Leigh Clifford and THE QF Boys Club
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Leigh Clifford and THE QF Boys Club
Clifford has identified the QF Boys Club and concluded that it is toxic.
Enter AJ and goodbye Dixon and Gregg.
Clifford is more hands on than the Dame and well able to confront the Qantas bullies.
He knows he's inherited mess and to his credit he is doing something about it.
As usual with any change at the top there will be a number of departures.
The days of snouts in the trough may be coming to an end.
Any fool can make a company money by dismissing staff and cutting maintenance costs.
Service companies like Qantas can ill afford to employ cowboys like Dixon.
The results are now being seen.
AJ may be a lot of things but a cowboy he is not.
He has a lot to sort out over the next two years.
Lets hope he and his new team get it right
Enter AJ and goodbye Dixon and Gregg.
Clifford is more hands on than the Dame and well able to confront the Qantas bullies.
He knows he's inherited mess and to his credit he is doing something about it.
As usual with any change at the top there will be a number of departures.
The days of snouts in the trough may be coming to an end.
Any fool can make a company money by dismissing staff and cutting maintenance costs.
Service companies like Qantas can ill afford to employ cowboys like Dixon.
The results are now being seen.
AJ may be a lot of things but a cowboy he is not.
He has a lot to sort out over the next two years.
Lets hope he and his new team get it right
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Thug=CEO
Dixon was a one dimensional thug in an Italian suit.
Poorly educated and lacking creativity he rose to the position at Qantas on the coat tails of others.
When you rise to a position that is way above your ability and competence you use fear and intimidation as a mask for your lack of ability.
Dixon wore the mask from day one of his tenure.
He attracted other similarly incompetent individuals to his inner sanctum.
Any one who was a threat was forced out..eg David Forsythe and Martin McKinnon.
That Borghetti survived is a tribute to his political abilities.
Poorly educated and lacking creativity he rose to the position at Qantas on the coat tails of others.
When you rise to a position that is way above your ability and competence you use fear and intimidation as a mask for your lack of ability.
Dixon wore the mask from day one of his tenure.
He attracted other similarly incompetent individuals to his inner sanctum.
Any one who was a threat was forced out..eg David Forsythe and Martin McKinnon.
That Borghetti survived is a tribute to his political abilities.
Other ways for Messrs Clifford & Joyce to clean up the mess.
1. Nurture your people.
2. Embrace the concept of doing the job properly. Profit through mediocrity is failure.
The second one shouldn't be too difficult as the majority of your people already know how to do this, so start at the top and work down.
2. Embrace the concept of doing the job properly. Profit through mediocrity is failure.
The second one shouldn't be too difficult as the majority of your people already know how to do this, so start at the top and work down.
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OMG, is this the Eureka moment where the board grasps the problem - The enemy is actually management, not the workers?
I will need to see more that rhetoric, but watching with interest...
I will need to see more that rhetoric, but watching with interest...
OMG, is this the Eureka moment where the board grasps the problem
One would like to think so but I suggest the 'tea and biccies' sessions being had with the regulator over the past weeks and the high heat coming from their decisions to destroy QF engineering may have influenced their perceptions a little more than something they have come up with themselves. They are now in a situation where they have to do something otherwise they could be sunk by HMAS CASA. I think there are a few arses on the line in QF and the government over what is transpiring. If QF have a major drama, ie structural failure in the cruise, or a serious prang, it will be on for young and old within the regulator, and when it comes to the coronial following there will be plenty of staff to come and give evidence of how management had gutted the company and CASA approved it. So I would suggest that something is being done now so CASA don't get another beating in the Senate estimates or in a ATSB report.
'When you have them by the balls their hearts and minds are sure to follow' would about sum it up.
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Well said Neville, however as you know HMAS CASA is (in QFs case) as useless as tits on a bull, and if QF does do a hull (God Forbid) the worst thing that can happen to a public servant is he is given a smaller office, and no more iced vovo's with Govt. issued tea bags. No, it will be the poor bloody drivers (if they survive) or better still some hapless Engineer found in the bowels of some hangar somewhere, or if management can pull it off, both, caused the "incident" (The only Airline I know that only has "incidents'). I think Alan Joyce is more than aware of the deep distress within the company, and I think (hope) he will move quickly to get QF back on straight and level. It only takes the bloke, to take a few hours, to go into the hangers, introduce himself, ask the blokes how they feel, ditto the tech and cabin crew rooms, and the word will quickly spread, and eternal hope will arise (or something like that). Now back to the games, I am absolutly buggered from running, leaping, cycling, swimming, and throwing myself on the wooden vault horse, that I will have to have another red.
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It only takes the bloke, to take a few hours, to go into the hangers, introduce himself, ask the blokes how they feel, ditto the tech and cabin crew rooms, and the word will quickly spread, and eternal hope will arise (or something like that).
Do I recall correctly that morale was rather higher under Menadue, who operated under the 'management by walking around' credo?
Mach, you obviously have yet to meet one of these creatures (narcissists) in your business or private life. I hope you never have to.
As for QF management, my guess is that the top two levels are now doing their best to ingratiate themselves with the new boss.
Mr. J. will make his choices and send some of them riding off into the sunset, promoting his allies into their places. Smart time to do that would be Christmas, so a clean start to a new year, but other factors may intervene.
To be fair to QF senior management for once, one of the reasons stratospheric salaries are paid is because of the risk of sudden departure for reasons of "chemistry" and "Fit" "with the new strategic directions of the company", which is the phrase I've had to use once or twice. The higher up you go, the more easily you can be removed at short notice, if it suits the company.
As for expecting the Board and senior staff to come down to the hangars for group hugs, or fly in the back to get some customer perceptions, I wouldn't hold my breath.
As for QF management, my guess is that the top two levels are now doing their best to ingratiate themselves with the new boss.
Mr. J. will make his choices and send some of them riding off into the sunset, promoting his allies into their places. Smart time to do that would be Christmas, so a clean start to a new year, but other factors may intervene.
To be fair to QF senior management for once, one of the reasons stratospheric salaries are paid is because of the risk of sudden departure for reasons of "chemistry" and "Fit" "with the new strategic directions of the company", which is the phrase I've had to use once or twice. The higher up you go, the more easily you can be removed at short notice, if it suits the company.
As for expecting the Board and senior staff to come down to the hangars for group hugs, or fly in the back to get some customer perceptions, I wouldn't hold my breath.
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Maybe some bloke, will allow all the staff to freely walk around the place with some stupid threat of breaching security or being construed as a terrorist. We used to be able to walk across the tarmac and wander into the hangars and look at the jets. No - not anymore!
Not allowed families on the flight deck....... but virgin can.......
Cabin crew can't access QCC 3 ..... (can almost understand that one actually !!
)
The whole company is divide and conquer. Well they have succeeded - the company is in tatters.
I wonder if there goal was to not just break unions and drive down wages, but to send an airline to the grave, and destroy a part of Australia.
Not allowed families on the flight deck....... but virgin can.......
Cabin crew can't access QCC 3 ..... (can almost understand that one actually !!
) The whole company is divide and conquer. Well they have succeeded - the company is in tatters.
I wonder if there goal was to not just break unions and drive down wages, but to send an airline to the grave, and destroy a part of Australia.
CASA have had the power all along they just haven't exercised that power. I think you will find that there is pressure coming from all corners for CASA to do something about the QF situation.
Also remember that if QF spear one in and the regulator was found not doing it's job diligently, (not that hard to do really) then CASA can be sued. If you start looking at damages for 400 people then its start getting expensive and some serious investigations will be held into the government. Something that the government and CASA don't want to see.
Also remember that if QF spear one in and the regulator was found not doing it's job diligently, (not that hard to do really) then CASA can be sued. If you start looking at damages for 400 people then its start getting expensive and some serious investigations will be held into the government. Something that the government and CASA don't want to see.
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Both Menadue and Strong both walked the hangers, (to the amazement of one particular crew when Strong turned up during dogwatch around 0300 and said hullo) Must have been a poor sleeper. But they were impressed.
Management contact is pretty rare these days.
In regional land - senior management contact tends to be via email or "skip level" meetings (I assume these happen in Qantas as well).
It's not often the big boys go for a wander.
In regional land - senior management contact tends to be via email or "skip level" meetings (I assume these happen in Qantas as well).
It's not often the big boys go for a wander.
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Behind the gloss of PR at QF
* Elizabeth Knight SMH
* August 20, 2008
SINCE Leigh Clifford was appointed chairman of Qantas at the end of last year, full-scale change was an inevitability. A few weeks ago the chief executive, Geoff Dixon, announced his retirement, well before the June 2009 date at which he had insisted he was due to go.
Yesterday there was another bombshell when the airline announced that its finance director, Peter Gregg, would also be leaving. Gregg's retirement is believed to have been forced.
The only man left standing among what has for years been the troika of senior men running Qantas is the head of Qantas mainline, John Borghetti.
There is talk - although unsubstantiated - that Borghetti was summoned to Dixon's office a few weeks back to be told the news that Alan Joyce was getting the top job and that he was free to leave.
Yesterday's announcement of Gregg's resignation contained the usual platitudes about what a great contribution he had made to the airline, and Gregg's response was as customary in its comments about what a privilege it had been to work there.
But behind all this public relations gloss is an intriguing story about the politics working inside this business and how long-standing relationships between senior management had undergone seismic shifts since the arrival of Clifford.
From numerous conversations with insiders the story unfolds as follows. It's well known that Dixon and the former chairman Margaret Jackson had a particularly close working relationship. Similarly Dixon and Gregg worked in unison. Both maintained a working relationship with Borghetti.
To the extent that there was disharmony, it would have been between Joyce and Borghetti - the former ran the budget upstart, Jetstar, and the latter the Qantas mainline operation. There was an understandable tension between the two as the younger man running the younger airline competed for resources with the traditional full-service airline.
Jetstar was created to capture the leisure market because Qantas mainline had a cost structure that was too high to compete with the lower-cost Virgin.
Before the fuel price began to move into the stratosphere, Jetstar's model was enormously successful and was increasing its contribution to Qantas's overall earnings. However its ability to grow its profits was, in part, due to being part of the overall group.
Qantas would cut back or drop leisure routes which would in turn allow Jetstar to migrate passengers onto its airline.
The situation today is vastly different. The cost of fuel has cast a shadow over the viability of all budget airlines and the full-service carriers that can attract premium business passengers are once again undergoing a renaissance.
Evidence of this will probably be clearer when Qantas announces its results tomorrow.
Meanwhile, it seems that the arrival of Clifford altered the management dynamics.
It became clear to some insiders that Clifford didn't like Dixon's unfettered control of the information process. Clifford, who has a history of being a man who likes to be in control, was not entirely comfortable with Dixon's free rein over the organisation.
For his part, Dixon would like to have stayed on longer and seemed to be attempting to will this outcome by telling the market he would be around until June next year.
Clifford had other ideas.
All the management pieces on the chessboard took their positions.
The most interesting was a change in the relationship between Gregg and Dixon. Gregg was vocal in his criticism of the war with maintenance unions and Dixon wanted to take them on for a monumental battle.
Meanwhile, Dixon had thrown his weight behind Joyce as his favoured successor - a cleanskin without too much political history who would fall in behind Clifford. Dixon, who clearly must have known the writing was on the wall as far as his tenure was concerned, knew he would be able to maintain his legacy if Joyce was anointed.
For Gregg and Borghetti the move signalled, at best, the end of their chief executive aspirations and, at worst, the end of a career at Qantas. For the company it means that two of its three most senior team will be gone within a couple of months, at a time when the industry is facing the greatest challenge in its history.
Interesting times....
* August 20, 2008
SINCE Leigh Clifford was appointed chairman of Qantas at the end of last year, full-scale change was an inevitability. A few weeks ago the chief executive, Geoff Dixon, announced his retirement, well before the June 2009 date at which he had insisted he was due to go.
Yesterday there was another bombshell when the airline announced that its finance director, Peter Gregg, would also be leaving. Gregg's retirement is believed to have been forced.
The only man left standing among what has for years been the troika of senior men running Qantas is the head of Qantas mainline, John Borghetti.
There is talk - although unsubstantiated - that Borghetti was summoned to Dixon's office a few weeks back to be told the news that Alan Joyce was getting the top job and that he was free to leave.
Yesterday's announcement of Gregg's resignation contained the usual platitudes about what a great contribution he had made to the airline, and Gregg's response was as customary in its comments about what a privilege it had been to work there.
But behind all this public relations gloss is an intriguing story about the politics working inside this business and how long-standing relationships between senior management had undergone seismic shifts since the arrival of Clifford.
From numerous conversations with insiders the story unfolds as follows. It's well known that Dixon and the former chairman Margaret Jackson had a particularly close working relationship. Similarly Dixon and Gregg worked in unison. Both maintained a working relationship with Borghetti.
To the extent that there was disharmony, it would have been between Joyce and Borghetti - the former ran the budget upstart, Jetstar, and the latter the Qantas mainline operation. There was an understandable tension between the two as the younger man running the younger airline competed for resources with the traditional full-service airline.
Jetstar was created to capture the leisure market because Qantas mainline had a cost structure that was too high to compete with the lower-cost Virgin.
Before the fuel price began to move into the stratosphere, Jetstar's model was enormously successful and was increasing its contribution to Qantas's overall earnings. However its ability to grow its profits was, in part, due to being part of the overall group.
Qantas would cut back or drop leisure routes which would in turn allow Jetstar to migrate passengers onto its airline.
The situation today is vastly different. The cost of fuel has cast a shadow over the viability of all budget airlines and the full-service carriers that can attract premium business passengers are once again undergoing a renaissance.
Evidence of this will probably be clearer when Qantas announces its results tomorrow.
Meanwhile, it seems that the arrival of Clifford altered the management dynamics.
It became clear to some insiders that Clifford didn't like Dixon's unfettered control of the information process. Clifford, who has a history of being a man who likes to be in control, was not entirely comfortable with Dixon's free rein over the organisation.
For his part, Dixon would like to have stayed on longer and seemed to be attempting to will this outcome by telling the market he would be around until June next year.
Clifford had other ideas.
All the management pieces on the chessboard took their positions.
The most interesting was a change in the relationship between Gregg and Dixon. Gregg was vocal in his criticism of the war with maintenance unions and Dixon wanted to take them on for a monumental battle.
Meanwhile, Dixon had thrown his weight behind Joyce as his favoured successor - a cleanskin without too much political history who would fall in behind Clifford. Dixon, who clearly must have known the writing was on the wall as far as his tenure was concerned, knew he would be able to maintain his legacy if Joyce was anointed.
For Gregg and Borghetti the move signalled, at best, the end of their chief executive aspirations and, at worst, the end of a career at Qantas. For the company it means that two of its three most senior team will be gone within a couple of months, at a time when the industry is facing the greatest challenge in its history.
Interesting times....
