Addressing the broader challenge of job dissatisfaction and disengagement in our current workforce should take on a more proactive sentimentality. In this touchy recession recovery period, it’s important to be aware of and address unhappy employees. Managing the JetBlue/Steve Slater Risk, an article by HCI.org’s Katie Ratkiewicz, discusses the infamous Steven Slater of JetBlue, and his dramatic exit from his 20-year career as a flight attendant.
Slater has been labeled as a “folk hero” and his Internet fame has skyrocketed. This episode, and more specifically the public response, is important from a Human Capital perspective, because it is a dramatic result of a growing trend among US worker job dissatisfaction and employee disengagement.
The Conference Board reports that US worker job dissatisfaction is at its lowest point in the past two decades. How can we manage this pent-up aggression in the workforce? Much of this angst began during the recession and has continued through this shaky recovery.
We know people are being asked to do more with less, budgets are limited, and times are still quite challenging – but the values, performance expectations and processes for a workforce must still remain front and center.
The Steven Slater/JetBlue incident shows that people can surprise you, and that you cannot manage every risk – because the warning signs aren’t always so clear. It’s important to determine effective methods of mitigating similar risks in our own organizations. This can often be accomplished through leveraging development-driven performance management techniques.
If you’re interested in learning more about the mitigating challenges of job dissatisfaction and employee disengagement, read the full article here.