Abstract
A competent approach to the formation of management policies within the carrier is an indispensable condition for market success and customer recognition. On the contrary, if insufficiently effective measures are applied to personnel management, seeking new development opportunities, attracting passengers, etc., the company will likely experience difficulties and will not be able to provide high-quality transportation services. As a proof of the success of certain strategies, it is possible to take one of the operating airlines and consider some of its weaknesses, focusing on current problems. At the same time, it is possible to propose real ways of changes that can be achieved by assessing the current situation from the perspective of the customer service agent. As a rationale, peer-reviewed articles, as well as scientific manuals are used. The significance of the paper lies in the possibility of applying the obtained results by airlines to improve their performance and increase the client base.
As the object of analysis, the Going company is presented as an example of an air carrier experiencing temporary difficulties with the organization of the work process. In order to make changes in the functioning of the company, it is required to consider possible strategies that may influence the revision of the approach concerning certain aspects. In particular, it is about the rules of selection and training of personnel, working with clients, expanding the areas of work, interaction with staff, autonomy, and the significance of the service provided. For the proposed changes, there are certain requirements and standards that need to be considered by the customer service agent to maximize the disclosure of the topic and the introduction of real and effective working strategies.
Changes in Job Requirements
One of the main areas of impact that deserves particular attention is the change in job requirements and the ways of their implementation. The tasks of the customer service agent include finding new ways to attract potential passengers, analyzing the popularity of a specific carrier, and other similar procedures. Based on the example of Going, it can be noted that the lack of competition in the market significantly slows the growth of the client base, which, in its turn, negatively affects profits and recognition from passengers (Heizer & Render, 2011). In order to significantly improve this area, it is essential to reconsider the approach to job requirements.
One of the ways to intervene is to actively promote the company’s interests in the market, for example, offering various bonuses for passengers and discount programs for flights. According to Chow, Lai, and Loi (2015), targeting internal marketing can be a rather effective strategy in the process of restructuring the activities of a certain company. Another possible requirement that should be presented to a specialist working with clients is communication in accordance with the norms of business ethics. As Heizer and Render (2011) note, the degree of client satisfaction directly depends on the courtesy and competence of the staff. Therefore, the more tactful and friendly the employees of the company are, the greater the chances of attracting new customers and, consequently, increasing profits will be.
Training of the Personnel
The training of qualified personnel is an indispensable condition for modern strategic management aimed at meeting all customers’ needs. According to Shaw (2016), the aviation industry is the sphere where not only the quality of the services provided depends on the degree of personnel’s preparedness but also clients’ safety. The tasks of the customer service agent should include the knowledge of the full range of work responsibilities, as well as orientation in non-standard situations that may theoretically arise when working with people.
The necessity to train personnel, certainly, lies with the leadership. The extension of employees’ possibilities should necessarily be accompanied by a detailed explanation of each task; otherwise, too many responsibilities can result in inattention caused by excessive workload, which is unacceptable in the process of air transportation. Heizer and Render (2011) remark that all good managers adhere to those principles of training their subordinates, which do not contradict working instructions and can be useful not only in terms of benefits for a particular company but also as a source of new skills for workers themselves. It is essential to not only explain job descriptions to employees but also consider which of the requirements will be useful and which ones will not. Therefore, the customer service agent should be prepared to orient in all the issues that passengers are handling and also be able to build communication in such a way as to give necessary and competent information to customers.
Staffing Strategies
Staffing refers to the type of activity conducted by the hiring department. According to Gittell, von Nordenflycht, Kochan, Bamber, and McKersie (2015), “employees have the ability to affect airline performance in significant ways, both positively and negatively” (p. 287). Therefore, it is significant to think over recruitment strategies in such a way that only qualified employees could perform the tasks assigned by the leadership. When it is about a customer service agent, HR managers should select the employee who can work effectively for the sake of expanding the client base and providing complete information about the specifics and features of the flights through the Going company. As Heizer and Render (2011) claim, the goal of the HR strategy is to efficiently use the strengths of workers, their professionalism, and the ability to build a competent course of work. Employee empowerment is inextricably linked to an effective strategy of team selection and completeness. It is essential to ensure that every person who relates to the company’s activities, including the customer service agent, identifies his or her work responsibilities correctly in order for the airline to successfully develop in a competitive direction.
Peculiarities of Job Design
The improvement of the airline work is the object of all its services. Choi, Lee, and Olson (2015) note that the economic, competitive, and other challenges faced by aviation industry specialists should be addressed immediately as this sphere does not tolerate any lack of initiative and indifference to existing problems. Job enlargement is a rather efficient strategy in case absolutely all employees understand the range of tasks. The leadership system should be built in such a way that both senior and junior management of the organization are aware of the need for active implementations (Wu, 2016). That is why the quality of the services provided can be improved, and the duties of a customer service agent can be slightly revised so that the most useful measures could be introduced and the airline’s popularity among customers could begin to grow.
Conclusion
Thus, certain requirements and standards can be of good use for the company’s successful activities, and the role of the customer service agent can be revised to introduce real and effective working strategies. As the primary spheres that should be touched upon are changes in job requirements, the training of the personnel, staffing strategies, and changes in the job design of the company. Employees’ active participation in the process of changes will help to return the Going company market positions and gain the recognition of the client base.
References
Choi, K., Lee, D., & Olson, D. L. (2015). Service quality and productivity in the US airline industry: A service quality-adjusted DEA model. Service Business, 9(1), 137-160.
Chow, C. W., Lai, J. Y., & Loi, R. (2015). Motivation of travel agents’ customer service behavior and organizational citizenship behavior: The role of leader-member exchange and internal marketing orientation. Tourism Management, 48, 362-369.
Gittell, J. H., von Nordenflycht, A., Kochan, T. A., Bamber, G. J., & McKersie, R. B. (2015). Labor relations and human resource management in the airline industry. In P. Belobaba, A. Odoni, & C, Barnhart (Eds.), The Global Airline Industry (2nd ed.) (pp. 287-326). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2011). Operations management: Flexible version (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Shaw, S. (2016). Airline marketing and management (7th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Wu, C. L. (2016). Airline operations and delay management: Insights from airline economics, networks and strategic schedule planning. New York, NY: Routledge.