8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

1/7

r

"Oc

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

2/7

, .0 Developing Cultures of Quality1 loand newspapers were provided for the first time. With huge queues building upat the desks and no relief or assistance forthcoming from the supervisorygrades, Marshall rolled up his sleeves and began to help (ibtd.). His seniormanagers were given specific goals and expected to achieve them. At all levels,he emphasized individual responsibility and risk-taking.In the cost-cutting of the early 1980s, training in British Airways had beencut back In March 1983, Marshall announced, 'We may need to put people-through refresher courses to really concentrate on teaching staff how to sell theairline and its services'. Eventually, this led to a campaign that became knownas 'Putting the Customer First'. Passenger research followed and, in November1983 an event, 'Putting People First' (PPF) was held. The event sought tobolster self-esteem. It said, 'if you feel OK about yourself you are more likelyto feel OK about dealing with other people'. It was an enormous campaign Itaimed to put 12,000 customer-contact staff, in groups of 150-200, through atwo-day course in the newly renovated Concorde Centre. Over the two daysthe staff experienced a range of exercises, group discussions and presentations.They were given the opportunity to review their experiences of dealing withc u s t om e r s :

They were introduced to concepts of setting personal goals and of takingresponsibility for getting what they wanted out of life. There wereconfidence-building exercises ... simple techniques of behaviour modification wete also taught to help staff to develop new approaches todealing with upsets, coping with stress and developing a more positiveattitude to themselves. (Young, 1989, p. 7)

The importance of the PPF programme was in what it said about managementattitudes and intentions. It represented a considerable investment of time andmoney and gave force to the notion of service. It tried to provide an emotional

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

3/7

; Culture and Commitment: British Airways \ 19> All human resource management staff were offered a week-long residential/ programme, which focused on consultancy skills in the context of change.r Initially, the changes that took place in the airline were directed at improving, customer service but it was recognized thatmanagers needed to alter their styleif they were to support the change programme effectively. The dominant style1 of the organization was seen to be bureaucratic with an emphasis on thee rationality and dependability of the system. In 1985, however, a week-longe residential programme for managers was introduced: 'Managing People First'.i This was originally targeted at middle managers but was later extended tor junior managers and supervisory grades. The programme directed the organiz-o ation towards a more open, visible and dynamic approach to management. Ity sought to underscore a number of key themes. These were urgency, vision,(t motivation, trust and taking responsibility. These themes were reinforced bya the course activities and rhetoric. 'Managing People First' ran for five yearss and, during that time, 2,000 managers attended the course. At the same time,s. the culture change programme was sustained by a number of interventionsh throughout the 1980s. PPF, and 'Managing People First' concentrated on theindividual but, in November 1985, a third major corporate programme waslaunched, 'A Day in the Life'. The purpose of this intervention was to giveemphasis to the benefits of collaborative working. The programme consisted often presentations characterizing all aspects of work across the airline. It wasdesigned to give staff a greater appreciation of the function and operation ofthe principal departments in order to break down some of the trans-functional

barriers that exist in large organizations. Unlike PPF, this event was runentirely by British Airways staff for British Airways staff. In every programme,a significant feature was the appearance of the Chief Executive or one of thent directors to endorse the commitment of top management to the programme.*d In 1986 Terminal 4 was opened at London Heathrow Airport and a newa' British Airways advertising campaign was launched to raise the public visibility

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

4/7

Developing Cultures ofQualityprofits and between espoused values and the need for workplace expediencyThe emotionally charged programmes of the 1980s have now been supersededby more commercially focused and strategic programmes, such as th: Fit forBusiness' programme launched in .989. At the same time, the them :of caringfor the individual and corporate pride has been carried forward. In 1992 anewsuite of programmes is to be introduced to revitalize and augment the changeprogramme.

The ProblemThe scene is a new art-deco-style hotel just off the M4 and within a fifteen-mle ntdius of Heathrow Airport. It is 8.30 a.m. and agroup of about thirtymdd managers have arrived for athree-day workshop 'Visionmg the Future .In the conference room the ttainers are busy adjusting their equipment, makingure their speakers are properly positioned, checking the large screen andplaying with the lights. This event requires a level of stage management thatwould not be unfamiliar to atouring rock-band. Outside ,n the lounge area theparticipants are milling around drinking coffee and waiting for the workshopto begm. One of the trainers stands at the door to ensure that no one gets mearly to 'spoil' the experience. Nine o'clock. The doors to the conference room"opened and the managers are ushered in. From the speakers the openingnus c torn 'Also sprach Zarathustra', the 'Fanfare for Common Man , blastsout a triumphal welcome. People find their seats and focus their attention onthe large screen. The lights dim and the corporate logo appears before them.Three days of management development have begun.Somewhere ,n the darkness, Mike Riley, Flight Crew Scheduling Managerturned to Deborah Davies, Cabin Crew Training, and whispered, I think Iveseen all this somewhere before'.

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

5/7

gdi tePnn

t smn.

ve

Culture and Commitment: British Airways 121made of 'all the corporate hype'. 'Are you really taken in by it all?' she askeduneasily. 'Do you remember that thingwehadon one of the early programmes, Ican't remember now which one there seem to have been so many but Ithink it was called "The Love Bath" or something like that. I remember itsounded very "hippy" and I was embarrassed to tell my husband about itwhen I got home.'Mike pondered for a second and then smiled, 'Oh God, yes. It was dreadful.It was excruciating. Can you remember it? "The Love Bath", is that what itwas? Itwassupposedtomakeyou feel betterabout yourself. Itwasembarrassing.We all had to sit round in a circle - groups of us and each of us in turn hadto sit in the middle. It was really humiliating. Then everybody in turn had tosay something nice about the person in the middle. It was dreadful, it makesme cringe just to think of it. Sometimes the only thing you could think ofsayingwas "Nice Jumper, Jim". It was unbelievable so unEnglish. One day Igot back to the office and I was telling an American womanwho was workingwith us what had goneon. She just lookedat me in amazement and said, "Say,why don't you just tell these guys to f off!"'Gillian Roper, a PurchasingManager in her early 30s, had come over to jointhem. She listened to Mike's remarks and laughed. 'Come off it!' she sneered.'It was wonderful. One of the best experiences of my life. If you're trying totell me that things were better before you must be joking. If it weren't for thechanges, I'd have been gone long ago. Can you really remember how miserableit was in those days? We were abysmal at customer service and arrogant.Nobody understood the business or what anybody else did. The public weremade to feel we were doing them a favour if they chose to fly with us. I don'tthink I'd ever met an engineer let alone anyone from flight crew. "ManagingPeople First" was a tremendous opportunity and it gave everyone the chanceto meet other managers with similar problems and to talk through ways ofmotivating people. When I came back from that programme I felt as if I'd seen

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

6/7

22 Developing Cultures of Qualityme these days - into the office before seven in the morning sometimes nothome until nine or ten in the evening. Your husband works for the airline soyou know what it's like. You have the same compromises to make.''As a matter of fact so do I,1 this time it was Deborah who spoke. Tin 32now. I feel I'm getting a bit old but Bob and I still want to start a family. I'mafraid that once I go out on maternity leave I'll never get back and, well,there's the money. I'm not sure 1 can afford to give up work. It's a terribledilemma and yet it's not one that can be deferred forever. The company says alot about encouraging people to consider the family and it claims that it does alot for women, but I just don't trust that message. I feel I'll be up the creek if Ido decide to take maternity leave.'That's nonsense and paranoia.' Gillian's response was ardent. 'You are thecompany - who are all these people that you seem to be afraid of? You dowhat you want. Don't invent a corporate demon to justify your own apprehensions. The message of all these programmes has been: take responsibility foryour own actions. ''The Demon King,' Mike looked at the others for approval, 'Lord King -get it? - corporate demon.' The approval was not forthcoming. 'In fairness,'Mike continued, to retrieve the situation, 'no one ever said that the culture-change programme was philanthropic. At every turn we were told that thecompany needed to change to survive. "Putting People First" is just goodbusiness practice. It is important that if we want to keep our jobs, we understandthe basis of the business, and customer service is a significant part of that. But,

as far as taking personal responsibility or risks is concerned, the message isn'tborne out by what we all see happening every day on the job. We talk aboutcaring but I see bullies who are very successful. We talk about risk but you tryit. I'd be scared enough about making a genuine mistake - I can't see metaking risks and surviving. We talk about valuing the individual and recognizingthat people have domestic lives but, in honesty, who does? I'm never at home.

8/6/2019 British Airways (3)

7/7

Culture and Commitment: British Airways 123'The thing thatgets me,' Deborah interjected, 'is the fact that we've just shedabout four and a half thousand jobs in the early part of '91 and I wonder how

those people who have left the company feel about values and caring. It can'tsay much to them, can it? What price commitment and loyalty when the chipsare down? It's all about money or at least survival at the end of the day.Caring about people and making them feel good about themselves is prettyhypocritical in the face of the so-called "outplacements".'The company comes first, Deb - these are necessary sacrifices. Would youhave preferred to go instead? Gillian gave Deborah a steely look. There werea

lot of things that were outside the company's control the Gulf War, forexample. What can you expect?'Deborah was not going to give way on this one. 'Well, yes, but it did givethe company a wonderful opportunity for radical surgery as far as getting rido f staff is concerned.''Union consultation, generous pay-offs, an Advice and Support Centre,professional advisers and consultants up to six months after a person had leftthe company. How many companies would go that far? BA's a good company.Name a better one.' Gillian Roper folded her arms and looked squarely atDeborah and Mike.'It's as I said,' Mike drew the conversation to a close, 'I think that althoughi , individuals felt bad about the cuts and may even have felt betrayed, in theI main most people I've spoken to - whether they were leaving or staying felt, that the relationship between commitment and values was never such a big

c issue. We know it's hype - they know its hype. It's okay. It's reassuring. Itt niakes you feel good. But do I believe in it - well that's a totally different; question.'i i In the conference room the chairs and tables were being rearranged. After7 the coffee break one of the trainers was running a session on 'Facing up tofeedback'. It was to be a long day.