Quote
"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841
News
On Monday the result of the British Airways cabin crew’s ballot was announced: 81% in favour of strike action. Once again the spectre of crippling industrial action looms large. Although no days have actually been lost to strike action since Willy Walsh took over as chief executive in 2005, the constant threat of disruption is causing a slow haemorrhaging of BA’s reputation and customers. This row is not particularly over pay (BA staff based at Heathrow are some of the best paid in the industry) but over staff numbers and working conditions. However a court ruled last week that these cost cutting measures were not inappropriate – so why, when the company is struggling to contain huge losses, are the cabin staff prepared to risk so much by threatening to strike?
A strike indicates poor relationships between management and staff over a prolonged period. BA cabin crew feel they are being pushed to the limit; for example, one crew member who has to juggle the demands of long shifts with raising a family told us they are often given short notice of a change in shift, and managers are unsympathetic to the reality of staff having to balance work and family. BA management have also failed to respect the full cultural diversity of staff members – as in the case of the Christian customer service officer suspended for wearing a cross in 2006.
It is always difficult to make cuts but the critical factor required is trust, and BA’s management have clearly lost it. This pushes the relationship between management and the union representing cabin crew from cooperative to adversarial – with all BA’s stakeholders in danger of losing out.
Read on...
The issue of trust is becoming more and more prominent as the global economic crisis continues to deepen. Australia’s minister of finance, Lindsay Tanner, has long been a proponent of relational thinking and he delivered a lecture in December which set out trust as the central organising principle for a better Australian society. Read the lecture here http://www.lindsaytanner.com/index.php?categoryid=19&p2_articleid=73
Walk the talk
Next time you are involved in making a tough decision which affects other people, and tensions arise, remember to follow some simple rules: become familiar with the personal concerns of the other parties; always treat them with respect; think through the risks and rewards to each person of the different options, and ensure the rules are applied fairly to all parties. If trust can be maintained, then tough decisions will be made more bearable and the personal costs kept to a minimum.
The last word
From the Bible, Romans 14 verse 19: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace…”
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