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Learning The Global Job Satisfaction Crisis Career development programmes are in the enlightened self-interest of managers. By Kevin Kruse Steven Slater. Remember the name? Steven Slater was the JetBlue flight attendant who burst into our collective consciousness in 2009 after he cursed out passengers, grabbed two beers, and slid down the emergency shoot in one of the most famous resignations of all time. For the next 48 hours, Slater dominated cable news headlines, became the fodder for the monologues of Jay Leno and David Letterman, and received 182,000 "Likes" on Facebook. Was he a hero or felon? The entire world apparently wanted to know. What made that story so popular? The reason Slater's antics captured the attention of so many people is because he tapped into the career reality of so many people. It's the reality that we as talent professionals know from the cold hard statistics: • Only 45 percent of workers are even just "satisfied," according to Conference Board research. • 32 percent of workers hope to find a new job in the year ahead, according to Mercer data. Job "satisfaction" itself is a very low bar. A satisfied employee might still be one who hops up from her desk at 5:00 p.m. sharp, or takes that headhunter phone call looking for that 5 percent bump in pay, or goes home and mumbles "fine" when asked how her day was at work. "Engagement" on the other hand, although uncommon, is very powerful and is something you can easily see when it's present. You see it in the waiter who addresses his regular customers by name. You see it in the office worker who looks up at the clock mid- afternoon and mumbles to no one in particular, "Oh, I forgot about lunch." You see it in the airport security officer who actually greets you with a smile and comments on the city you are traveling from. You see it in the worker who offers up the names of three friends when she learns that there is a job opening in her company. Engaged employees are ones who routinely go the extra mile—give extra discretionary effort—not just so they can succeed, but so that their organisations can succeed. Unfortunately, in most organisations today, neither engagement nor satisfaction abounds. Comedian Drew Carey hit the mark when he quipped, " " Job satisfaction is at a record low and it's a crisis for both businesses and individuals alike. Spillover and Crossover Effects I once received what I consider to be the ultimate work compliment. It didn't actually come from a colleague—it came from the wife of one of my team members. She said, "I really want to thank you. You made my marriage better." Now at the time I didn't know much about the notion of spillover, so I was a bit confused and speechless. "Paul used to be such a grump," she continued. "Since going to work for you, he's like a new man. I actually like having him around the house now!" You have a bad day at work and come home and kick the dog. That's the classic example of what psychologists call the "spillover SUMMER 2011 | www.hroglobal.com [41] Y ou know there' 'everybody bar . ,' and we hold our meetings at 5 o'clock at the s a support group for that. Y es, it' s called Y ou don' t like your job?

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