The primary intention of Sam and Bobbi in the provided scenario is to enhance the operation of Silvertail Airlines (SA). They believe that the old staff is not appealing for the young customers and the brand name, which the company has acquired recently. Thus in order to continue the operations of the company successfully they are planning to get rid of the old staff and replace them with a young cabin crew. They understand that getting rid of the old staff who are not accepting buy outs can have potential legal consequences. Therefore the come up with a plan in order to make them leave the company themselves as provided. The details of the pan are not discussed in this paper but the plan involves unethical and illegal operations and the critical analysis and implications of which are as follows.
It is beyond doubt that SA would be subjected to adverse implications in case Bobbi and Sam decide to go ahead with their plan of dismissing old employees because of assumed negative mindset. Such unethical actions are bound to initiate hatred and unhappiness among the employees which would for sure result in a negative word of mouth (WOM). Potential candidates would become skeptical about joining SA because of negative publicity with fear of unfair treatment (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). Legal implications such as unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal along with damage to the brand name would also be inevitable because of the unethical actions. It should be noted that not all old staff have any enthusiasm towards their work and further negative mindset can be changed if they seek feedback from the customers.
Lack of expertise in staff management can be considered as the root cause of the unethical decisions taken by Bobbi and Sam. It is not necessary for SA to replace the existing old workers in order to gain a new and enhanced brand image. Therefore staff management training needs to be attended by Bobbi and Sam so that they can manage SA properly along with handling the age diversity within the company appropriately.
Old staff can be deployed by SA in a constructive role which could include acting as an observer so that they can identify problems and provide solutions and recommendations in order to address them instead of being sacked. It is a fact that consumers prefer to stay loyal to brands who are ethical even if the brand undergoes a difficult period. (MacDonald 2016). According to an article in New York Times the famous company Johnson and Johnson had stuck to its ethical principles and values and spent over a 100 Million for the relaunch and recall of Tylenol, boosting the confidence of the customers.
Legal implications would also be inevitable for SA if they continue to take actions of the decisions made by Sam and Bobbi. They can be sued for disregarding the difficulties which the employees may be subjected to due to forced and unethical redundancy. The Fair Working Practices Act of Singapore provides that the employees who have been dismissed unfairly or have been subjected to constructive dismissal may make a claim against the employer for the illegal and unethical actions. These claims can result in serious loss of reputation along with financial losses in form of compensation to be paid to the employees for the organization.
The Retirement and Re-employment Act (Chapter 274A) of Singapore states that an employee cannot be treated less favorably than another because of his or her age. Thus if SA seeks to dismiss employees based on their old age the employees will have the option of reporting the discriminative act to the AHRC which deals with these issues strictly. In addition if the terms of the employment contract are altered by SA as per the decision between Sam and Bobby without consulting the employees the employees will be provided with the right to claim constructive dismissal in court. These consequences can be avoided by SA if they base their decisions on ethics and provide them with some other role in the organization.
The downsizing techniques proposed by Sam and Bobbi are also not within the scope of law. If the employees are not accepting the buy outs then the SA should provide term with better and enhanced offers ties would not only keen SA out of legal trouble but would also maintain the good will and brand image of the organization. The can further use this evidence in court by stating that they did not mean to hamper the rights of the employees and took all reasonable steps to ensure that their rights have been complied with (Cascio2015).
The decision taken be Sam bad Bobbi may also be criticized on the ground of time and cost. If the old employees are dismissed additional cost and time has to be incurred in order to recruit new employees and provide them vocational flight training which would be necessary. As per Business Development Board News (2016) in order to be successful a campaign for repositioning has to have a vision which can inspire the stakeholders, employees and customers to visualize the brand in a new dimension. Moreover another key factor is research, having knowledge about what the employees and customers have in mind about the new brand image is mandatory. Thus it can de confirmed that repositioning of employees in SA would be a costly and time consuming process.
There are various other implications which SA would be subjected to if they flowing the decision taken by Sam and Bobby in relation to downsizing and the dismissal of old employees (Goldstein et al. 2017). It is a fact that staff turnover rate is going to be very high as there would be no trust of the staff in the management. If SA introduces criteria which would require a degree to be eligible for the position of flight crew than retaining staff would be difficult for SA they will hive higher demand, mobility and bargaining power. The organization has to empower the employees in order to ensure retention as employees who are entrusted with powers have increased loyalty towards the organization and higher employee satisfaction leading to employee retention.
The behavior of the employees is one of the most important factor to determine the well-being of the organization. The employees have to be notified constantly that their contribution is vital towards the success of the organization so that they can provide an extra effort towards the organization. SA would inevitably be subjected to complication in relation to employee management. Unnecessary tension would be initiated upon the promotion of younger staff over the old which would make the working environment undesirable and ultimately unproductive. According to Javitch (2007) high tension in the workplace could the ability of the employees to exercise their skills effectively. It has also been provided by Wagner & Harter that employees who are satisfied provide the organization with higher quality of work as compared to unsatisfied employees.
SA would inevitably loose brand credibility if they carry on with the proposed dismissal and downsizing proposals. In addition as the reputation would be hampered potential employees would also be in doubt towards working for SA. Thus it is of utmost importance to maintain the employer brand as it helps an organization to retain their best talents who would in return provide increased values to the customer providing the organization with a competitive edge over its competitors. Employer branding would also help towards the reduction of recruitment cost along with providing an increased retention ratio. Positive emotions within an organization can be created through the process of rewards and retention. According to Rath and Cilfton (2004) rewards and retention increases productivity of the employees along with loyalty and makes the customers provide a positive feedback. The Old employees on the contrary are not receiving any recognition which they are bound to receive thus SA needs to appreciate the efforts of the employees in order to improve their brand image. In addition performance of employees can also be enhanced through Employee Assistance Programs. If EAP are imposed by SA that it would enhance the performance of the old employees and they would know what the organization wants from them.
The case is evolved with the downsizing in the airlines of Singapore (Heracleous and Wirtz 2014). During the year 1990, two airlines took customer-based policy to attract the customer regarding the transportation. Both the airlines were competitors in nature. The Singapore Airlines took some customer oriented policy and due to this, Silvertail Airline had to face detrimental losses and there was an urgency to change the structure of the said airline with some innovative images (Glover 2016).
The recruitment manager Sam Milroy and Bobbi Stephen were appointed to take some initiatives regarding the same. The duo had decided to generate their target with them who are price conscious and those who are under thirty. The main problem of the Silvertail Airline was their older workforce (Redfern and Gallagher 2014). To face downsize, both the cabin crew director took some alternative measures. It becomes necessary to take some implementation to change the old structure of the airline. The crewmembers of the airline were old enough to perform their duty as expected. The way they working were no good at all. It was decided between both the directors to adopt some tactics to redesign the systematic approach of the airlines. The policy regarding the redeployment method was taken by them to avoid legal issues (Maxwell 2014).
Silvertail airline was looking for some long-term achievement with a view to fulfill the future goal. The first things that become necessary to restructure the credibility of the employees were to train their employees with vocational classes and give them the opportunity to develop their working level. It is important to develop the career management, which is a branch of the human resource development of the airlines (Delahaye 2015). The reasons behind it are that it has a direct contact on the job performance of the employees. The department of Human Resource Development plays an important role and a component of attraction.
Another alternative measures that were taken to resist the downsizing, that is an appreciative inquiry (Aventislearning.com 2017). By appreciative inquiry, it is meant to identify the factors that are working well and to analyze the factors with a view to find out the scope of it. The very purpose of the appreciative inquiry is that it wants to seek the self-determined change within the company. According to Naville Clarke of Singapore, appreciative inquiry gives rise to an affirmative organizational development. It helps to increase the focus point of an employee. It is necessary to develop the core strength of a company to combat the downsizing.
The main problems arose in case to change the policy to restructure the criteria of Silvertail Airline were if there were a dismissal policy taken in case of appointing older staffs as the cabin crew, it would create negative impression on the mind of the employees. Such unethical actions would lead to dejection in the employees. They will be confused about the recruitment procedure of Silvertail Airline.
Both the director took an initiative to avoid this problem. They had decided to start a feedback procedure where they will seek for the feedback from the customers regarding the performance (Park, Wilding and Chung 2014). This would help them to find out the less energetic employees in the company. One of the most important reasons behind the non-performance of the employees is lack of expertise in staff management. However, if the directors were took some policy that could lead to a whole change in the crew, it would become unethical and would create a negative impression on the image of the company.
A change in the post of the employees could also be a good alternative for the company. It was decided by the directors that if a change of position can be made, it will be possible to bring seriousness into the employees and it will also help to reduce the dominant mentality among the older staffs of the airline agency. On the other hand, if the older employees got sacked from the airline on the basis that they got older, the law has prescribed certain measures for them to challenge the decision and sue the company before competent court of law. This problem can be avoided by way of redeploy the older staffs.
It is very important to add the vocational training program within the employees and it should be mandatory in nature so that the employees become able to overcome their weak points regarding the job (Ziller 2014). The targets of the airline were the price conscious customers. Therefore, it is very important to understand the need of the customers. If the employees of the airline become more empowered, it will help them to be more loyal and committed to their job. The employment satisfaction leads to increase the retention ratios.
In an airline agency, employees play the key role to achieve the success. The contributing nature of the employee could lead to the success of the agency. If it is possible to develop the quality of work within the employees, there will be a customer satisfaction immediately take place.
There are many processes present to promote a company. Employer branding is one of them (Mossevelde 2017). This process helps to bring the top talents through the recruitment process and the ability of a company will be facilitated with the help of these ideal employees. Ideal employees will help to secure the attainment of the business plan of a company. In the present case, it is not proper for the employer of the company to terminate the post of an employee. Employer branding is necessary to build up a good employee chain. The cost regarding the recruitment procedure can be reduced with the help of the firm employer branding.
The brand image of a company or agency can be developed by way of increasing employee’s productivity and loyalty. When an agency is facing loss, it is very important to satisfy the customer to deal with the problem. The feedback policy will be helpful to regain the position. The employees will also become more loyal if they got feedback from the customers for their job. The brand image of the agency will be also improved.
One of the motivational programs that help the employees to improve their performance is Employee Assistance Program (Richard 2014). It is a base of support to the employees and it provides assistance to them in case of personal issues. Employer brand has provided the value propositions to the employees with certain benefits. Through the policy of value proposition, the strategy of the employer brand is become stronger.
|
Brand |
Employee experience |
Strength |
|
Unique promise to make the business supply talented workers |
Actual delivery of promise |
1. Right approach of candidates 2. Employee retention rate 3. Competitive advantages over other airlines 4. Customer engagement |
The career management procedure is important to advance the careers of the employees. As per the process of career management, four steps are required to cover the career process (Bennett and Franklin 2015). They are establishment, advancement, maintenance and withdrawal. The term establishment is indicates the early stage. There are various kinds of job requirements present in the forms of skills, abilities. They are important in case of taking any decisions regarding job-based problems (Delahaye 2015).
The middle stage is known as advancement. It is important to provide the employees some assignments that are challenging in nature. The purpose of the same is to develop the opportunities among the employees. Silvertail airline should have to take steps to expand the knowledge of the employees. This process is helpful to serve the customers better and the customers will get an opportunity to feel the home like environment.
The last stage is maintenance. In order to avoid the downsizing, it is important for the Silvertail to retain the knowledgeable employees at work. There is always a demand in respect of the experienced worker. They can work as a consultant in the Airline and share their experiences with others.
In the process of career, withdrawal works as the method of post-retirement stage. Silvertail can promote the post-retirement program by reducing the working hour or light workload. This process will provide the employees with financial security and they should be more loyal to the Airline agency. This system will also motivate the employees and they will give the maximum labor to the airline.
It is important to make a design phase to create an ideal organization with a view to achieve the dream (Vink 2016). It helps to bring the positive changes and the previous glory of an agency can be regained. These phases ensure the sustainability regarding the strategic planning and the employees will work with a positive mindset in the airline agency.
Mind map:
Conclusion:
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be conclude that it is important to find out the problem and resolve it to face the downsizing. The directors of Silvertail need to take certain measures that can help them to avoid the problem tactfully and that could not be unethical in nature. The redeployment of the older employees can be a good option to deal with the problem. A feedback policy by the customer can be a good motivational thing for the employees. An appreciative inquiry should also be taken for the benefit of the company. Above all, the plans that are chalked out in the above paragraphs can help the Silvertail airline to promote their business and deal with the downsize tactfully.
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