FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

 


Low employee engagement is a global problem. Due to the diverse range of customers in the airline industry, employee engagement holds more significance (Karatepe and Olugbade, 2016). Due to the nature of work dealing directly with customers, substantial workload, and dealing with a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, employees face immense pressure to ensure customers are satisfied with the airlines’ products and even more so the service and avoid any form of dissatisfaction (Cheng-Hua & Hsin-Li, 2012).

 

A high turnover rate in the airline industry can prove to be very costly for airlines due to the considerable amount of time and money spent on training. Saks (2006) claims that employee engagement is negatively related to turnover rates and therefore it is essential to find out what factors are affecting employee engagement in an organization. Supervisor support towards cabin crew has been identified as a major predictor for job satisfaction (Vinnicombe, 1984) and is essential as front-line staff frequently interact with employees and always need effective support from supervisors (Li, Sanders and Frenkel, 2012; Law et al., 2010).


Video 1- The Factors that Affect Employee Engagement and How to Manage These

(Source: HI5 Technologies, 2016)

Some of the most likely causes of depreciation in employee engagement are:

Stress balancing between work and family. Most cabin crew in the middle east stay away from families and keep in touch as and when possible.

Lack of opportunities to give input or discuss issues related to work.

Lack of opportunities to develop on the work front.

4.    Lack of guidance and support from superiors.

5.    Unresolved interpersonal conflicts.

6.    Little or no recognition.

7.    Work pressure to perform at optimal in different time zones.

 

As a leader, one must ensure scaling up on employee engagement levels by building strong relationships with employees and exchanging support to ensure everyone especially the employees feel a sense of belonging and appreciation.

 



 

REFERENCES

Cheng-Hua, Y. and Hsin-Li, C. (2012). Exploring the perceived competence of airport ground staff in dealing with unruly passenger behaviors. Tourism Management, 33(3), pp.611–621. Available at: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/touman/v33y2012i3p611-621.html [Accessed on 28 Nov. 2022]

 

Karatepe, O.M. and Olugbade, O.A. (2016). The effects of work social support and career adaptability on career satisfaction and turnover intentions. Journal of Management & Organization, [online] 23(3), pp.337–355. Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-16270-003 [Accessed on 28Nov.2022]

 

Li, X., Sanders, K. and Frenkel, S. (2012). How leader–member exchange, work engagement and HRM consistency explain Chinese luxury hotel employees’ job performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), pp.1059–1066. Available at https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/how-leader-member-exchange-work-engagement-and-hrm-consistency-ex [Accessed on 28 Nov.2022]

 

Saks, A.M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, [online] 21(7), pp.600–619. Available at: https://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=1568390 [Accessed on 28 Nov.2022]

 

Vinnicombe, S. (1984). Communications and Job Satisfaction. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 5(1), pp.2–7. Available at https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb053540/full/html Accessed on 28 Nov.2022]


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AT THE WORKPLACE

Image
Employee engagement is one of the vital concepts in Human Resources describing the employees’ level of enthusiasm, emotional commitment and dedication toward the organization and its goals, work, and company performance (Smith, 2022).  According to a study by ( Kim and Parker, 2017) , employee engagement is signified as an essential element for improving performance and enhancing organizational sustainability.   Employees play a vital and essential role for any organization and retaining employees is a major challenge as characterized by the current high levels of employee turnover and absenteeism ( Reijseger et al., 2017 ).   Employee engagement is essential in any workplace as studies have shown a direct relationship between high employee engagement to higher levels of productivity, and employee satisfaction resulting in higher performance (Thisera & Wijesundara, 2020). As per a research study, companies with highly engaged employees help produce 33% higher profits and 44% mo
Read more

LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Image
Some organizations are more successful than others when it comes to the ability to engage with employees. Considering a successful middle eastern airline with hundreds of operations worldwide, it is noticeable that most of its employees are either completely disengaged or moderately engaged. While these employees may seem unappreciative of the organization's efforts, the truth is that they just aren't fully committed and interested in what the company has to offer. A skillset update or a pay raise can significantly impact employee engagement. Organizations fail to create more strategies due to multiple levels of engagement existing within the organization, concentrating on engagement ranging from highly engaged or highly disengaged when they should think of deeper levels of employee participation. It is important to consider strategies to be employee-oriented rather than entity oriented to improve engagement. According to Frye and Breaugh (2005), an organization needs to addr
Read more

WAYS TO PROMOTE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Image
  1.     Ensure Psychological Safety Employees feel insecure when exposed to inconsistent or unpredictable surroundings at the workplace. According to Kahn (1990), the four factors that complete psychological safety are management style, group and inter-group dynamics, norms and interpersonal relationships. Employees tend to perform better in a more encouraging manner when they do not perform work under stress. Employees perform better in more predictable environments where there are no risks in expressing themselves (Saks and Gruman, 2011). Subordinates sense more psychological safety at the workplace when exposed to approachable Management where the sense of belonging is felt and employee performance is not hindered (Spreitzer, Lam and Fritz, 2010). 2.     Freedom of Expression and Accumulative Decision- Making For trust to be built between the organization and the employees and to encourage employee engagement, employers must work towards creating transparency and sustainable
Read more