of responses when it comes to dealing with dissatisfaction. Let’s call these responses: Loyalty, voice, neglect and exit. Cathy experienced all the four.

She began with loyalty. Loyalty is considered a passive way to remain committed during times of dissatisfaction. It’s when we wait for things to get better and keep apositive attitude, without taking any direct action. Cathy showed loyaltywhen she didn’t say anything about Mark’s empty promises.

When the troubles didn’t pass, Cathy turned to voice, an active strategy to create change. She communicated what was troubling her and tried to find a solution when she asked for what she wanted—promotions and career elevation.

Both loyalty and voice are associated with high levels of commitment. We typically use these strategies when we have higher levels of satisfaction and plan to remain in the relationship or on the job.

 We sometimes think that if someone is voicing his dissatisfaction, it means he’s not committed. But the research reveals a different story. When people speak up, they are attempting to do something about the troubles that threaten their satisfaction and commitment. That’s a good sign. When commitment is low, they’re more likely to remain quiet and use the next two strategies—neglect and exit.

 Because the troubles in her work relationship greatly surpassed what she treasured about it, Cathy’s commitment began to fade, leading to the third response, neglect.

Neglect is a passive strategy for dealing with dissatisfaction. It occurs when we give up on making things better. As Cathyrealized these troubles weren’t going away and she wasn’t willing to live with them, she began to allow the work relationship to deteriorate by giving it little attention or energy.

Finally, Cathy decided to exit. Exit is an active way to end a

 commitment. It consists of quitting, leaving, or searching for a new opportunity. Cathy exited emotionally when she began searching for other employment opportunities.  

Not surprisingly, neglect and exit are associated with lower levels of commitment.