coming from someone who had never flown QR, but has heard many stories about the way that crew(back end anyhow) are being treated, I would hazard a guess that if the airline were to ensure that the staff were treated with respect on and off duty, then these same people would be more inclined to give the great service that QR is striving to achieve. Some of the greatest companies in the world are in the place that they are in today because they realized that their employees will treat the customer in a similar fashion as the company treats its employee. Treat the employee with empty promises... and that is exactly what your customer/guest will get; Empty, half hearted service. It shows directly on the front lines, and that is where a business will make it or break it as far as customer experience is concerned. Even with the most perfect interiors, sparkling on time performance, fantastic food, if your guest is getting cold and robotic service from your staff, I am certain that all will be lost on the guest. I have been to some businesses trying to be the best in the world, but because the staff did not like where they were, the service was simply second rate even though I received all that I requested. I don’t know if this makes sense to you, if not, consider this quote by Publius Syrus: Look to be treated by others
as you have treated others. Take this to mean that if you treat your staff poorly and without respect, (even if you live up to your part of the bargain, money, time off etc) you in turn will be poorly via your paying passengers. (By not getting genuine first rate service)
Does respecting your employee mean paying more money? For some. Time off? For some. Treated with respect? For most. I have heard some people equate working for QR (cabin crew anyhow) as being in jail. The money may be fine, I don’t know for sure, but what about having a bit of a PRIVATE private life at the same time? It appears to me that the company (QR) almost regards its staff as mere possessions; telling them when and what they can do in their off time.
You can hire a thousand consultants to figure out a zillion different things to make your airline work. This will all be a complete waste of time and money until you can find a way to treat your employees as though they were the most vital part of your business. Treat them as your own flesh and blood, and they will be sure that they go the extra step each and every day to be sure that your airline becomes what you want it to be.
Want to make a policy? How about looking out for your company so that your company can look out for your customer. Policies cannot and should not be written in stone. The only policy that makes sense is the policy that any policy can be broken to accommodate a guest, so long as the company profits from this bending of the rules now or in the future because of repeat business. Your staff need to be trusted with some loose guidelines on how and when to be able to make these decisions.
Oh, by the way, first consultation was free, next one will not be.
Then again, perhaps you think that all I have said here was a pile of crap, and maybe it is to you. This is just the way that I see it, and I have been led to believe that it is also the way that some other very successful companies see it.