A high-paying job comes with high pressure. Often when you’re interviewed for a senior-ranking position, an employer will require more time, effort, and practice toward work. You will need to work all the time, including weekends. You will need to be available when you’re on leave. If you’re a leader, you expect your subordinates to put in the same amount of effort. Being chained to your desk comes with many perks. The company incentivizes a life devoid of personal joy. For every tip of the scale to work rather than life in the work-life balance, you get the golden handcuffs.
Understanding the golden handcuffs
This refers to the phenomenon where workers remain stuck in a position where the salary, perks, and benefits are too enticing to leave. The work itself is overwhelming, and the environment is likely toxic. But because you don’t have to worry about money, you never leave the position.
Getting to a high-income level is a valid ambition. Becoming an industry leader in your chosen field can be rewarding for the future of your career. It shouldn’t come at the expense of your mental and physical health. It can be difficult to break free because you’re unsure that you can get a job as well-paying as your current gilded cage. When you see your job getting in the way of your interpersonal relationships, and causing insomnia, stress, or burnout, it’s time to slip off the golden handcuffs.
Types of golden handcuffs
A company spends a lot of time and effort training employees to meet their performance standards and match their culture. As long as you’re helping them surpass their bottom line, they’ll do everything in their power to ensure you want to stay at your job. They make it nearly impossible to reduce your workload but will spend any number of resources to keep working. They include things like above-market pay, company cars, limitless credit cards, loan payments, performance bonuses, and other conditional perks.
For example, if your contract comes with a yearly bonus, it will be issued based on your performance but at the end of a slow period. This ensures you don’t want to leave at the end of a high-pressure season. If you do take a leave of absence, it takes a lot of time before you can resume the bonus award level you’ve already accomplished. The company is also likely to give you a non-disclosure agreement or a non-compete clause to ensure you can’t speak out or leave to start your venture.
How to free yourself from golden handcuffs
1. Start slow
When you feel overwhelmed by your current position, don’t just quit your job and turn your back on your career. It’s not practical to make drastic changes especially when you need to pivot your life. This is especially important if you have dependants. Sit down and look at what needs to change and how you can make it happen. Discuss with your spouse what steps you need to take to change your lifestyle.
Look at your work situation. Can you take a demotion? Should you look for another job in a similar company and resign then? Have you made investments that will require scaling back? Intentionally and methodically finding a way to free yourself from the cuffs will take a long time, especially if you don’t want to upend your life.
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2. Review your budget
Because you’re preparing to leave or scale back your role, you need to make certain changes. The only way to ensure you don’t get caught out is to review your expenditure. This way you can choose whether to start saving more or see if you can rely on your savings. Perhaps your golden handcuffs come with tuition paid for your children at an expensive school. Can you afford to pay for this when you leave your position?
Going through your cash flow helps you come up with a plan to help you see what you can prioritize. You can also decide to buy a marginally cheaper house rather than continue to rely on the company perks to cover the mortgage in a more high-end property.
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3. Invest in yourself
Even if you’ve signed an NDA or a non-compete, you don’t need to rely on your knowledge of what you did at the company to get a different job. You can use your skills to get better job offers that don’t come with the same millstones. Doing timely courses and helping you stand out from the rest of the job market can help. Don’t tie your coursework to the company that’s cuffing you.
4. Take personal time
When the time is right, take a break. This can be a sabbatical or paid time off. Choose a break that can’t trigger the company giving you a hard time because they suspect you want to leave. On your break, take the time to recover before you hand in your notice or ask for a demotion. Consider how you ended up in your situation and realign your values. Do you value salary over job fulfillment? Should you switch your career entirely? Do you need to start working on a paradigm shift? The break can also give you time to reconnect with your family and friends.
5. Set a deadline
When escaping golden handcuffs, it can be easy to get sucked back in by all the perks even after firmly deciding to leave. If you give yourself a game plan and then set a deadline, you can stick to it and ensure you stick to your goals. Choose a new goal. Whether it’s to take less work and take the perk losses or leave the company altogether, ensure you have a date when you will enact this. Before applying for a new job, ensure the role will give you the fulfillment you need.
6. Renegotiate
Discuss with your unit’s leadership about scaling back work. If that means that you get a pay cut, you’ll have already managed to reorganize your finances to live on the new salary. Golden handcuffs show that the company isn’t willing to let you go and you can leverage that to negotiate a better work-life balance for yourself.
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7. Set boundaries
If you don’t want to give up perks, you can find a way to manage your work time to still make your deliverables but not infringe on your personal life or health. You can switch off your work phone and disconnect from work during home hours and weekends. You can also set up a schedule that ensures you have balance at work as well. Take a walk every two hours or go out of the office during meal breaks. This can help you create a balance where you don’t overwork yourself to accrue benefits. 6 Ways To Set Boundaries Within The Workplace
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8. Switch it up
If you work for a big corporation, there are many departments with interchangeable skills. For example, if you work in the cyber-auditing department you can also move to security or network management. See which departments have a lighter workload or a better work schedule. See where you can make a lateral move. This way you can maintain some perks or salaries.
Check out:
Ambition Addiction: What It Is, Signs, And What You Can Do About It
Career: Eight Ways To Successfully Make A Job Switch
Careers: 6 Ways To Find Your Dream Job Fast
Careers: How To Deal With A Toxic Job When You Can’t Leave
