Originally Posted by
gordonfvckingramsay
I think the point is that none of this would have happened if QF focused on running an airline rather than focusing on screwing the humans that make the airline work, both passengers and staff. Management saw this coming but let their egos stop them from changing their focus.
What amazes me is that I have been managing people for 30+ years, different cultures, norms and in different countries. I've never had anyone complain that they'd been screwed, I never ran my department anything other than under budget, unless there was an explainable blow-out (additional flights not originally planned that did not leave time to recruit additional resources) and no one ever said they were poorly treated, screwed or were not paid everything they were entitled to be paid. In the last company I worked for, an off-the-cuff remark was made by someone from a different department that "most people here want to work in your department" - "Why??" I asked. "Because your staff respect you".
This is reinforced when you bump into people you've managed years before and they say what a great manager you were, certainly better than the standard today.
Not sharing this to blow my own trumpet, but to simply illustrate - this is NOT rocket science. It's not hard to manage a business well and some departments within airlines are multiple times bigger than most small to medium businesses, it just takes common sense, logic and a modicum of respect for the people working for you. Not clever game-playing and strategising and spouting management-speak, weasel word piffle, that spews out of management's mouths today. I banned that sort of nonsense in my various positions, I would actually say to other managers "If you're going to spout that reaching out, going forward, cohort, what that looks like, lean in bull**** then the conversation's over. Speak plain English."