Waycation

Way.ca.tion: A rest for the mind; an unconventional method of escaping the moment and returning refreshed and better than before.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Workplace Stress Is A Workplace Disaster

Some people are calling Steven Slater, a flight attendant for Jet Blue, a hero. He stood up to a passenger who, reports indicate, was being rude and physically assaulting. Some say Slater's behavior challenges the concept "the customer is always right," while others' hold the employer responsible for caring more about passenger than the employee. I believe the true reason for his, and others behavior was workplace stress and a lack of behavior training for long time employees. In my opinion employers fail to provide small behavior training's because they prioritize familiarity and experience in the job over personal growth and well being of the employees. What I see is a lack of balance between training for the job and training the people who do the job.

Examples of workplace stress are showing up all over the nation and can be seen in the media almost daily. I understand all the reasons for workplace stress, however, it is my belief that all employees should have continuous training. Events like the Jet Blue incident can be offset by short training's, at least once a quarter, in anger/stress management, as well as emotional intelligence and communication. These programs should be designed especially, but not exclusively, for employees who have considerable interaction with the public. This is important for long time employees.