Exceptional Organization: Airline Company Analysis
After studying the topic- exceptional organization, I have realized that for an organization to be termed as exceptional, it does not only concern being the biggest or making the highest amount of profits in the industry. However, an exceptional organization is that organization which is viable, sustainable and valued. A viable organization is an organization which can achieve its purpose while conducting its activities according to the society’s highest values. Also, to be sustainable means to remain viable over time. Therefore, an organization must adequately prepare for downturns during good times. Furthermore, an organization can only be considered as valued when its owners, workers and customers and the whole community in its area of operation receive more benefit from it than from its competitors. This can only be achieved when the organization involves in viable and sustainable activities.
I can also define a viable organization regarding what the consumers expect. For an organization to be exceptional in the consumer’s eye, it must be able to empathize and communicate quickly and precisely to the customers and in a large scale level. It must also be proactive and able to identify errors in good time and solve them. Defensiveness is not a good tactic for exceptional organizations. Whenever an error occurs, an exceptional organization should detect the error promptly, know how to fix the error, give the customers some assurance that the error will not reoccur and explain to the customers precisely why they should continue trusting and working with the organization.
Lastly, I can define an exceptional organization regarding the employees and the members of the organization. An exceptional organization must focus on the personal, moral and professional growth of its members, by conducting regular guidance of the employees and organizing training forums to improve the employee skills. This keeps the employees sufficiently motivated and willing to work.
How the Airline Company Measure up to the above Definition
Basing my arguments on the above meanings of an exceptional organization, I can evaluate whether my organization is outstanding or not. I am currently employed in one of the international airlines, that I will name X. According to me, I view this organization as exceptional. This is because it contributes to the professional development of all its employees by offering on-the-job training, involves in sustainable activities like environmental conservation, reduction of emissions, recycling of waste products and giving back to the community through donations. The organization also tries to maintain a good relationship with its customers by keeping them informed of their services and any changes in service delivery. This has enabled it to experience a high customer retention rate.
However, there are some instances whereby the organization tends to deviate from the expectations of an exemplary organization. For example, the organization does not have other motivational other clear motivational strategies apart from training its employees. The middle-level managers and the supervisors seemed to be lacking emotional intelligence. They are very strict and sometimes harsh on the employees.
When comparing the attributes of an exemplary organization held by Airline Company and the traits it lacks, it is evident that the company owns more characteristics of an exceptional organization. This makes me list it as one of the outstanding organizations in the Airline industry.
Ways in which the Organization is Exceptional and Ways in which it falls short
Before examining how the Airline Company is exceptional, I will narrate one of the incidences that happened in the company and how it handled it. There was a time the company experienced a system overload. Usually, the flight bookings are made by the customers online. The company had an offer and gave discounts on the bookings done for a specific period. During this period, errors occurred making the customers book several times without success. After several attempts, some clients realized that their credit cards were being declined. When they consulted their banks, they were informed that all the several efforts they made were successfully booked and that there were pending charges on their credit cards. The company received numerous calls from the customers complaining about the errors. The company responded promptly, explained the source of the errors and assured the customers that they would be fixed. After two days, the system was fixed, and all the extra bookings for each customer canceled.
From the above story, I can derive that the Airline Company is exemplary. It was able to identify the source of the errors that caused difficulties in booking, communicate them to the customers, assure them that they will be fixed, and then fix them in time.
Also, the company has a training center called University for People, where it trains its employees. In doing this, it contributes to the professional development of its workers. This is one of the attributes of an exemplary organization. By doing this, the organization has been able to achieve a motivated and highly skilled staff to run its daily operations.
Furthermore, the company involves in sustainable operational activities. These include some initiatives like reduction of emissions and fuel conservation, community outreach and employee involvement and recycling of waste products. First, the organization has continued to purchase and use low carbon renewable jet fuel to reduce emissions and conserve the environment. Second, it recycles most of its waste products like paper, plastic, cardboard, and aluminum. Last, it strives to be a good environmental steward in the locations where it operates. It does this through donations, volunteerism and offering financial support.
However, I also noticed that there are some incidents in the company that go against the requirements of a sustainable organization. For instance, there have been instances of communication breakdowns. The top management is difficult to reach due to a lot of bureaucracies. Whenever a customer is faced with problems, especially about luggage, bookings and other security issues, they always have to follow tedious channels to have their problems solved.
The company also lacks strategies to keep its employees motivated. Apart from offering training, it does not have unique motivational approaches for its employees. Perhaps. This is a failure on the part of the management. Furthermore, the supervisors and the middle-level managers are also very strict on the guidelines. The lower level employees, therefore, avoid telling them their problems because they are afraid of provoking them.
Actions to be taken to make the Airline Company Exceptional
To make the organization outstanding, the company should offer some motivation to its employees. For example, it should provide bonuses to its employees and thank the employees who accomplish challenging tasks.
I also suspect that most of the middle-level managers and supervisors did not appreciate the importance of having emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability of the managers to control their emotions and the emotions of others. This is especially important in promoting peaceful coexistence within the organization. Leaders who can control their emotions are always approachable, by their juniors. Therefore, the middle-level managers and the supervisors should practice emotional intelligence o peacefully coexist with their juniors in the firm.
The organization should also install a more efficient channel of communication. This will enable them to solve the problems faced by the customers when relaying their complaints and opinions concerning the services provided by the company.
How I could personally exercise my capabilities as a leader to make the Airline Company exceptional.
After studying this topic, I have learned some primary capabilities that are required of a leader. These include emotional intelligence, communication, influence and motivation among other capabilities. Therefore, if I could rise in a leadership position in the Airline Company, I could use emotional intelligence to control my emotions and help other employees understand their roles in the firm. This capability could also allow me to understand the emotions of fellow employees so that I handle them efficiently.
I could also use effective communication skills to give instructions and guidelines about specific organizational goals. This may help eliminate any confusion that may lead to accidents, errors, and failures in the organization. When instructions are communicated in the right way, the employees will also be able to carry out their duties in the required manner and avoid unnecessary delays.
Furthermore, I could use influence to persuade employees to handle specific activities. Influence is particularly significant when a leader wants the employees to work overtime or do extra activities that are not within their work schedule. This could enable me to motivate the employees to surpass the organization’s objectives.
Last, I could use different motivational strategies to encourage my employees to be dedicated to their duties. Ideally, there are two forms of motivation- financial and non-financial. I could, therefore, use financial motivational strategies such as bonuses and paid maternity leaves to motivate the employees. Also, I could use the non-financial motivational strategies like sending thank you notes and letters of appreciations to the employees whenever they accomplish challenging tasks to give them a feeling of encouragement.