A reader contacted me after seeing the Each to their own - teamwork verses going it alone post of last week, with a tale about the brand of “teamwork” prevalent at his workplace.

The reader, who is currently working in a corporate team environment, said he was seriously considering starting his own business because he feels that while his efforts are being appreciated, his concerns - and suggestions - to improve certain workplace issues, are being ignored.

He says there is a lot being said about “pulling together as a team”, but that’s where the talk seems to end.

While the team is (apparently) doing well overall, the individual frustrations and difficulties some team members are experiencing appear to be of no account, or concern, to management.

This is despite the steps the reader is taking to find solutions to some of these problems.

Seemingly the only thing the managers talk about are the upcoming round of bonus payments, and while everyone concerned stands to gain financially to some degree, no one seems interested at some of the discontent that is present. After all, we’re only in it for the money aren’t we? Or so the attitude appears to be.

Surprisingly though, it’s not just about the money. Many people actually work for the satisfaction and fulfilment that a role offers.

While I may be the first person to think about the pay cheque when I take a job, I’m also interested in drawing other things from my work. I’d like to feel it is engaging and challenging. I’d also like to think I am making some sort of a difference, somehow, as well.

I can certainly relate to the reader’s issue however.

A few years I was doing some consulting work, and let’s just say the company in question was not particularly organised.

Trying to get even the simplest things done felt like an uphill battle, because no one knew what to do, or where to find help. Attempting to complete a task was a stop-start process, and one frustration followed another.

After a time people had started to become blasè, and it seemed many of my colleagues where turning up to work to simply make an appearance and “put in the hours”.

At one point the manager I was working for asked if I was enjoying the work. While I tried to be generally positive in response, when I expressed my frustrations, and told him I’d just once like to experience some feeling of achievement at “doing a job well done”, he looked puzzled.

In fact he looked more than puzzled. The expression on his face seemed to suggest I had stepped out of a flying saucer that had just landed from Mars!

“Thought you were more interested in the pay cheque, ” he quipped before taking a phone call, effectively ending the dialogue.

It’s not so much the nature of work that is forcing some people to consider a career change, or even set up their own business, as it is the apathy, or reluctance to listen to the concerns of workers and act on them, that appears to be present in some workplaces.

So it seems it comes down to personal preference. To tolerate such a working environment and simply be happy with the remuneration, or to find some other way to resolve the situation.

As many small business owners will tell you though, the money is not always fantastic. So what does that tell us? To me that says there are people who would rather forgo a fat pay cheque in exchange for having a lot more control over what they do, and simply derive a feeling of enjoyment or satisfaction from their work.

Others however won’t find that where are they are now, because no one seems interested in such a concept!