Hi all,
The following two writeups came from the Jan 6 Straitstimes. Does seem that the SM is also setting the tone and direction for better human resource management in SIA.
Cheers folks
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SIA can't carry on like before: SM
By Zuraidah Ibrahim
FURTHER job losses at Singapore Airlines will be inevitable as the airline cuts costs to become trim, and fight and win in a more difficult environment, said Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew yesterday.
In an interview with The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, he said the carrier had to look at its various cost components and remove redundancies.
While it needs to reduce costs by 10 to 15 per cent, some costs cannot be compromised, such as those for fuel - which make up about a fifth of the total bill - and maintenance, as well as others such as for the food it serves.
While wages make up 15 to 20 per cent of the total cost, it did not mean SIA's cost-cutting efforts should focus only on wages.
'I've had to study this problem because I've decided that it needs to be looked into,' Mr Lee said.
Wages were an item which could be tackled, but that was not the only area which SIA's management needed to look at in order to save costs and manpower, he said.
For example, some job specifications could be changed so that workers could multi-task more, and the rostering of pilots and cabin crew could be improved to ensure a more even spread of work.
The airline would also have to outsource some of its work, to India or elsewhere.
'The luxury of just carrying on as before is something we cannot afford,' he said.
Mr Lee, who gave the interview to discuss SIA's challenges amid its troubles with its pilots' union, said the key question before the airline and Changi Airport was whether they could continue to compete in a changed environment.
Both now have to deal with the emergence of low-cost carriers in the region, the risk of long-range aircraft bypassing Singapore and the threat of new air hubs.
These trends have already changed the face of aviation in Europe and the United States.
'I'm not saying it's going to happen in six months' time but I think...two to three years,' he said.
Governments which used to protect their national airlines through restrictive air services agreements, are learning that they can gain more by not doing so, and are instead improving their tourist and airport sectors by increasing passenger traffic through their countries.
Malaysia Airlines is already having to deal with this changed outlook, and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is doing the same with Thai Airways.
'Do we stand still? Is it good for SIA? Of course it's not, but which is worse - to see a business eaten up or to see it eaten up by part of a company that you share in?' he said, referring to SIA's recent move to set up budget carrier Tiger Airways.
He added that the pressure on costs was affecting not only SIA and Changi Airport but also companies across the board in the economy.
So while ordinary Singaporeans might think the Government over-reacted by using tough words on the pilots, he said it was the Government's job to worry about the future if SIA and Changi Airport were not focused on meeting the challenges.
What is at stake: 220,000 jobs in the industry and other related sectors or 9.2 per cent of the gross domestic product.
At least a quarter or a third of those jobs could be wiped out if SIA and Changi did not stay on top, he said.
Mr Lee and other ministers had earlier warned the pilots that the Government would not allow them to hold the airline to ransom by taking a confrontational stance.
Clearly, it viewed the ouster of their union council as an aggressive move, particularly with a new collective agreement up for negotiation.
A new council has since been elected and has said it wants to heal the rifts.
Mr Lee said yesterday: 'I am glad they are having second thoughts and I suggest they should have more second thoughts.'
On how SIA management could improve ties with the pilots, he said that new chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng had the opportunity now to 'close the ledger and start afresh'.
Trust, he said, had to be the key ingredient in the relationship.
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On SIA management: Start afresh and earn staff's trust
By Zuraidah Ibrahim
WITH a new chief executive officer at the helm, it is time for Singapore Airlines (SIA) to close the book on its troubled relations with its pilots and start afresh, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.
'Look, I'm not here to defend the human relations side of SIA. I think if it was well done, we wouldn't have had this problem,' he said in an interview with reporters from Singapore Press Holdings. He was asked to comment on what the Government felt SIA management can do to ensure smoother relations with its staff.
In an earlier statement after the pilots union ousted its leadership last November, the Government urged SIA management to improve its human resource practices.
It also announced its intention to tighten the law to stop the pilots union leadership having to go back to members for their final say on any negotiations with management.
Yesterday, Mr Lee noted that laws cannot make for good relations between employers and employees as they only curb excesses.
'For positive relations, you need trust. The employee must know the employer has his interest at heart. He's not just out to squeeze him and show profits and be done with it and he gets big bonuses. In other words, there must be confidence.'
He noted that confidence can be built over time if management shares information with workers on the challenges ahead. As it is, with listed companies having to file their returns quarterly, information is already made public in a more timely fashion.
So there is no harm in management keeping the unions posted, he said. 'But they should also try and get the union on board on what they want to do, what their hopes are.'
Moving on to make a point about trust between employers, workers and the Government, he said if the Government and employers had not been on the level with unions, there would not be such 'equable, sensible relations' with them, including private sector unions.
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) had been able to deliver. 'Now, if NTUC lets down its members because it wants to please the Government, NTUC will soon lose credibility.
'Why is NTUC able to maintain its credibility and increase its membership? Because, at the end of the day, the workers and the members can see that results justify making these accommodations, that they have not been shortchanged.'
The same approach can be taken with SIA pilots, but union leaders need to be people who can be trusted and be told the facts without those facts being leaked to competitors.
'So really it's a question of building up confidence,' he said. Referring to changes in SIA top management, he added: 'However difficult it is, this is a chance to make a fresh start after Cheong Choong Kong and after Joe Pillay.
'Well, there's Chew Choon Seng. Let's start afresh... I've already spoken to him that this is a chance to close the ledger and start afresh.'
Mr Chew succeeded Dr Cheong as CEO last June.
Mr Lee did not think the task of improving human relations lies with the HR department alone.
'Human relations means across the board, every section, every head, every vice-president has a job to keep his people informed and to carry his people with it. That's the way we have worked in the Government. That's the way NTUC has worked.'