The Employee Training at Qantas Airline - Case Study Example

QANTAS AIRLINE HRD ANALYSIS Name Course Tutor Date Executive Summary The first part of the report introduces some of the concepts in the report as well as the rationale of the report. The second section then gives an overview of the organization to be analyzed. The next section then analyzes the employee training at Qantas Airline. The next section looks at the Customer Service at Qantas Airline. The next section makes recommendations based on the two HRD issues discussed; employee training and customer service. The second last section then provides a conclusion to the report. The last section of this report has the list of literature that were consulted when combining the report. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Overview of Qantas Airline 4 Employee Training 5 Customer Service 7 Recommendations for Qantas Airlines 10 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 12 Introduction The contemporary business world has become highly competitive such that organizations have to have strengths in some of the human resources. The power of being ahead of the competitors in the market lies within the practices an organization holds. Most organizations have turned to human resource development as the only surest way to gain competitive advantage over their competitors. Armed with this such organizations are able to become the employers of choice and thus win the war of talents that is very rampant in the stiff labor market. The outcomes of service based organizations are measured based on the customer satisfaction that comes along with the services. As such, most organizations are also keen on their customer services and regard the customers as the most important stakeholders in the organization. Effective training has been linked with the increase in job satisfaction, financial performance, employee commitment and a whole range of organizational citizenship behavior on the part of the employee. A committed workforce is able to ensure that the performance of the organization improves. Additionally, when the employees are well trained and thus committed, they are able to offer the best customer service, thus good reputation of the organization. This report analyzes employee training and customer service at Qantas airlines Organization based on literature on the same tenets of HRD. Overview of Qantas Airline Qantas was founded in 1920 in Queensland and has since grown to be Australia’s largest domestic as well as an international airline. The company was registered as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The organization is one of the strongest brands in Australia and is recognized globally as a leading long distance airline. The company has a good reputation based on quality customer service, excellence in safety, operational reliability, engineering and maintenance as well as employee training and development (Qantas Airlines, 2015). Qantas has two major brands Qantas itself and Jetstar that are known both regionally, domestically and internationally. The organization’s core business is the transportation of customers through the two brands. The company has over 30000 employees most of whom; 93% to be precise are based in Australia (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The company has invested in training and development in a variety of ways and is also ranked among the best airlines that provides excellent customer service. Employee Training The employees form the key stakeholders in organizations (Vidal-Salazar, Hurtado-Torres, & Matías-Reche, 2012). Training has a considerable influence on the finances of a given organization. However, despite the direct and indirect costs, the benefits in the long run are appreciable. Sahinidis & Bouris (2008) define training as a planned intervention that is designed to enhance the determinants of the performance of an employee. Training is one of the human resource management’s role and must be achieved in an organization so as to align with different organizational goals. Training offered to employees has the impact of reducing the frustrations that are brought along with work demand, lack of competence and knowhow as well as technological change and development (Vidal-Salazar et al., 2012). In addition to this training also has the effect of increasing the job satisfaction of individuals the employees who acquire the necessary skills are able to be assured of job security and are highly likely to remain loyal to an organization. As a result, their productivity levels are assured. Qantas airline values customer service and being one of the organization dealing with air transport that is most sensitive training is the order of the day in the organization. Qantas is very much committed in flight training (Qantas Airlines, 2015). To effectively train its employees, an organization must set its standards a bar higher than that of the government regulating bodies (Truitt, 2011). The company therefor has set standards that must be inculcated into the flight attendants, pilots and engineers. The pilots have received accolade as being experts in the field and so have the flight attendants. Additionally, due to the training the company has been ranked one of the best companies that uphold safety (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The company has two flight training bases one at Sydney and the other one at Melbourne here the employees; customer crew, pilots, and flight attendants are developed and examined annually. In total 12000 customer crew are examined on annual basis to establish their proficiency. The organization also has pilot training programs where the pilots are trained with expert instructors and high technology devices to ensure that they meet the set standards in operating commercial aircrafts (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The curriculum of the training program is developed based on all the requirements of airlines and government regulators (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The training should take the theoretical and practical dimensions and is run by operational expertise. There are flight simulators where the crew is trained on all aspects of normal and non-normal operations this includes how to respond to different weather changes. The cabin crew and the pilots are also trained on how to handle emergency situations in different aircrafts. There are drills and cabin mockups that are used to ensure that the crew is well trained to handle any emergency issue that falls under their jurisdiction. The emergency procedures taught are then practically exercised to emphasize the points (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The organization also trains every employee in the organization in a variety of human factors so as to address the lapses that are prone due to human performance (Qantas Airlines, 2015). Consequently. The organization averts accidents and incidents through training and development in problem solving skills, leadership, decision making skills, communication and teamwork. The organization values the role of engineers and has classroom as well as on the job training programs for the engineers. The training needs of the organization are aligned with the customer services. The organization has been able to ensure that all the engineering works are of quality and that maintenance productivity is increased (Qantas Airlines, 2015). The engineering training is done in two categories the type and non-type training. The methods used to deliver the training include classroom based theory, recognized prior learning, practical’s administered on the course, practical consolidated training and on the job training (Qantas Airlines, 2015). After the training, continuous follow ups are made and refreshers also offered to incorporate new developments in the field as well as in customer services. Customer Service The arsenal of any organization is the customer service (Suttle, 2015). This is because it is the only contact there is between the organization and the customers. The customers as aforementioned are one of the largest asset n organization bets on when making different strategies. The customer service handles all business related issues either through the phone or emails (Mosahab, Mahamad, & Ramayan, 2010). These re mostly inquiries by the customers pertaining different services offered. Qantas airline being an airline that offers services at premium rates, values the feedback of the customers (Qantas, 2015). Consequently, the company has a dedicated team that works in the customer care department addressing all the issues that are raised by the customers as well as making the customers informed in case of any changes. The customer service team is very much committed and operates through the social media, phones and emails. The company has a website dedicated for the purpose of customer services. To save the customers on the fees charged on bookings done through telephone reservations, the organization advices the customers to book via the website to book at the lowest fare availability. The customer service is also concerned with keeping the customers informed should need arise (Mosahab et al., 2010). The customer service informs the customers of any rearrangements of flights due to bad weather, technical problems, and other operational issues that are unavoidable. The customer service also has the mandate of ensuring that whenever there are flight delays, cancellations or diversion, the customers are timely informed (Qantas, 2015). The solutions being given to the problems are also communicated to the customers so that they can tweak their plans and avoid any further inconveniences. The information is disseminated through staff at the boarding gate area and at the display boards as well as the staff in the plane in addition to telephone reservation services and the website. The customer service has also been useful in delivering misplaced or forgotten baggage in a span of 24 hours (Qantas, 2015). In case of delays from the airline customer service staff, there is an emergency expense given to the customer (Qantas, 2015). However, the customer service team also coordinates refunds for the baggage payments when the worst case scenario such as loss of baggage occurs. Qantas Customer service also offers ticket refunds to customers who have changed their plans due to delays. The refunds are assessed by the customer service team that then communicates to the customer as to whether they are liable for the refund or not based on the rules by the organization (Qantas, 2015). The customer service at Qantas airlines is also responsible for assistance of customers with special needs thus complying with the nondiscriminatory regulations. Excellent customer service takes into account all the needs of the customers both physically able and the disabled (Qantas, 2015). The customer service makes arrangements with the agents at the booking points to make sure that all the information concerning a customer are entered in the files before being given the receipts. When there are tarmac delays the customers’ needs are met with the coordination of the customer service. The customer service also handles the confusions that arise due to over sales that could lead to a customer being denied boarding the plane (Qantas, 2015). In case of involuntary denial of a customer to board the customer is compensated for the same or placed in another flight at their own discretion. The customer service team at Qantas Airlines also handles any form of customer complaints either in writing, telephone calls or emails and makes sure that the situation is accorded the best solution possible and feedback given to the customer in time (Qantas, 2015). The customer service of Qantas Airlines is efficient and proactive in ensuring that the customers are comfortable from booking, flight and even after through ensuring that feedback services from the customers are appreciated (Qantas, 2015). Organizations with strong customer service are also able to address issues of significance to the operations from the complaints (Suttle, 2015).Customer service also gives an organization competitive advantage over its peers as the customers feel at home when enjoying the services. Additionally, customer service differentiates an organization from the rest (Suttle, 2015). As is the case with Qantas airlines that has received accolade and recognition for its customer services. The customer service of the organization makes the customers loyal of the organization preferring it over the other airlines thus upsurge of its share in the market (Jahanshahi, Ghashti, Mirdamadi, Nawaser, & Khaksar, 2011). Recommendations for Qantas Airlines Qantas Airlines has invested in its training as well as customer service. However, the training should be improved such that all the staff in the organization are trained on how to relate well with the customers in their lines of duty. The management should take the efforts of explaining to the employees the need for training so as to enable them participate. The goals of the training are then communicated to the employees. The customer service on the other hand should embrace the new social platform so as to ensure that it covers a wide base and gets feedback from different target groups. The customer rules should be communicated to the customers prior to making any bookings. To avoid overbooking there should be coordination between the sales agents and the staff at the airport so as to avoid inconveniences to the customers. There should also be diversification to allow the airline to respond to customers from all over the world effectively; eliminating the language barrier. Conclusion Training has many advantages on an organization. It acts as a source of competitive advantage for a firm that heavily invests in it. As can be seen in the report, Qantas airline is committed to providing its customers with the best services possible and has thus invested in a training program for various staff that operate in the airline from cabin crews, engineers to pilots. The organization has different forms of training as have also further been identified in the report. The customer service of the airlines is one of a kind and has different duties as have been outlined in the report as well. There are various recommendations worth consideration of for the organization to continue soaring higher in its service provision and the airline industry. Qantas airline can therefore be said to be an organization that is aware of all the human resource development factors and their essence in an ideal organization. Bibliography Jahanshahi, A. A., Ghashti, M. H., Mirdamadi, S. A., Nawaser, K., & Khaksar, S. S. 2011, "Study the Effects of Customer Service and Product Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(7), 253-260. Mosahab, R., Mahamad, O., & Ramayan, T. 2010, " Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Test of Mediation". International Business Research, 3(4), 72-80. Qantas Airlines. 2015, "About Our Company | Qantas". Retrieved from http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/about-qantas/global/en Qantas. 2015, "Qantas Customer Service Plan - United States". Retrieved from http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/customer-service-plan/us/en Sahinidis, A. G., & Bouris, J. 2008, "Employee perceived training effectiveness relationship to employee attitudes". Journal of European Industrial Training, 32(1), 63 - 76. Doi: 10.1108/03090590810846575 Suttle, R. 2015, "Why Is Customer Service Important to an Organization? | Chron.com". Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/customer-service-important-organization-2050.html Truitt, D. L. 2011“The Effect of Training and Development on Employee Attitude as it relates to Training and Work Proficiency”. SAGE Open, 1(2011), 1-13. Doi: 10.1177/2158244011433338 Vidal-Salazar, M. D., Hurtado-Torres, N. E., & Matías-Reche, F. 2012, "Training as a generator of employee capabilities". The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(2012), 2680-2697. Read More