- A common mistake people make is thinking that they'll be happy simply by moving to a new company.
- "Most companies are set up the same way as your existing company," Marcus Buckingham told Insider.
- Instead, you should find the parts of your job you most enjoy and base your move on them, he said.
Why do you really hate your job? And more importantly are there any bits of it that you love?
These are important questions to consider if you're thinking of quitting, according to consultant, researcher, and author Marcus Buckingham. He explained to Insider how a failure to do so often leads people to make one common mistake when quitting their jobs.
"If you're leaving your company because you think the new company is going to be doing things differently. That's the mistake," Buckingham told Insider. "Most companies are set up the same way as your existing company."
Although there is often a honeymoon period where a person is more engaged and productive after they move to a new firm, it can quickly start to feel like your old job if you're simply doing the same thing in the same industry, Buckingham argues.
Instead, if you want to get the move right, "what you're looking for is yourself," rather than the company, Buckingham said. You need to know which are specific parts of the job you love to do and enjoy the most (and which ones you don't).
Find what you love if you want a happy career
Academics have long scrutinized the connection between happiness and performance at work. There is some evidence that employees work harder, are more productive and less likely to quit when they're happy.
Other researchers have highlighted that happiness in itself is hard to measure and can have some potentially negative consequences. For example, an obsession with pursuing happiness can make people feel worse if they believe they haven't achieved it.
Buckingham is head of people + performance research at ADP Research Institute, which monitors employment trends. He argues in his latest book, "Love+Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life," that people can design their job to be happier by following what he calls their "red threads." These are the small parts of your job that you most enjoy doing, or feel naturally drawn to.
Say you wake up every morning and can't wait to hit the phone to catch up with your clients, or find that time flies when you're researching emerging markets ahead of a product launch. Everyone's red threads are unique, Buckingham said.
"If you haven't bothered to try to look for what your red threads are, or what you haven't really looked at what you love about what you do and the specifics of it, [before you move] then you won't find that in some new job,'' Buckingham said.
Rather than quitting, finding a way to spend more of your time at work on these red threads could make you happier. Paying greater attention to them could lead you to reassess what type of job you're in altogether, according to Buckingham.
When is it best to quit
It may turn out that having looked for those red threads, there is little in your role that gives you energy. If that's the case, your best bet may be to move, Buckingham said.
At the very least, you'll have a greater idea of what you're looking for — and what you're not.
Buckingham said there is another "wise move" people tend to make when they quit, which is not dependent on following what you love.
"People leave their manager, not their company, '' Buckingham said. "If you have a manager who doesn't bother to get to know you, or it's clear they simply don't care, then it's worth leaving. That's an important part of your work," he said.