Lately, I have been keeping my eye on what’s going on in the world. You could say I have been keeping my eye on the
situation. In this case, the situation is just getting crazier and crazier. We’ve been witness to unfolding situation with United Airlines. They are just on the wrong end of (pardon my French) a shitstorm and it is just getting bigger, deeper, wider and huge. It is getting out of control and United Airlines has to do something about that problem (sooner rather than later).
That being said, what is there for them or any other organization in this situation to do in the similar situation?
Training, Training, Training.
Training is the answer to the situation. The problem of lack of training is usually the cause of just about any problem any organization can face. Unfortunately, because there is not enough time and there is now more need for people to be out there. Constantly striving and doing what they need to be doing. Now is a prevalent need for people to spend less time training and more
time on the job because now there’s a huge need to generate more revenue. There is a need to get people in the seats as quickly as possible. Getting those airplanes up in the air and then turning those seats around. I understand that. That is business and I understand and I am all for that but what I’m not all for is to slowly undermine your own business. All because you refuse to understand that sometimes you have to slow down and train your staff.
You have to slow down and ensure that they know what they are doing. It is when they do not know what they are doing that well that’s where and when the problems begin. If they do not know what have you want them to do, if they can’t do the job, then what have you got? You have got nothing. You are going to have people migrating away from your organization. You’ve got people running away as fast as humanly possible. When that happens, what is there for the business?
Guess what happens, guess what happens. We all know there is no need to guess because we all know what happens: layoffs. Layoffs follow because there is not enough revenue being generated and that is when the layoffs start to occur. When layoffs start happening who suffers? Of course, employees start to suffer and quickly they start demanding to know “why is this happening to us and why is this and poor woe is me.”
Folks, the employees are just as much to blame as the organization. The employees also have to step up and say “hey, I think we need a little bit more training”or “there as a situation on this last flight and we might need a little more training”, “hey how do we address this because we’re don’t you sure how to address this situation.” It’s not just the stewardess or the flight attendants or whatever they’re called, the stewards or stewardesses or flight attendants. It’s everyone on the front lines, the baggage handlers, the ticket takers, the people at the counter, at the ticket counter, the people on the phone, taking those online reservations processing. That is where the problem is and the problem is is right here. At this moment you’re seeing me I well I can’t see you but this is where the problem is. This is the front line, this is the front lines.
Folks, this is it, this is the front line and that’s where the problem is and that’s why there needs to be training. There needs to be constant simulation, there needs to be constant constantly constant support. By support, I mean the management has
to support those people on the front lines, the management has to be ready, at a moment’s notice, and as for the individuals out there in the front lines they know they are going to run into a situation and they have to know how to deal with it. Now, I understand you cannot cover all situations at any given time and I understand it’s always a learning situation but somewhere along the line there is a learning curve and then there is a rule that needs to be followed and all the rules don’t have to be black and white. It does not have to be a line in the desert that says you cross this line and that is it. We are not talking about that anymore, there is just too many gray areas out there that are causing so many problems and the outsiders, the external stakeholders, see it as that’s a no-brainer, that’s just common sense and that should not have happened. What possessed this individual to not understand that there was a dog in the bag. The other passengers knew there was a dog in the bag but what possessed this one individual, this one flight attendant, to not figure out that ‘hey wait a minute, there’s a dog in the bag and maybe I should not put it in the overhead bin.’
You know what’s next? Somebody and I’m not kidding, I’m not being funny, I’m not trying to be funny but it is going to happen because it is going to to happen, someone is going to get the bright idea and someone on the front line for the company is going to get and I’m not saying it’s United, but it is going to be somebody else. They are going to get the bright idea to “maybe we should put the baby in the overhead compartment. it’s pressurized just like the rest of the cabin.” Yes, someone is going to come up with that idea and someone will act on it. Someone is going to demand it. That is exactly what is going to happen because a little too much power is being given to the people down on that front line. I understand company’s need to that, they have to make them your representative but if they are have the power but lack the common sense then I guarantee you what’s going to happen is somebody is going to put a baby in the overhead compartment and then what’s the cost then? Oh, will they accept the blame? I can hear it now, “…this is a an unfortunate accident that could have been prevented.”
A press release or message on Twitter or Facebook is NOT going to bring someone back from the dead, but that organization will truly believe that is how they get off. You and I know that is nonsense but they will try nonetheless. That’s not how they are going to get off. Unfortunately, it is gonna take the death of somebody before organizations realizes “hey wait a minute it might not be what we need to do. What we need to do is to train people, we need to constantly train people and constantly simulating, constantly challenging them. Heck, what does it take for a trainer to get on a flight and be that that “out of the ordinary” passenger. It does not take anything at all and folks that’s how problems get solved.
It puts them on notice. It gets them on their toes and it gets them thinking. It gets those employees figuring out “hey wait a minute, maybe not everything is black and white and there could be some gray areas.
Unfortunately the ego takes over and that is what we need to work on. The ego of the employees who have appointed judge jury and in the case of Kokito the Dog, executioner. When that ego is curtailed it is then we are good to go.
Remember Training, Training Training.
Training is the only way we are going to resolve this issue and that is the only way we are going to get better. Yes, it is that important. We have got to remember that there are human beings involved in all of this. We have got to start treating them (and each other) like human beings.