Monday, September 26, 2022

Can someone answer "KayPoh aka BusyBody" please?

 For the several trips I flew on SQ, I would ask for a feedback form to commend  the crew for their good service.  On many occasions, the IFM would approach me and request that I do it online.  He would explain that the recognition given to online feedback was higher than feedback form.  This was because SQ Management had this perception that the commendation was solicited, or because the passenger had nothing to do on board (like waiting for aircraft to land).  On the other hand, if it was done via online, it meant that the passenger really intended to commend the crew as he took the trouble and time off from his routine to write the commendation.


Is this the situation?  If so, then it does appear to be a misguided and improper and handling of crew management.

Perhaps the experts in this blog can comment.

KayPoh aka BusyBody

4 comments:

SUNNY GALE said...

Haha, this is true and factual. Apparently, it took decades before management realised the "trickery" of the comment form and the part it plays in giving a crew an edge over another in the promotion process of cabin crew dept.
Yes, 90% of the comment forms situation r solicited.
U see, in an ordinary setting, it is so difficult to even get one compliment on a flt from a passenger with regards to your good service.
And then eh......... u have a crew who can come up with 5 to 10 compliments on comment forms with his/her name stated in it.
It defies logic isn't it, unless solicited, getting 5 to 10 compliments, when people can't even get 1 after flying for more than 30+ yrs has got to do with solicitation.
It's an open secret to see crew passing out comment forms to paxs on board. Some crew r truly professional in this art of solicitation and they do it better than their work, hehe. And all bec of trying to get an edge over others to get promoted.
U see, this is one sad part of promotion on "Merit".
When u promote on " Merit", lots of cheating will come into play, human being human.
I remember a promotion exercise for IFM long ago when l was a crew.
Now, what happened was there was a leak that the test paper questions will be based on topics from the CC basic manual.
It resulted in a few crew who had the insider privileged of the leak, going back to the office to request for an updated copy of the CC manual.
And u know what? They all were able to ace the test and got themselves into the interview process, although much junior to many crew.
U see, CC promotion system is point based. The management comes up with criteria to award points, eg yrs of service (1pt per yr), educational qualification, so on and so forth.
And u know what?- management apparently thought it was a good idea to award points to the test as well. However this process is open to cheating.
In a nutshell, all the points collected will be added up and it will secure your place to be selected for interview.
As for the comments form, the more u collect, it goes on your personal record and stand u in good stead for promotion and this is why people will try to solicit as many as they can.
It took a while before people realised the " trickery" of the comment form and this is why an online compliment is preferred bec humans if they take the trouble to go online ( human hate to be inconvenienced ) then u can be sure the compliment is not solicited and is genuine.
In the CC context, l realised the Merit system is a waste of time bec this job is not a rocket science job.
It is a simple job where the longer u fly the better u get. Therefore promotion on the basis of seniority is the best u can get.
When u promote on seniority, u get loyalty and dedication with just a small percentage of dead wood, while the majority r really concern about the welfare and profitability of the company they work in.

SUNNY GALE said...

Promotion on Merit or Seniority?

"Promotion on seniority is the process of nature" (promotion basing on seniority in job that is not rocket science) is also about going green and trying to save planet Earth and its inhabitants from extinction because the additional processes in the CC promotion exercise results in an increase of the carbon footprint of the company. If all companies of the world do their part by reducing their footprint by reducing the ridiculous process in their promotion exercise in job that is not rocket science but a practice makes perfect kind of work and promote on the simple aspect of seniority, the World will be able to get out of the climate warming situation and survive for many centuries to come.
I have learned one very important aspect of life, that is if u r in tune with Nature u will be ok, but, if u go against Nature, there will a pay back time.
U see, promotion on so called Merit result in Earth warming, due to human greed, unnecessary processes and it's abuse of the natural resources without giving Nature time to replenish itself. So it's pay back time now.
And in the area of being in tune with Nature, this goes with health as well. Eat more green and fruits and when u r of certain age eg above 60yrs cut away the Red meats and whack more fish as your main course. This way u get into tune with Nature again and will have less medical problems. The reality of life is that we want to live longer but, more important HEALTHY and get promoted in our working career, haha isn't it?
I rest my case.

EC said...

The answer is easy - by writing through online, the crew can earn the points and inputted into staff records which will be looked into for promotions and contract renewal. If it’s written, they can’t earn these points on their good service. This had been an existing policy for years as due to crew misusing passengers names to write positive feedback for themselves before. This was shared to me by an AO/ IA before so I guess it’s fairly reliable.

Kaypoh aka Busybody said...

Hi, Sunny Gale and EC, thanks for the info. This practice of not accepting feedback form is definitely unfair to the deserving staff. Firstly, it might be a genuine feedback from a passenger and, secondly, the entire workforce is "penalised" because of a few. Actually, there is a very simple solution to this. In the feedback form, there are slots to indicate KrisFlyer membership, Email address, telephone contact numbers. These are probably for SQ to send an acknowledgement/thank you note. SQ can tell CCs that, on collecting back the completed feedback, there must a contact point, otherwise, it will be ignored. Only those with a contact details can be considered for points. Granted that not every passenger has a KrisFlyer membership, but any passenger without an Email or mobile phone is an extreme rarity. The CC can explain to the passenger that the details are necessary. A genuine passenger will be happy to oblige. On the other hand, CC up to monkey tricks will think twice.

My humble view as an outsider. Actually, I also encountered 2 incidents on an SQ flight. Once when a FSS shouted at me and the other when a Japanese CC member sort of over-reacted when serving the passenger next to me. Let me consult BT if I should share these with you all.

KayPoh aka BusyBody