Throughout my career I often had conversations with assistants in my teams who were bored, unmotivated, unchallenged, over it, or chasing a pay increase. They were thinking about moving on.

When we got to the heart of what was going on, in many cases a change of company wasn't going to solve the issue.

It was clear to me that they’d almost be guaranteed to find themselves feeling the same way 12 months later because they were leaving for the wrong reasons.

They hadn’t explored all possibilities in the current workplace, weren’t clear on what they really wanted next or where they’re going or what would bring longer term satisfaction and fulfilment at work.

If a root cause hasn’t been addressed, feelings of demotivation, dissatisfaction and boredom will return as soon as a new role is mastered, usually around the 1 year mark, and when the gloss of a new environment wears off.

The reality about chasing a couple of extra thousand dollars increase is that it may make a difference right now, but it’s not going to support you longer term if your new opportunity isn’t going to offer the experience that will support your progression and growth and expand your earning potential.

Sometimes the right answer isn't to jump ship - yet.

Sometimes it makes more sense to create change where we are, a change that will set us up longer term.

SOME OF THE WAYS WE CAN WORK THOUGH WHETHER A CURRENT ORGANISATION CAN STILL SERVE IS BY:

One major difference between administration careers and other professions is that others tend to have the benefit of being included in talent mapping and succession planning.

This means other professionals are nurtured, mentored and developed differently. They’re shown how to build out their career runway and how to highlight their value in meaningful ways.

Administration professionals are most often left to fend for themselves with this. It’s a horrible, cold, hard reality. It’s what drives me to do the work I do.

During my 27 year career as an Executive Assistant, I sat in countless Executive Committee Meetings where talent mapping was discussed.

I was a fly on the wall observing deep debate (sometimes very heated) and dissections of the performance of individuals. What I heard over and over again was enlightening.

As an EA I had a regular habit that served me well.

I carved out time every month to check in on how I was going, where I was going and how I was feeling. Not my performance goals, a more personal check in that was all about me, not what I could deliver for the organisation I was in.

I began doing this after noticing all of my executives spent time regularly thinking about themselves. Their career. Their success. Their happiness. Their development. Their professional relationships. Everything they needed to rise and rise and rise.