Behave yourselves, you naughty ATCOs !!!
A colleague from the En-Route Ops Room dropped this on my desk earlier today, and it seemed worthy of a wider audience. It is, apparently, a draft report originating from a brain-storming session by Watch Managers ( s small storm presumably!!), and I reproduce it as I received it - the deletions and underlinings are theirs, not mine. Comments anyone ?
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BACKGROUND
Recognise that over the last few years there have been many tensions and pressures.
Uncertainties and increasing traffic levels have led to staff reacting unsympathetically to one another.
Management have been under the same pressures and have tolerated behaviour that at other times would have been commented upon.
The rest of NATS has been surprised at the behaviour demonstrated by some members of LATCC AC.
More recently we have been exposed to outside organisations (eg LMQ) that, although appreciating the immense strain we have all been under, have been astonished at the type of behaviours they have witnessed from a professional body like ours.
THE ‘O’ DATE OPPORTUNITY
‘O’ Date provides a once only opportunity for a new beginning, leaving a lot of ‘baggage’ behind us.
A chance for all staff to alter their behaviour to one to another and for Management to adopt a revised approach to staff.
We must not let this opportunity slip through our fingers.
WHAT IS ‘BAD’ BEHAVIOUR?
Behaviours are all about how we conduct ourselves and relate to others in our every day lives and can take many forms. Some unacceptable behaviours are: -
Any form of discrimination (sexual, racial, religious, age etc).
Intolerance.
Bullying.
Blatant disregard for reasonable rules or conventions.
Anything which causes offence or embarrassment to others; such offence is not measured by the giver but by the receiver. This may include subtle ostracism.
Swearing or abusive language; it is borne of ignorance and causes offence.
‘Bad’ behaviour may be spoken, written, or physical or covert
WHAT NEEDS CHANGING
All staff are worthy of respect and each staff member deserves to have their views heard. Don’t forget, managers are also members of staff.
Equally, each member of staff has to be aware of the effect that their views could have on others. Presentation of those views needs to be considered by each of us.
In particular, AC staff must treat members of other departments with proper respect (e.g. ORO, Help Desk, Personnel etc).
AC staff must move away from the current view that ‘I’m an ATCO/ATSA, I can do as I please’
“Banter” is not an excuse. Remarks and “jokes” of a personal nature cannot be tolerated in an adult society.
Defacing notices is not only immature but also an example of disrespect and intolerance.
Abide by procedures whether it be the legitimate use of disciplinary/grievance procedures or observing the rule regarding no food in operational areas.
The acceptance that of casual sickness is acceptable and the adherence to the sickness reporting arrangements.
Attendance and punctuality, not only at the start of shifts but also during those shifts (fatigue breaks etc).
Lack of commitment to task by some staff (e.g. ATCO 1s often ‘cherry pick’ the parts of their job description that they feel comfortable with and discard the rest – also a tendency to ‘wander’ from their allocated areas).
WEAPONS AGAINST ‘BAD’ BEHAVIOUR
The LATCC Charter and the Swanwick Core Values are very similar and have been merged to form a guide to what is expected of staff and what staff can expect from their managers.
Ensuring that our own actions do not offend others and not being prepared to tolerate offence to ourselves.
Reporting offensive or inappropriate actions to our immediate manager or directly to senior Management if serious enough.
Ultimately there is a disciplinary procedure that Management will follow in the worst cases. This will be used if necessary.
We will be arriving at Swanwick on 27th January to a brand new unit that has never experienced the cut and thrust of operational life. The current atmosphere at that unit is generally very pleasant and the existing staff is becoming increasingly nervous of the behaviours that they may have to tolerate post ’O’ Date.
We, in operational ATC are the core of NATS business and we should rightly be proud of that. However we have a responsibility to ensure that our pride does not turn into arrogance. We should be attracting the respect and admiration of the rest of the company for the work thatwe do, often under extreme pressure. However, we must earn that respect and over ecent times we have done the very opposite.
It is now time for all of us to examine our behaviours and using the points raised ensure that we are conducting ourselves in a way that will earn the respect of all.
SWANWICK IS A NEW ENVIRONMENT WHERE WE CAN VALUE
OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER AND WHAT WE CAN DO
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