EK Company Survey

[a747jb]

Hi All,

I would normally not post something like this, but I actually think it is worth while. It probably went unnoticed to many and I almost deleted it myself, but the HR department here at EK sent out a survey in an email entitled "Add your colors to the mix" asking for our opinions (company wide) on what we think of working for EK. Think of it what you want, but I filled it out (takes about 3 minutes). Many of us get on here and complain about nearly everything and start great rumors and such. However, complaining on this website isn't going to change anything accept make us feel better to have a place to vent and laugh. This is very important, but, it wouldn't hurt to vent towards the company, and in fact they have asked us to do so and let them know how we feel.

They say its confidential and to be honest I don't care if it is or isn't. You can say what you want about it and how it may or may not be a waste of time because they aren't going to listen anyways. What it does do though, should we get ourselves and enough of our colleagues to actually take the 3 minutes to fill it out, is send a message about what people really think. I am not saying to put a good or bad response, that is for you to decide. I am however recommending to at least have a look and take the 3 minutes to fill it out.

All opinions aside, I quite enjoyed taking the 3 minutes to send my frustrations. Will they look at it, probably not, is it confidential, probably not, will it change anything, probably not. More importantly, will it hurt anything by filling it out, probably not, and you just never know. Things did change with the "special tickets" when thousands of us blasted them on that. Who knows, maybe this will do something too.

[Sheikh Your Bootie]

^^ What he said. I had deleted the e mail myself Habibis, as I had thought it was some usual guff from HR, about some new VP Toilet soap, or similar.

Quite nice to provide "Feedback". Maybe they will do nothing with it. Maybe, just maybe someone will wake up. Maybe not :ugh:

Worth the 3 mins, venting :ok:

SyB :zzz:

[ExpatBrat]

About ten years ago I filled out one of those training feedback surveys they always ask you for.

Two years later it came back, "deleted. unread". lol...

So you do what you want but that's it for me on any kind of survey here forever.

And sorry, but you're naive to even question whether or not it's confidential. Nothing here is.

[MrMachfivepointfive]

Truth about Emirates Airline Management (EKAS) (http://donotflyemirates.wordpress.com)

This is why. I guess His Highness got wind of it and wanted background info.

[Fugazi]

Suggest that everyone takes the time. :ok:

[BYMONEK]

ExpatBrat

3 minutes.......what have you got to lose? If you fill out the form along with 3700 pilots and the same themes are present, the Company may make changes. If 3700 pilots take your same viewpoint, nothing will change. That's guaranteed! 10 years ago, you could buy a 5 bedroom house in the Ranches for around 1.6 million. Let's try to move forward rather than forever complain about the past eh?

As for your statement about nothing being confidential, the EAC is and always has been. I know of several colleagues that've used it without any questions from fleet.

[JAYTO]

found it in the trash.
That will give you the first idea of what I think at the moment.
I Filled it in. I encourage every one to do the same. Lets see if the mountain of "disagree" do actually make some changes happen

J

[THRCLB]

Nothing to lose , treat it as another pprune thread about Ek :)

[flying willy]

Same here, had to look it up in the trash, but completed it.
Definitely worth taking 3 minutes from my time.

[cost neutral]

Well worth taking the time to fill out, you never know might actually achieve something.

[slartybartfast]

Yep, it can't do any harm. I doubt whether anything will happen, but worth a stab in the dark,

[Eau de Boeing]

Done too.... Let's see

[SMT Member]

The main purpose of any employee survey is to keep a team of people employed in HR, complete with at least one manager and usually a director overseeing things. They are paid a bonus depending on the number of replies they receive, not what action is taken based on the feed-back.

So there you are; congratulations for keeping useless HR people in beer and sandwiches, whilst ensuring they get a bonus.

[harry the cod]

SMT

HR bonus based on the number of survey returns? Really? I suppose you also started the A380 wing crack rumour doing the rounds. No known permanent fix and a shelf life of only 10 years before being grounded. Do you suppose that the Airbus wing design engineers will also get a bonus as the Airlines will have to replace their aircraft sooner? :ugh:

Harry

[SMT Member]

Harry

Nope, never been part of the wing crack rumor mill. I am, however, involved with HR and the handling of employee opinion surveys, and have been so in 3 different companies as a fairly senior manager. The employees directly involved with these surveys, i.e. HR deadweight, will have part of their bonus tied to the respondent rate.

[Kamelchaser]

I think you're all being a bit harsh on SMT.

I for one think we should all boycott this survey on the off chance that someone is indeed getting a bonus for the response rate.

I'm sure EK has set up this survey, with no intention of acting on it, but will instead pay out a hefty bonus to some clever employee because he or she got a big response to the survey...that they won't be using.

So let's do nothing...just in case.

[JAYTO]

I heard the survey was in fact a subliminal message delivery system.
While you fill it out you are being bombarded with a discreet message bringing you further in line with management expectations.
Oh and when you go out, don't forget your tin hat.

J

[ekwhistleblower]

I had trashed it too.

I talked about:
Lack of respect from senior management
always hearing "if you don't like it you can leave"
cost neutral proposals denied on the whim of senior managers
the HR manual being an illusion
no investing in employees to motivate them

I have never used "strongly disagree" so often in any survey

[White Sausage]

CC got the same survey. Unfortunately they are sh:\t scared to say anything due to management by fear and terror. So nothing will happen/change because we pilots are not enough in numbers. Wishing to be proven wrong though...

[Rather Be Skiing]

Just filled it out too. My cynical side says it won't effect any change because at the end of the day, they don't really give a s&@t.
But maybe....

I just know for certain, whining on here hasn't helped yet.

[aussiefarmer]

I would encourage everyone to take the 3 minutes to complete it too.

Just did, and trying to be totally neutral and fair, I would say 95% of my answers were on the 2 options far to the right.

Seems like they were spot on with the questions, personally I think there's someone very high up there concerned about it. And is not only us, ground staff won't have pretty answers for them either.

[halas]

They survey is company wide.

It seems everyone is filling it in the same as those who have posted here.

halas

[777boyindubai]

Agreed Halas. Not many people think the company is heading in the right direction.

[Kempus]

Wow! Didn't think I was so negative with my experience in the company.

Think everyone should fill this in. Better than being on here sausage shaking about what's better, Boeing or Airbus.

[BigGeordie]

We naturally focus on our own little world but I think it highly unlikely other departments in the company are treating their staff any better. The whole management culture needs to change. Question is, will the results be filtered by our thick (in every sense) layer of middle management before it gets to anybody who can make a difference?

[Townie]

No harm in filling it in, but how do you think this will play out? Assume a great percentage of negative responses from the employees. Assume this is shared with the relevant departments by the HR minions running the thing. What is the expected response?

They only know one management style, so the head of said department might be told "your troops are unhappy and are ready to revolt". Do we now expect them to be soft and cuddly and offer us a group hug? Unfortunately, once management starts to use the big stick, and rule with fear and intimidation it's very hard to go back.

Perhaps if enough people name and shame, there will be a management reshuffle. Some of the untouchables might even get a promotion for causing such widespread contempt within their department :ugh:.

[birdieonfirst]

Sorry, but I have to say I find some of the comments here quite pathetic!

When they actually do, what a great number of us have been hoping for, THAT is wrong also?

Really people?

:ok:BOF

[Visual Procedures]

Figured there had been a particularly strong dose of coolaid floating around with all the 'fill out the survey - its worth the 3 minutes!' comments going on.

So out of curiosity opened up the deleted items and typed in 'survey' into the search box.

The survey did only take 3 minutes. Is definitely not aimed at our group but am really looking forward to how they'll spin the statistics on the 'flight deck crew' responses.

I also have never disagreed or strongly disagreed with so many statements.

The coolaid was nice. I suggest you check out the survey :\

[Mach_Krit]

sorry for being naive or not aussie/american or native english speaker. whats all this talk about coolaid about??

thanks for enlightening me

[OBOGS]

From Wikipedia:

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a figure of speech commonly used in the United States that refers to a person or group holding an unquestioned belief, argument, or philosophy without critical examination. It could also refer to knowingly going along with a doomed or dangerous idea because of peer pressure. The phrase typically carries a negative connotation when applied to an individual or group. The phrase derives from the November 1978 Jonestown deaths,[1][2][3] where members of the Peoples Temple, who were followers of the Reverend Jim Jones committed suicide by drinking a mixture of a powdered soft drink flavoring agent laced with cyanide.[4][5] Although the powder used in the incident included Flavor Aid, it was commonly referred to as Kool-Aid due to its status as a genericized trademark.

Found the questionnaire in the trash bin - done!

[Mach_Krit]

thank you very much.

[GA Button]

Completed- let's hope the nay sayers are wrong - I live in hope

[Rather Be Skiing]

This is why. I guess His Highness got wind of it and wanted background info.

I see the manager of note in the open letter of your link was just laterally reassigned.

Interesting timing.

[fatbus]

There are so many more managers like the one in the open letter that should be culled.

[flareflyer]

fat bus you are right......
anyway she has been moved..........

[lockedout]

The managers I worked with in EK fell into three categories. Some were totally incompetent and part of the “How high should I jump, Sir?” brigade, but these were in the minority. The rest were decent and honest people who really wanted to do things properly. But these fell into two groups. The biggest, for a variety of reasons, felt so tied to EK and/or Dubai that they just kept quiet with their heads down. The second group spoke up and tried to change things. Nobody from this second group is now employed by the company.

Those at the top in the EK Group have got their approach to people totally wrong. They delude themselves that good financial results are an endorsement of everything they do. For example, the efficiencies lost as a direct result of the bureaucracy and fear culture is significant. I estimate that manpower levels in many support areas could be reduced by at least a third with a change of management style. On top of this you have the enormous cost of staff turnover. The concept of ‘there are plenty more of them out there’ may make some commercial (though not moral) sense on a building site, but to apply it to professionals is bizarre.

As for the survey, the consensus in the posts here seems to be that it will probably be a waste of time but that it should be completed. I would agree with that. If you ignore the company’s request for your views you are effectively endorsing their current approach. I believe surveys such as this (in any company) are generally initiated from the top with admirable intentions. But in EK there are far less constructive forces at work a rung or two down and these will undermine the whole process, interpreting the answers to further their own agenda.

The responsibility for the survey will probably be delegated to people who believe in doing things properly, but once the results are collated they will lose any real control over the process. In my experience, there were managers, both inside and outside HR, who had strong principles (regarding things like anonymity) and did their best to maintain them. Equally, there were some who didn’t.

In my department we commissioned an anonymous survey of our senior managers and asked them what they thought of us, the executive team. The result was interesting, they were not impressed! Some of the free format comments were brutal. Our HR Manager (HRM) had done a great job in persuading everyone to be open and honest and also steadfastly held off attempts to link comments to individuals. The managers had taken the trouble to complete the survey with admirable honesty and what did we do with it? Nothing. My proposal was simple, we should sit down as a team to discuss, and most importantly, repair our obvious differences. But our boss had the last words on the subject - "I don’t need to justify myself to these people". The survey was never mentioned again. I know our HRM would have never breached confidentiality, but of course other avenues may have been taken. Whilst in EK, I worked with three HRM’s. The first two displayed high levels of integrity and professionalism, but the third one was part of the ‘jump’ brigade. The first two left the company.

[harry the cod]

Lockedout

Thank you for offering an insightful view from a different department within EK. Different department but similar issues to our own Flight Operations and Service Delivery I'd imagine. We are about to lose a FDM shortly. Her reasons for leaving, unfortunately, are not based entirely on furthering her own flying career.

Your factual and mature post should be a lesson to some of our regular emotive posters on these ME threads.

Harry

[777boyindubai]

Lockedout

I wish PPRUNE would offer prizes for the best posts of the year.

You are certainly a top contender.

Thank you for sharing such an accurate and well written post.

Best wishes for your future.

[MrMachfivepointfive]

I wish PPRuNe would offer prizes for the best posts of the year.

Totally agree. Top post.

[Saltaire]

Filled it out once, admittedly not very detailed and totally honest. Tried it again, bingo. Second time around, much more candid. Words and phrases like "fear culture" and "lack of positive feedback" etc. Much like what Lockedout mentioned. Systemic throughout EK. I think everyone should fill it out. I felt better....

[BYMONEK]

What strikes me as disappointing is that this survey was not well communicated. Fleet facts would have been an ideal forum to highlight the survey but instead it's conveniently used to only remind us of bus timings and Service Delivery updates. Talk about burying your head in the sand........

Lockedout's post merely proves that the culture of self serving greed, dishonesty, irresponsibility and lack of integrity runs through the veins of many senior managers in this Company, across many departments. It's a cancer that will ultimately be the downfall of what could be a great airline.

Those that try to make positive changes face a long hard slog ahead of them! And for what it's worth, I DID fill out the survey.

[Al Murdoch]

Not well communicated? What do you want? A hand-written invitation on a silver plate?
Anyone who actually pays a cursory glance towards their email inbox would know about it.

[BYMONEK]

Al

Shame on you. This part of the World it's Gold, not silver trays that important messages arrive on! Notwithstanding the colour of the plate, perhaps a cursory glance over previous posts may help in seeing how many had to retrieve it from their trash!

[QCM]

At least the guys don't empty the trash just in case...this is were management will throw all these surveys once completed...in their (golden?) trash...just a way to let the anger out,to release some pain and to get the guys ready for another round,till next survey.

[Boeingrestricted]

Hate to wake you guys up, but there is no such thing as one of the above is being conducted in order to improve 'things' for the employee (working donkey/taxpayer etc. etc.) Its being conducted in order to make the whole system a little more leaner and meaner, without disturbing the status quo. In plain language as George Carlin would express this situation ' To jam the #@#$ a little bit deeper up your @rs#s' and it will be done with your consent, because their will be no real choices offered except the presented ones. A real solution will be undermined at ALL cost (= collateral damage)