More About Disgruntled Workers

Last week we talked about Steven Slater here at the Welcome to the World of HR blog, but obviously he's not the only disgruntled worker out there. Let's take a look at a few other articles:

First we have the other "famous quitter" of this past week, "Jenny" who quit her job via job erase board "leaked" to The Chive. The whole thing ended up being a farce, but Jenny became as big of a cult hero as Slater for a few hours. What does it show when Slater and "Jenny" become "working class heroes"? People are frustrated at their current jobs.

With that in mind, Slate tells us that employers should be glad that candidates won't take their crummy, low-wage jobs, even in a bad economy: "Hiring is a negotiation between employers and employees over the terms at which they'll agree to come to work—wages, benefits, working conditions, length of commute, relocation requirements. Maybe some of these employers just aren't offering terms that are good enough."

TLNT follows by telling us that even people who have jobs aren't ready to settle for those crummy, low-wage jobs and that 40% of workers are going to be ready to find a new job this fall.

Lastly, we have a Wall Street Journal Careers Q&A where someone asks about quitting a job...before they've even started.

The lesson of all this: make sure that your current co-workers and you candidates are, well, "gruntled"

Astronology - Ripped From the Headlines: Employee Frustration in a Customer-Based Organization

Astronology Volume XI Issue 13   August 24, 2010 Dear Andrew, Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.   Fact or Fiction Ligers are animals that can grow up to be the same size as both parents combined. Ligers' parents are a lion Father and a tiger Mother. FACT! The Liger is considered the largest cat in the world. This hybrid cat's largeness compares favorably to that of its sibling, the Tiglon. Hopefully you don't have any Ligers or Tiglons roaming your home or apartment! However, you may have a sweet kitty or a clever cat who rules your kingdom. We'd love to see pictures of your own "Leo" doing something clever or fun, and share the joy with our Astronology readers! Please send us an e-mail with your pictures!   Ripped From the Headlines... Employee Frustration in a Customer-Based Organization By now most of us have heard of Steven Slater, formerly of JetBlue, who made a dramatic exit from his place of employment after reaching his breaking point on the job. While many employees who have had their fair share of job frustrations applaud his approach and consider him a folk hero, many wonder what caused a man with a 20-year career in customer service to end it as dramatically and unexpectedly as he did, at great cost to his employer. In this edition of Astronology, we take a look at the customer-based frustrations employees face....more   Have a Question? If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.   The Fine Print We hold your e-mail address in trust.  Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information.  We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time. To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail. Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC ISSN Number 1549-0467 Quick Links Client List Meet the Astron Team Contact Us   World of HR Blog Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions. More

 

What the JetBlue Story Can Teach Us

By now most of us have heard the story of Steven Slater, a 38-year-old flight attendant who got fed up with an annoying passenger, cursed out the whole flight, and made a grand exit by grabbing some beers and sliding down the emergency chute. But given a week to think about the consequences of such an action (and the debate goes from "he's an idiot" to "he's a hero"), let's take a look at some lessons Human Resources can take away from this:

Be First Class in Your Response

"No news is bad news," is sometimes the moniker of advertising,  but this type of news can't be good news if you're in Human Resources of JetBlue. But as HR Hero blogged earlier this week, Jet Blue responded in the best way possible in their blog post "Sometimes the news is about us." While most of us would a) not have the sense of humor to write a blog title like that, b) want to go on the defensive and start shoving accusations at Slater, and/or c) focus on the bad, JetBlue did none of that. They took the high road and acknowledged the great crewmembers they do have. And they referenced one of my favorite movies, Office Space, in the process. Bravo, Jet Blue!

Make Sure This Is Not Something People Feel Is OK

While it's OK to joke around about a story that has become funny news, it's important to let your other employees know this behavior is not tolerated and this is not the way to handle being disgruntled. Vault looks at it from the worker's side (and references a famous Half Baked quitting scene--which was in itself a parody on the Jerry Maguire quitting scene) and says things like "never quit out of anger", "don't burn bridges", and "give ample notice". This is something that your employees should take as regular behavior and not the way Slater (or Scarface or Jerry) quit their jobs.

Manage Your Employees' Workplace Stress

Barbara Safani wrote this post for AOL Jobs probably without Slater in mind, but the timing couldn't have been more prefect. The article is titled "Work Stress: What Are Companies Doing About It?" and should be a legitamite concern in the wake of Slater's seemingly stress-induced outburst (or maybe it was to land a reality TV show as TheWrap reports). This part is especially timely: "Managing stress in the workplace is a business issue, not fluff," says Rania Sedhom, principal at Buck Consulting. She notes, "Companies that make the investment to reduce stress in the workplace can improve employee loyalty and retention."

Astronology - Finding the Right Fit: A Leadership Selection Model for the Redesigned Organization

Astronology Volume XI Issue 12   August 10, 2010 Dear Andrew, Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.   Readers Write...Again! In our last issue of Astronology, our e-mail distribution service inadvertently cut off the initial part of our "Readers Write" feature. As such, we are reprinting it here in its entirety for you. Our query in the last issue of Astronology regarding favorite board games solicited a number of responses! Here we'd like to share two with you. First, Mark Silverstein from New York told us about two games - "Apples to Apples" and "Elfenland." "Apples to Apples," published originally by Out of the Box Publishing, and now by Mattel, is a card game suitable for groups and parties, ages 12 and up. During the game, the judge selects a "green apple" card containing an adjective. The remaining players then select from their "red apple" cards which noun is the best match for that adjective. The judge makes the decision, often selecting the noun that is the "most creative, humorous or interesting." With an average playing time of 30 - 60 minutes, "Apples to Apples" can be creative fun at home or on the road. Mensa International chose "Apples to Apples" as a 1999 Mensa Select prizewinner, an award given to only five games each year. "Elfenland," published by Rio Grande Games, is a German-style board game suitable for individuals ages 10 and up. The game takes approximately 1 hour to play, ideally with 2 - 6 players. During the board game, which also uses cards and tiles, each player tries to reach as many cities as possible before returning to his / her "home city." Jeffrey Bassman of New Jersey also wrote in regarding his favorite game: "My favorite summertime board game was always Sorry!There's nothing like sending the competition back to 'Start'." Thank you for sharing your favorite board games with the Astronology community!   Fact or Fiction August is a month for meteor showers. FACT! Between July 23 and August 24 2010, The Perseids Meteor Shower can be seen. The International Meteor Organization suggests that the best time to see them will be August 12-13, 2010 at 18 h and 7 h Universal Time. For those wondering what the time zone conversion for Eastern, Western Pacific or Mountain Daylight Savings Time from Universal Time, take a look at NASA's webpage! If you catch a glimpse of the Meteor Shower, we'd love to see your pictures! Please send them to National Director Jennifer Loftus, and we may reprint them in an upcoming issue of Astronology!   Finding the Right Fit: A Leadership Selection Model for the Redesigned Organization Kenneth R. Cohen, Ph.D. Over the past several years, companies across every industry have sought ways to improve profitability and service while decreasing costs. As labor expenses usually account for the single largest segment of the company's budget, downsizings are one of the first options that senior executives consider when trying to cut costs....more   Have a Question? If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.   The Fine Print We hold your e-mail address in trust.  Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information.  We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time. To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail. Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC ISSN Number 1549-0467 Quick Links Client List Meet the Astron Team Contact Us   World of HR Blog Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions. More

 

You're Fired...Wait...You're Hired...Again

Way back in November of 2007 I wrote a post on the Astron Solutions blog titled "You're Fired...Wait...You're Hired" after Circuit City decided to rehire some of the employees they had fired. It continues to be one of our most-visited posts and even though Circuit City is no longer around, the themes in that post (and Michael Scott's words) continue to resonate, especially with the recent "resignation" of Shirley Sherrod.

I posted a little while back from HR hero's The Oswald Letter about terminating in haste can lead to regret at leisure. Last Thursday, Fistful of Talent (H/T Jennifer) looked at the process of welcoming back rehires (AKA "The Sacred Boomerang Ceremony"). The author describes the ceremony:

At Kahler Slater, not only do they accept employees back (the good ones of course) but they believe that having a strong employee come back is reason to celebrate. John Horky, the HR Guy, creates for each one of these employees a boomerang and presents it to them during a staff meeting with their very own “Sacred Boomerang Ceremony”.

Imagine, a celebration where the entire company is gathered to welcome an employee back into the fold. They present the boomerang, tell everyone what the employee has been doing since he/she left, and celebrate them coming back to the company. 

This isn't a process without problems, however.

New Technology and the Job World

Face it, if you're looking for a job, working in a job, or hiring for a job in 2010, you're going to have to be up-to-date on new technology. Most of that is just social media but other things like the Microsoft Office suite, VPN access, and other technical skills are necessary for many jobs today. Let's take a look at a few articles to keep you on top of things:

First from Career Solvers, we have the results of the Jobvite survey which reveals that social networking is a top recruiting strategy. So head off of the regular job boards and to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

But before you go making a Facebook profile, read this article from FINS about the fact that Facebook is not always the job seeker's best friend (H/T Wendy).

And before you head onto Twitter, you should check out Business Insider's Twitter abbreviations you need to know. At least IMHO.

Lastly, this CNN piece about a robot visiting your cubicle may not be a technology you will have to worry about for a while, but just so you know that it's out there...

Have a great weekend!!!