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Introduction (brief description and competitive strategy)

We dissect Singapore Airlines as a revelatory case study of how competitive advantage can be achieved via strategic HRM practices. Singapore Airlines (SIA) is Singapore’s flag carrier and has consistently outperformed its competitors to be recognized as one of the world’s leading air carriers. In an unforgiving, hypercompetitive industry environment which has posed macro level socio-economical threats such as rising oil prices, the SARS epidemic and rising terrorism concerns, Singapore Airlines has remained consistent profitability , never recording an annual operating loss in its history. No other airline in the world has been awarded more times than SIA as its numerous accolades include “Best Global Airline” for the 21st consecutive year (Conde’ Nast Traveler) and “Best International Airline Award” in the World’s Best Awards survey (Travel & Leisure), for the 14th consecutive year.

FIGURE 1.

In this report, we will examine three HRM strategies used by SIA to decipher how it has accomplished its high level of performance. Figure 1 show a model derived from interviews with SIA’s senior management. Based on it, we will be focusing on strategies’ 1, 2 and 3 to closely identify the practices used that have helped SIA to achieve its high service excellence.

3 HRM STRATEGIES

MEETING THE PRE REQUISITE

GROUP INTERVIEW

ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW

MANAGEMENT ROUND

UNIFORM TEST/WATER CONFIDENCE TEST

STRICT RECRUITING PROCESS

Strict selection and recruitment of its potential cabin crew have been the foundation of the success of SIA. Through this long and strenuous selection process, the company makes sure that they only hire applicants with the specific characteristics that they desire.

FIGURE 2

Figure 2 shows the 6 stages of the requirement process. Applicants first have to meet the pre requite which focus on age ranges, academic qualifications and physical attributes.

After satisfying these criteria, the first round of interviews commence starting with the group interview. Applicants are subjected to an overall assessment conducted in groups which include an English passage reading test to evaluate their competency in the English language.

A one-on-one interview follows where applicants are judged on whether they possess SIA’s required core values and competencies, a psychometric test is then administered to further confirm the earlier results.

The uniform test proceeds where applicants are put into SIA’s uniform, the sarong kebaya. This evaluation allows the interviewer to assess the look of the applicant in uniform and judge whether the applicant has the poise, gait and general appearance which is desired for the position. Selected candidates from this round will also have to undertake a water confidence test where applicants have to jump into a training pool from a height of three meters. This tests the applicant’s confidence with water in the event where they have to aid passengers for an emergency evacuation on water.

The next round of interview is the management round where applicants would be interviewed by SIA’s senior vice president and senior cabin crew. In the final stage, applicants attend an informal tea party that gives management a further opportunity to scrutinize the applicants’ interaction style and demeanor.

After the initial training, new crews are carefully monitored for the first six months of flying through monthly reports from the inflight supervisor during this probationary period. Usually, around 75% are confirmed for an initial five-year contract, some 20% have their probation extended, and the rest leave the company.

TEA PARTY ROUND

Out of the 18 000 applications received annually, only a mere 3-4% of the applicant pool will be selected. The stringent and focus selection process allows SIA to choose only applicants of specific attributes which are in line with the vision and mission of the company.

At every stage of the recruitment process, people are getting filtered out if they do not meet the standard that SIA requires. This strict requirement demanded from its employees makes sure without uncertainty that the people they hire are fit for the job.

A HIGH EXPECTATION ON TRAINING AND RETRAINING

SIA has invested massive sums of money on the infrastructure and technology which has boasted them with the world’s most awarded airport, with more than 450 awards credited to their name. To live up to the reputation of hosting a world class airport, SIA emphasize heavily on the quality of service produced by their staff, optimizing human capital to its fullest potential. This is demonstrated by the training that their staff receives before being put to the frontline.

Training is often a key highlight of many industries. However, SIA remains a notch above other companies. Newly recruited cabin crew are required to go through an intensive 4 month training course which is considered to be the longest and most comprehensive in the airline industry. During this course, cabin crews are equipped with skills dealing with safety and functional issues. In addition, they are also introduced to knowledge of beauty care, gourmet food, wine appreciation, as well as sharpening the art of conversation. The SIA training program aims to enable cabin crew to provide courteous service which reflects warmth and friendliness while maintaining an image of authority and confidence in the passenger minds.

In a society that is continuously changing and involving, SIA provides its employees with continuous training and retraining to maintain its service excellence that is under constant development. According to Yap Kim Wah, Senior Vice President (Product and Service), “We believe that there is no moment, regardless of how senior a staff is, when you cannot learn something. So all of us, senior vice presidents included, are sent for training regularly. We all have a training path. You can always pick up something. If you have completed quite a number of programmes, then you go for sabbatical. You go and learn a language, do something new and refresh yourself.” This open mind set inherent in the staff allows them to accept change and development and deliver new services that SIA introduce regularly in a swift manner.

SIA’s leadership and relationship management with staff play a key role in the success of its training initiatives. As Mr. Timothy Chua, Project Manager (New Service Development) put it, “I see myself first as a coach and second as a team player.” SIA managers often assume the role of mentors and coaches to guide new employees, rather than just being managers and superiors. This attitude towards teaching and handing over of skills allows SIA to develop a healthy environment for continuous self improvement and learning which is vital to its quality of service. Employees from different levels of the hierarchy are able to engage and learn more freely.

BUILDING HIGH LEVEL SERVICE TEAMS

Effective teams form the basis of delivering excellent service. SIA takes this notion into play by aiming to create “esprit de corps” among its cabin crew. Team concept is the approach used to maximize the potential of its diverse group of cabin crew staff. By dividing its total crew members into teams of 13 people, team members are rostered to fly together as much as possible to better comprehend and enhance each others capabilities. This also allows them to build camaraderie and gel as a unit to maximize their performance. “Check trainers” are also administered to oversee 12 to 13 teams and often fly with them to evaluate their work ethics and give feedback on improvement.

Within a team, a team leader is appointed to guide and sharpen the skills of them team members and its overall performance. According to Ms. Gladys Chia (Assistant Manager of Training), “Team leaders are able to monitor and point out what can be improved in the crew; team leaders are the ones to evaluate the crew, monitor staff development, staff performance, supervise them. They see the feedback and monitor back the performance.”

This team structure gives each member the chance to improve and readily seek help when needed. The constant evaluations allow them to learn from their mistakes and sharpen their skills. This structure also allows employees to form camaraderie with their colleagues and give them a sense of belonging.

According to Mr. Sim Kay Wee, Senior Vice President (Cabin Crew), “The interaction within each of the teams is very strong. As a result, when team leaders do staff appraisal, they really know the staff. You would be amazed how meticulous and detailed each staff record is, even though there are 6,600 of them. We can pinpoint any staff’s strengths and weaknesses easily. So, in this way, we have good control; and through this, we can ensure that the crew delivers the promise. If there are problems, we will know about them and we can send them for retraining. Those who are good will be selected for promotion.”

This meritocratic approach allows the management team to have a good overview of its staff and allow them to easily evaluate their staff’s performances.

CONCLUSION

The ability to achieve maximum effectiveness from its human capital through human resource management strategies has been the core foundation of the success of Singapore Airlines (SIA). The company places a huge emphasis on choosing the right people to do the right job through its stringent recruitment process and provides them with the a comprehensive training program with the skills needed to provide excellent service to its passengers. Their constant effort to stay relevant with the present has been vital to sustaining a competitive edge over other airlines. Working in effective service teams have made sure that their performance can be maximized and constantly improving to suit the needs of its passengers.

From this report, we can conclude that the core of SIA’s reputable service excellence drives deeply from its ability to optimize human capital with their methods of fundamentally finding the right people who they deem have the potential for the job, providing them with the proper skill knowledge required and effectively executing them by using team based strategies. The HRM team effectively understands the constant growing needs of its passengers and readily makes changes and developments which are efficiently executed by its staff which helps them to sustain its service excellence.