Maybe have a read of the engagement survey results for cockpit crew, take it to heart, and try to improve said employee relations. I personally think that the survey results were an accurate reflection of general sentiment of the flight deck crew. Then refer to point 4 below, and sit down and think of what we could do better.
4. You can’t outsource employee relations. It’s up to the CEO (and DFO, and GMA) to create a team atmosphere.
“Your employees and their attitudes are the differentiating competitive edge you have, and I think we utilized that extensively while I was at Continental. You have to gain and earn the trust of your employees. But not only that, you have to make them feel rewarded in order to get your product at a level that it can beat the competition. Everybody’s looking for better fuel burn and all these accounting tricks you can do, and all the cost savings you can do. But having employees that want to do a good job is invaluable.
“WE LOST SOMETHING LIKE $600 MILLION IN 1994. IN 1995, WE MADE $225 MILLION—WITH THE SAME PEOPLE AND THE SAME AIRPLANES. SO, IT WASN’T ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE EMPLOYEES. IT WAS THE MANAGEMENT—AND IT ALWAYS IS.”
When I was at Continental, I would always go to the airport an hour-and-a-half before my flight, and I would visit Continental employees in the crew room or break room or baggage room. It’s the same as going to somebody’s office and thanking them for doing a great job. CEOs don’t normally do that. They try to delegate that to their HR departments, but you can’t. If you want to be the leader, then you have to appreciate and respect your employees. One way to show them that is to get off your ass, go to their office—which might be a cockpit—and say hello and thank you.”