The Coach: Quitting your job is a big deal. Have you really thought it all through?

There is a lot of hype around about the so-called “great resignation”, and while it is true that there appears to be an almost feverish anxiety among architectural studios to hire and hold on to talent, it would be easy to assume that this is a short-term pandemic-induced crunch rather than something that has been much longer in the making and it won’t be solved by throwing either money or promotions at the challenge.

与其他趋势一样，一些人想要继续工作的愿望在一定程度上是由于他们的经历，不仅是因为在家工作，而且是因为在这种生存威胁的背景下这样做，使他们重新思考生活和工作的许多事情。因此，虽然一些人带着对灵活性的新期望回到办公室，但其他人所做的决定可能会产生长期影响。

Many younger workers were already thinking about what it means to commit to a single career, much less a single employer, before the pandemic struck. Others may have been, and remain, committed to the design profession, but are in a greater hurry for progress on a linear career path and decide that moving to a new practice is the most expedient way to fast-track themselves.

This is mostly seen as an employer’s problem: “They want more flexible working”; “they want the job title of associate”; “they want more money without more responsibility” – these are all becoming popular tropes. That is a whole lot of one-sided wanting, which is placing enormous pressure on practice leaders.

有人说人们不会离开公司;他们离开老板。你是这样的吗?

这里给那些想要做出改变的人一个忠告:在你跳槽之前，我希望你能更仔细地探索自己想要改变的想法和感受。也许更大的灵活性、更多的钱、或更高的职位头衔只是暂时的解决办法，而不是你所希望的“包治百病”的解决办法。

A good start would be to be honest with yourself about whether you are running away from something, or toward something that you are excited about. It has been said that people don’t leave companies; they leave bosses. Is this true of you? Is it someone or something that is making those feet itchy?

If this is the case, make sure that you are not taking the problem with you. There may be a pattern of behaviour, or of responding to a certain kind of behaviour, that could be repeated wherever you go next. Try to see dealing with it – rather than evading it – as a learning and personal development opportunity.

Another thing to think about is whether you have exhausted all your options in your current role before seeking a new one. You won’t know this until and unless you have a proper conversation with the leaders of your current practice. And, employers,you除非你花时间和他们交谈，并专注于听他们说什么，否则你永远不会知道。这也许不能阻止他们离开，但你可以从你所做的一切让他们留下中获得一些安慰。

考虑一下你是否正在产生你想要的影响。如果不是，你想要有什么样的影响?你需要采取什么步骤来实现这一点?

Is there anything you want to do where you are that will bring you closer to your longer-term objectives, and do you know what those are?

Remember you are more likely to be given the opportunity to do something new or different with an employer with whom you have already created a relationship than you are in a new role elsewhere. And making more of a mark where you are can only enhance your future career and job prospects.

People can easily become disenchanted when they see people they have worked with as peers given leadership responsibilities, and don’t quite understand why

In my coaching practice, I often explore with clients how they can demonstrate their leadership qualities to their current employer by stepping up to new responsibilities, or by taking the lead on new initiatives or practice innovations. This may also be a route to finding more “purpose” at work or being able to follow your passions more closely.

A final word for employers: people can easily become disenchanted when they see people they have worked with as peers given leadership responsibilities, and don’t quite understand why.

Have you explained to those seeking promotion what they need to do differently to become an associate, for example? Have you considered how you are going to support them (for example with coaching or mentoring) to step up to these responsibilities?

It may seem a bit of a stretch to reframe the “great resignation” as the “great opportunity”, but for people who find themselves on either side of the equation it may well be.

As a sponsoring client once said to me about someone I was asked to coach, who was evidently unhappy: “I don’t mind if she stays or if she goes, but I want her to be a happy stayer or a happy leaver – and I want to know I did everything I could to make her stay.”