Quality of Work of the Cabin Crew as an Indicator of Successful Customer Service

Singapore airlines use performance management to analyze, measure and supervise the performance of its employees. It is used to clarify job responsibilities and expectations and align behavior towards the organization's mission. While appraisal, act as a guide to determine how cabin crew is doing their jobs by evaluating their performance fairly and objectively.

Singapore airlines divided its employees according to the job functions which is the ground staff and flight crew. Two performance appraisals conducted by the unit manager every year for the ground staff. For those who did not perform well will have to be interviewed by the manager so that they can work closely to determine how their performance status can be improved. The appraisal is then used as a reference for some employees to go through training to make a progression career in the organization. From there they will be promoted from a passenger service staff to a supervisory role and move up to management positions. Employees with good appraisals will get an increment in their salary and bonuses.

Besides being a front line staff dealing with customer inquiries, there are four aspects that managers look when evaluating their cabin crew staff which is administration, communication, decision making and they have to be knowledgeable of their jobs. They are required to understand the phases of the job, to have the ability to keep calm in distress situations and make a fast effective solution.

Meanwhile, the cabin crew does not have an appraisal system. They have a board of checklist conducted by their senior cabin crew every preflight. This is to ensure that their subordinates are fast and efficient at executing operational tasks. Being a cabin crew is not just about the way they groomed but also punctuality. Their working hours varies and they always have to arrive 2 hours before their flight for briefing and attire check.

In between before flight and after flight they will be evaluated by the senior stewardess. It is very critical to attaining a high level of service quality. The senior cabin crew will assess each of his or her crew using an iPad so that the stakeholders can review the results. The following are what senior staff looks for especially when passengers board and disembark the aircraft. They have to demonstrate properly and do an inspection routine before take-off and landing and be efficient in serving customers. They have to take initiative to overcome situations inflight.

Corrective actions will be taken towards those who underperform. But over time, it is tedious to track their performances as the results will not be constant for every flight they are in. Usually, cabin crew can get promoted every 5 years but if their performances did not meet the criteria. When feedback from passengers is taken into account, they will be dealt with case by case basis. Cabin crew can be sent to a retrain program if they are likely to be deemed as a lack of customer-oriented skills.

Singapore Airlines cabin crew are ranked according to their performances, the high skilled stewardess will get more incentives, a long layover, and more flights compared to those who have underperformed.

The organization used to have an appraisal system in which employee incentive points were dock and were discouraged to take leave unless critical conditions. It is not effective and fair to be appraised every single flight. Also, evaluation might differ depending on the relationship of senior cabin crew and it's subordinate. Having a high rating performance is good as customers will return and generate earnings for the organization.

It is fair to assess each of the crew equally and not based on the relationship they have. Customer feedback is also a fair rating for the cabin crews as they are not associated personally and the evaluation is legitimate and honest.