Knowing What To Expect

Although employers and employees work together toward getting the job done, the expectations and the values each holds are not always communicated or clearly understood. It's important to recognize this and be aware of some of these expectations.

For most of us, once we've learned our jobs, employers can expect us to perform our duties to the best of our abilities and work with some degree of independence and responsibility by:

			regulating our time without being reminded
			being the judge of our own work performance on a day to day basis
			knowing how to behave at work
			handling our personal problems without letting them interfere with our work

We contribute our skill, our knowledge and our commitment to the workplace. In return, we can realistically expect to:

			receive adequate training
			be treated fairly and with respect
			have rules, policies and changes in our duties explained
			be told what is expected of us as workers
			be informed of things that affect us directly before, rather than after, the fact
			have tolerable and safe working conditions
			have a reasonable workload
			receive fair wages and benefits
			have a reasonable amount of control over the work we do
			be given the opportunity to make suggestions and have them considered
			have our work fairly evaluated and to be given credit for it
			have a reasonable opportunity to use our knowledge, skills, training or experiences
			be told where our work fits into the overall scheme of the organization

Job dissatisfaction often results however, when several of these expectations are not met. The most common causes of frustration and dissatisfaction stem from:

			Poor communication between management and employees, including a lack of feedback to employees about their work
			too heavy a workload
			lack of recognition for the work done
			incompatibility of work values between employees and employers
			personality conflicts in the workplace that are difficult to resolve
			not having a sense of belonging, acceptance or importance as a person

Even though most employers want to meet the expectations of their employees, they may not be aware of what those expectations are, since they are rarely discussed openly. It is the responsibility of both employers and employees to communicate their expectations to each other - especially if they want them to be met!

Since supervisors and managers often set the overall tone of the workplace by making polices that affect the conditions and relationships of the workplace, it's generally their responsibility to be aware of factors that contribute to a low stress environment. We hope employers see that too much pressure, constant overtime or too little input into decision-making is stressful for workers, but if they don't, then it's up to us as employees to make our concerns known to employers.

Advising employers of our concerns in a forthright, two-way discussion often proves to be the most successful method. It helps to keep in mind that employers and employees ultimately are working towards the same goal of getting the work done. Employers want to know if something is preventing us from doing our jobs.

Part of knowing what we can expect of ourselves, our employers and our jobs, is knowing our reasons for working at our particular jobs right now. Is it a short-term job or a long-term one? How temporary or permanent do we want it to be? Are our expectations reasonable considering the nature of the job? Are we meeting some immediate needs such as:

		earning quick cash
		earning enough money to go back to school, college, university or take further training
		getting back into the workforce
		gaining some specific work experience related to a future job
		having the kind of working hours we want
		working in a particular location, and so on....

Each time we experience some negative twinges on the job - whether difficult working conditions, schedules, customers or supervisors, we need to remember why we are at our particular jobs. Knowing that we have the choice to continue on in our jobs for such and such reasons, leaves us in control because it's our decision. Then, whatever we may be finding difficult may be somewhat more tolerable and our expectations of the job can fall into place.

Realizing what our jobs are really about can make a difference in being able to accept our jobs or hardly coping with them. Often we can maintain a positive approach towards our jobs by transforming the work we do.

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