Leaders, Ignore the 5-Year Rule at Your Peril

The'seven-year itch' is a dangerous point in a marriage when it can start to feel suffocating and soul-deadening. The phenomenon is urban myth or reality, but when it comes to professional satisfaction, the "itch" is very real. It is closer to five years.

According to research done by Zenger/Folkman, there is a similar phenomenon among employees. Around year five in the same job, Zenger/Folkman documented a spike in boredom among employees.

There are lots of details and variation, but the bottom line is that it's more prevalent among the highly educated.

Over the years, we've asked executives to reflect on their own curve of excitement and creativity in all the jobs they've done. At what point does the downturn occur? The consistent answer we receive is five years. Asking people to do the same job for years is cruel and unusual punishment. So at the very least, we would suggest that managers be on the lookout at the five-year point for signs of boredom in their staffs, and nip it the bud by giving some thought to assignments that will require new skills and capabilities. Don't let these people languish just because they are continuing to do a good job for you.

Folkman and Zenger aren't coming out of the left field with these findings. There are plenty of experts who insist that companies that fail to give their employees a clear path to advancement will pay a steep cost in high turnover and unhappy teams in the future.

More than half of those surveyed were looking to change jobs. It was one of the main reasons why you felt stuck at your current company.

You can look at the phenomenon in a different way. It's easier and more comfortable to stay in the same job for a long time. It's nice to have ease and comfort, but why doesn't it make people happy?

Human beings for most of the time don't want to be happy. It's nice to have nice feelings, but the most powerful drive for most of us is towards meaning and accomplishment. We like to sacrifice contentment in order to feel accomplished in the long run.

A PhD in psychology is not required by many high-performing executives. The benefits of continually pushing yourself to do things that are deeply uncomfortable and frightening are preached by a lot of them.

It's a good warning to those who think they'll be good at coasting. It's likely to come back to bite you around the five year mark if you channel your drive for growth into hobbies, activism, or volunteering.

Zenger/Folkman points out a simple rule of thumb for leaders: don't allow your people to stay in the same role for more than five years. It may seem easier for everyone, but that road ends in boredom and high turnover costs.