Communication Strategies for Job-Hugging Times

Up Front: The feeling of being stuck in a work relationship is hazardous for communication and performance, but a fresh approach can help.  If you’re currently job hugging, use this time to develop new communication strategies that will serve you in the future, too.  If you’re a leader concerned about the job-hugging trend, find ways to foster connection. 

Being stuck sabotages communication.  Consider: the things people (possibly you) say when they’re caught in traffic or the interactions between couples that really ought to break up but can’t or won’t.  When we feel trapped by circumstances beyond our control or defeated by our seeming inability to improve our situations, our communication suffers, almost instantly.   

The feeling of being stuck in a work relationship brings the same communication hazards.  And if the statistics about job hugging are accurate, then a lot of people and organizations are facing these hazards every day. 

By all accounts, employees have become job huggers because they feel anxious about the economy, the labor market, and the future of work.  And when people are anxious, their communication frequently suffers, as they default to familiar stress behaviors like withdrawing, picking fights, or fawning.

Simultaneously, this widespread anxiety can breed mistrust across organizational cultures if leaders assume employees are staying only for lack of a better option or employees wonder if organizations are taking advantage of their vulnerability.  In such a climate, communication becomes guarded, defensive, and inauthentic.  Inauthenticity undermines trust even further, and communication suffers more.  As these dynamics lead to lowered expectations, performance falters. 

 A fresh approach to communication can help. 

If you’re currently job hugging, explore new communication strategies.

Job hugging is tiring.  And when you’re tired, it’s hard to communicate effectively.  If your ideal outcome is being able to leave, eventually, on your own schedule and on good terms with your employer and colleagues, these communication strategies can help:

Develop a personalized communication strategy for what to share, and with whom. 

When you’ve worked with the same people for a long time, it can be easy to confuse bosses, mentors, and colleagues.  Don’t.  Instead, make a plan for what kind of information you will share with whom, and how. 

Find safe places where you can be fully honest about how your job makes you feel.

Most often, these places are not your workplace.  If you have an appropriate outlet for those feelings, you’ll have more capacity to communicate effectively at work.  Share your fears and frustrations with a friend, partner, therapist, or coach, or complain to a tree.  Even if you’re friendly with your coworkers or your boss, remember that you can’t make them forget things you’ve said, and you can never predict how work relationships will change over time.

Practice assertive communication to create new opportunities for yourself. 

Even if your current job is not your forever job, there might still be ways (even if they’re small) to make your work more enjoyable and rewarding.  If there’s an opportunity that interests you, like a new project or temporary assignment, use your assertive communication skills to ask for it.  Even if you don’t get exactly what you want, the act of advocating for yourself can increase your sense of agency and make your overall circumstance feel more bearable. 

Here's a bonus: these practices will serve you well in your current role and in your next one.  If you feel like you’ve mastered the basics of your job, then it’s an ideal time to practice building other skills, like your professional communication. 

If you’re concerned about job hugging in your organization, explore new connection strategies.

First, be sure your perceptions are accurate.  Find trustworthy information about the mood and morale on your team.  Don’t confuse the genuine loyalty and commitment of long-term, high-performing employees for job hugging.  And don’t underestimate the value that people bring in the meantime even if they plan to move on eventually. 

Explore new ways to share.

Find new ways to communicate about the good things happening in your organization.  If people have been there for a while, they might tune out if they think they already know what you’re going to say or do.  Depart from the usual channels, or find ways to freshen up your messaging.  This helps everyone.  If communicating with your team feels like a chore, that will come through in what you say and how you say it. 

Create opportunities for real-time personal interaction.

Get people talking to one another as humans, preferably about more than work.  Small changes, like starting meetings with a quick icebreaker or inviting people on your team for a walk or coffee, can make a big difference in how connected everyone feels to one another and the work.  If you want a more substantial reset, a facilitated retreat or offsite can deliver transformative results. 

Express your appreciation.

If you’ve got a mature organization full of amazing performers and cohesive teams, it can be easy to take their hard work and success for granted.  Don’t.  Inventory what’s working well and name it publicly.  Gratitude is good for you, your people, and your organization.  Appreciation doesn’t have to take the form of a monetary reward to matter to the recipient.  Sincere thanks from respected leaders and internal awards and recognition also make your employees feel seen and valued.

And here’s a bonus for you, too: these internal communication practices will benefit your organization whether or not you’ve got job huggers among your ranks. 

Stuck isn’t forever.

It’s normal to get, or to feel, stuck sometimes; circumstances change faster than we can adapt, or we change faster than our circumstances can accommodate.  But we can find ways to keep that feeling of being stuck from becoming corrosive as we look forward to a time when our reality and our ambitions align.