Changes in working life confront us with complex situations, not only from an objective point of view, but also (and especially) at the level of our fantasies and fears. Between the two there is a very subtle line and it is generally difficult to distance yourself and realize which are the objective threats and which are not. And above all, what are the opportunities that open up every time we face a new stage.
Any change causes uncertainty, fear and a number of questions. In the case of work, the impact is even greater when the change has been involuntary, which generally implies that the affected person has not been able to prepare for that situation. However, it would be helpful if we get used to the idea that such changes can occur at any time. Being prepared for changes in working life is something that we should do, because although it may be unpleasant, it is a fact that the world of work has changed dramatically and will continue to change.
Until a few years ago, staff selectors saw high job turnover as an indicator of "shortcomings" in the person: lack of maturity, irresponsibility.
Today, on the other hand, it would be absurd and unfair to carry out such a simplistic analysis, since high turnover is more a characteristic of the labor market than a choice of workers.
It is evident that the lack of job stability and consequently the changes that we must face with increasing frequency, are a fact at the global level. Faced with this fact, we can think that it is a disgrace to be living in this age, or we can think that it offers us interesting challenges and the opportunity to use more than ever, something as human as our creativity.
I personally don't believe in absolute points of view. I think it is normal to go through different states of mind and have multiple and even contradictory points of view. Those who believe that they know everything and do not rethink fundamental questions, tend to be the ones who ultimately suffer the most when they must face the irrefutable fact that the cube does not enter the circular hole.
They can throw a tantrum like children, but reality prevails. Therefore, it seems logical to accept that human beings react differently to job change, that the same person experiences different sensations when in that situation and that we are all learning how to handle ourselves and what to do with the obstacles we have had to face..
Despite everything, it is quite common for adults to try to stay away from the feeling of insecurity. And although the evidence shows otherwise, we tend to hold onto beliefs and concepts that have already changed. As in so many other aspects of life, we tend to think that it is not going to touch us. We see how unemployment increases, how companies shrink, but we try to abstract ourselves from that reality until one day it hits us.
We are not quite ready for the job change and when we finally have to face it, the world seems to be falling apart. In these moments, a frequent way of continuing to deny the complexity of reality is to simplify everything and enroll in the "super positive" or "hyper negative" camp. This is how we hear some say that "everything is OK!" and to the others that «everything goes from bad to worse!».
Kieslowsky, the film director, said in a report that he was struck by the "exitista" style of certain North Americans who, when asked: "How are you ?, they emphasized:" super good! ". Instead, he said, he preferred to answer: "I'm so so."
There is a lot of "managerial literature" that suggests to those facing job changes to "build" an image of success that is more "selling." It is true that in general we tend to deal with stereotypes, and based on this the image that someone gives us plays an important role in our decisions about that person, but again it is a simplistic approach. Why deny that job change scares us? That the general situation of the world worries us.
That uncertainty exhausts us Why pretend to be a kind of Rambo or Terminator looking for a job when we are simply people?
Neither the super man nor the poor helpless, simply people who maturely face the problems of their time.
Denying, and denying us, the feelings that invade us in the face of the uncertainty of job change, takes us away from the best we have when it comes to getting to work: our humanity. It is strange that many professionals specialized in Human Resources do not realize this and promote the farce of the winning image and success.
If our society (that is to say, us) fails to accept with maturity that we are facing a profound change in the world of work and we do not appeal to solidarity, to joint work, to creativity; if we don't talk about what happens to us and what scares us; if we go to extremes and join in how much farce is proposed to us; We can hardly grow and we will be like screaming children because the world is not as they told us. If this happens, no matter how hard we try to project a winning image, we will all be losers.
