United Airlines

United Airlines employees seem utterly incompetent. The recent dog death casualty is only the latest in a string of situations in which United employees have screwed up. But the incidents dont reflect a competence deficit at the air hose they reveal a culture problem and Uniteds leadership must take specific actions to jumble it.United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz must take specific actions to fix the culture problem at his company. (Photo by Jim Young/Getty Images)The ProblemWhen Dr. David Dao refused to give up his seat on a plane last year, specifically United have a bun in the oven employees under contract carrier Republic Airlines called airport security who ended up dragging him off the plane.Weeks later, a United gate agent refused to resign two young girls to board a plane because their leggings didnt adhere to the airlines dress code for pass travelers. And just last week a flight escort insisted on putting a dog in an overhead bin because its carrier wouldnt fit under t he seat and assured the dogs owner that it would be lovely up there.The dog was found dead upon arrival at the destination.These employee actions are deplorable and quite a disconnect from the companys brand slogan Fly the hearty Skies. The employees seem comp permitely opposite from those featured in the companys recent Olympics advertisements which aimed to show that their superhero-like qualities enabled them to ensure the safe, smooth, and fun passage of Olympic athletes as well as fooling customers.The contrast between the companys brand aspirations and its actual operations couldnt be sharper.The DiagnosisAlthough Uniteds employees seem to be at fault, the underlying cause is the companys lack of culture leadership. CEO Oscar Munoz and his colleague leaders are responsible for the huge gap between the companys brand identity and organizational culture.They have failed to engage, guide, and motivate employees adequately and appropriately.Munoz is credited with stabilizing the airlines manpower after the poorly executed merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines in 2010 resulted in a widespread lack of trust between the airlines management and its workers.He also has boosted Uniteds position in monthly on-time performance rankings of U.S. airlines from near the bottom to middle of the pack or better.But he and other United executives have non been effective in cultivating the culture at the company. In fact, they have contributed to an unhealthy and poor-performing corporate culture byMaking vapid promises and setting vague values. after(prenominal) the disaster with Dr. Dao, the airline rewrote its overbooking policies and promised to empower employees to act in the moment to put customers first. Munoz pledged that every customer deserves to be treated with the highest levels of service and the deepest sense of self-worth and respect. The company initiated a new employee training program called core4 to emphasize the companys four core val ues caring, safe, dependable, and efficient.Clearly the recent dog death, along with several other incidents in the past year involving pets being delivered to incorrect destinations and/or dying while under Uniteds care and the fact that the airline remains among the highest of U.S. airlines for complaints, indicate that whatever changes the leaders have implemented have not delivered on their promises.The training has not been effective and its values are at best aspirational and more likely inconsequential.Prioritizing operational performance over employees. Uniteds on-time and financial performance gains seem to have been achieved on the backs of its employees. On online forums, flight attendants routinely complain about what they view as consult understaffing.This, combined with the increase in quick turns due to more aggressive flight scheduling, means that attendants have similarly much to do in too short of a time during the boarding process. They arent paid until the ai rcraft pushes back from the gate and theyre held accountable for departures delayed by lack of in-cabin readiness. Its easy to see why they a lot rush through procedures and indiscriminately follow procedures.Not respecting or listening to employees.United recently announced that it would discontinue quarterly bonus payments to most employees and would replace them with a lottery-based system in which those who qualified for the lottery through participation in the core4 program could win prizes.When employees doed in an uproar, Munoz explained that the programs intent was to spice up the process a little bit. His comments suggest that leaders view employee compensation as something needing an injection of fun instead of understanding its role in meaningfully engaging employees and alter to their livelihood.Also his statement, Well be working over the next couple weeks to make sure we get input from people at all levels, suggests that employees were not adequately consulted durin g the conception of the change.RecommendationsSetting prescriptive values. Setting policies and procedures do not help to anticipate every customers and also dictate the appropriate employees response. Employees must be guided by clear and prescriptive values that help them determine how to handle unforeseen or difficult situations. Vague values such as caring dont translate the specificity that employees need to help them make the right in-the-moment decisions. But if Uniteds leaders were to articulate and abide by values such as listen carefully and respond respectfully, they would increase the likelihood that customers would be treated appropriately.Empowering and equipping employees. Its important for employees to develop emotional intelligence and learn effective communication skills, their hands shouldnt be level(p) by restrictive policies that dictate certain customer handling and they shouldnt face serious consequences for improvising when the situation calls for it. Moods and emotions influence how well the employee follow the decision process. Leaders should let the employee to have the freedom to make judgement.Aligning employee experience and customer experience.Employees can and will only deliver an experience to customers that they experience themselves , so leaders must train employees the way they want employees to treat customers. Therefore, managers should motivate their employees. If managers only follow procedures and dont take the time to understand what their employees need, employees are going to operate by the book unheeding of what customers might really need. If employees are treated as if their behavior is less important than airline performance, they will care less about customers well-being and more about on-time departures and efficient operations. This will affect the companys profit growth. But if leaders listen, value, and trust their employees, Employees will likely to listen to, value, and maintain loyalty of the customers.