Associate Professor talks about 'mindset changes' of employees of MAS > but really fails to understand the sufferings of the thousands who will be unemployed on 31/8/2015...and other matters.
The failures of the Malaysian Airlines - would be the failures of the owners of the airline, and the Board of Directors > Remember that it is the Board of Directors that appoints(or approves the appointment of the CEO and Upper Management. It is the Board of Directors that have to agree and 'green-light' anything and everything done by the company. So, the blame of MAS (or Malaysian Airlines Systems Bhd) should never lie on employees who just do what they are told to do. If employees, fail to do their work, then they are simply terminated... If the Airlines, wanted to close a department, then simply employees are retrenched. All this is provided in our Malaysian laws....
National Interest? - Well, it makes sense if Malaysian Airlines was made a Statutory Body > But no - it is and will in the future still be a 'Private Company' with a new name 'Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB) - which will also most likely be public listed, and its shares will be owned in the future by even foreign investors?
The tragedies of MH370 and MH17 was used as a reason for the loss of image and the re-structuring exercise - but to be honest MAS was already suffering financial losses long before these tragedies... and the loss of image is to Malaysian Airlines(MAS) with the current logo...which looks like will not change. The owners of MAS is Khazanah - and what really is happening is nothing but the 'owner changing shirts' from Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS) to Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB), and this certainly would not improve the image of the airlines, will it?
Christoph Mueller, chief executive of MAS, who would assume the same position with Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), was planning for 10 subsidiaries and their performance would be gauged by their respective profit and loss accounts.
The only changes is that we will have a new CEO and a new COO - who interestingly are also now the Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS), who later will be holding the same positions in Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB) - and interestingly, the CEO was appointed even before the Administrator was appointed...So, at the end of the day, this exercise may be nothing but the infusion of billions of ringgit, of the Malaysian people, to once again save this airlines of ours.
EMPLOYEES - well, we know that about 6,000 Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS) will be terminated on 31/8/2015 > and since June, they were asked not to come in at work and will be paid basic salary. The termination letter on the face of it prevents them from finding employment now and moving on - for if they do, they would likely to be considered to have resigned, and may lose also their termination benefits. Note, when an employer has no more work for its employees, the right and just thing to do is to retrench them...but to do so will mean following the Malaysian law > something that could be avoided, by simply terminating all on the same day, i.e. Merdeka Day.
To date, Mueller has said that 98% of them have accepted job offers with the new MAS.“So, this indicates that they were probably offered jobs on the same terms as previously. So, I don’t think the new employees were betrayed,” said Dr Azmi.
The other about 14,000 employees - well, they were all mostly regular employees until retirement in Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS) - but allegedly the offer of new employment by Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB) may not be for regular employment - but precarious short-term employment - some allegedly on 3-months contract, some on 6-months contract....It will be good if PM Najib, also Chairman of Khazanah, the owners of the airlines be transparent and tell us how many have been offered regular employment, and how many have only been offered short-term contracts? What about the salary - is it the same, or lower? Will those on short-term contracts be granted extension...or eventually all be made regular employees? What about their 'tenure' in Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS), will it be recognized and taken into account in their new employment with Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB)?
280 or 2% of the 14,000 did not accept the Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB)'s offer - but 280 is a large number, is it not? Our Professor says 'probably' offered jobs on the same
terms as previously - so he really does not know, and he is not sure whether the employees were betrayed or not?. Well, if you are an employee of an Airline for many years, and you are going to be all terminated on 31/8/2015 and there is an offer by MAB which you have to accept within about 2 weeks - most employees will take it, would they not? Note, that those who were not offered employment, generally were all asked to stop coming in to work as of beginning June - so, in the mind of those still allowed to come in to work until 31/8/2015, would there also not be an additional concern that the rejection of the MAB offer may also result in they be asked not to come into work. Not coming in to work means a loss of allowances, overtime, etc...and just being paid basic salary until 31/8/2015. Hence, I would not be in a hurry to make a big deal about the fact that 98% of those that were offered employment in MAB accepted it.
What we know is effectively, all about 8 in-house unions of the employees of Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS) would cease to exist and the Collective Bargaining Agreements will be of no consequence in Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB).
At the end of the day, really it would be all the employees of Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS) and their trade unions that have been sacrificed, and who will lose out.
What happens to the Board of Directors, CEO and upper management of Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS), the people who should be responsible for the failure of the Airlines? What are the 'sacrifices' they make - salary cuts? reduce allowances? Well, there was a news report that said that allegedly the former CEO was made director in the new Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB)? Nurul Izzah speakes about directors of Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB) - but what about the workers?
What about the salary of the now CEO of Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad(MAS), who will later be the CEO of Malaysian Airlines Berhad(MAB)? RM1 million a month? RM500,000 a month? Good if our PM Najib, tells us all openly about the salary of the CEO, COO, upper management and also allowances of the Directors - why should they be paid highly?
In fact salary should not exceed the salary of a Malaysian High Court Judge or the Transport Minister? They should maybe be given a small basic salary and a percentage of the profits of the airline - that would be a good incentive to make sure that our airlines is profitable. If no profits, lower salary(allowance) - if bigger profits, more take home income. If there are losses, maybe even a pay-cut?
Malaysian Airlines enjoys much government support - not just in the billions of ringgit pumped in now, but also in so many other matters. It is the influence of the government, that opens routes and even encourage greater number of passengers...like through 'Visit Malaysia' activities of the Ministry of Tourism.
Associate Professors are academicians, and they are not there to be pro-government or anti-government, but to be really honest and critically tell us the truth - the whole truth.
Our Professor tells employees to undergo a 'mindset change' and sacrifice - his concern is national interest because billions of ringgit of public funds have been utilized. He says be happy because MAB chosen to hire ex-employees of MAS rather than outsiders (but what are the terms of employment?).
He allegedly says, 'work culture would be based on
the key performance indicators (KPI) of each employee' - what does this even mean? Workers do the work as directed - that is all. So, how will a flight attendant and pilot be assessed according to KPI? It will be interesting for all of us to know...tell us.
* Earlier post on MAS - just do a search on this Blog under 'MAS' to read all.
13 July 2015 07:39
Staff at revamped Mas must undergo MINDSET CHANGE - expert
KUALA LUMPUR - Almost
14,000 people offered employment with the new Malaysia Airlines (MAS),
under a restructuring programme, need to adopt a forward moving mindset
change, says a geostrategist.
Associate Professor Dr Azmi Hassan from the School of Science,
Technology and Innovation, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said these
employees had to accept the fact that this must be done.
Under the new work environment, the work culture would be based on
the key performance indicators (KPI) of each employee, which would then
determine the KPI of each department.
Christoph Mueller, chief executive of MAS, who would assume the same
position with Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), was planning for 10
subsidiaries and their performance would be gauged by their respective
profit and loss accounts.
KPI would be fixed for each subsidiary to control cost, record performance and profits so as not to burden MAB.
“The transformation is from one extreme to another; it is not easy to carry out.
“We sympathise with the employees, but in doing so, we must bear in
mind that national interest comes first as Khazanah Nasional Bhd
(Khazanah) has injected billions of ringgit in the exercise and it is
public money.
“So, they must sacrifice, too,” he told Bernama
To a question on re-hiring MAS staff, Dr Azmi agreed that those
offered re-employment were very lucky indeed as the new MAS, which would
be operational on Sept 1, had given priority to former employees and
not outsiders.
“It is true when you re-hire former employees, they bring along with
them their work experience. To date, Mueller has said that 98% of them
have accepted job offers with the new MAS.
“So, this indicates that they were probably offered jobs on the same
terms as previously. So, I don’t think the new employees were betrayed,”
said Dr Azmi.
What was important was their valuable experience and they were coming
to the new entity with that experience, said Dr Azmi, adding that a new
work culture, mindset change and perception would benefit MAB, which
according to Mueller, would be able to deliver profits in 2018.
As to why MAS incurred losses after losses despite several
restructuring exercises and billions of ringgit in capital injection in
the past, Dr Azmi said the main constraint for MAS then was the
management and employees thought of themselves as an extension of the
government and not as a commercial entity.
“If there is a problem, they think the government will bail them out.
So, now MAS Bhd has to operate as a very competitive and innovative
commercial entity which must meet the KPIs set,” he added.
“I am sure the 14,000 who were re-employed realise that they were
almost terminated but were lucky to have been re-hired by the new
company.
“So, this is a calling for them to change, that they cannot operate
like before and must give their best as a commercial entity,” he added.
Dr Azmi also welcomed Mueller’s appointment to steer MAB to regain
its lost glory, given his expertise in turning around two ailing
airlines which almost went bust.
“I am confident the new employees with the new company, and their
previous experience, can be synergised with the rest in MAS now.”
Dr Azmi also said that it was important for the new MAS to be free of
political interference and that 100% of its fate must be placed in
Mueller, who should be given a free hand to turn around the company,
which technically almost went bankrupt.
He said the next two years were very critical for MAS as the company was still incurring losses.
“In that two years, there should be no outside interference or anything that can threaten MAS.” - Therakyatpost
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