Sticking to policy...come hell or high water. Brave and bold? Or bad business?
If you haven't seen the gentleman being dragged off of the United Airlines flight, see here first.
What we have here is rigid, inflexible policy meeting the real world. But what policy forgets is that the real world is messy. It's full of people with a variety of dynamics at work. Inflexible policy exists because: Corporations are terrified of empowering their employees.
Oh, don't get me wrong...PR and Marketing talks about how much companies "depend" on employees doing the right thing. In fact, this kind of language is straight from United's web site:
"We rely on exceptional individuals who demonstrate character and strategic thinking to move our entire business forward."
There was no strategic thinking or character displayed in this situation. This is conjecture, but I believe the issue is far more systemic than a few badly trained gate agents.
I know airlines are companies that have to make money. Airlines have to have guidelines around issuing credits and refunds. I believe the average profit per person, per flight is around $6-$10. So, there's not much room for error.
But as this situation evolved, someone with a calmer head should have had the authority to say "OK, let's make a deal!"
Instead, in order to save a few bucks...United adhered to their policies and created a PR S%^t storm. How many millions will this cost United? There will likely be a lawsuit. There will likely be a settlement. All because policy was so inflexible. But hey, at least policy was followed!
Is there any blame to be placed on this gentleman dragged out of the airplane? Yes. Of course. His behavior contributed to this turning into a shit storm. But in a services industry, we, the provider have to rise above. In a service industry where customers' stress levels are already high, the service provider has to be the "bigger person."
Before I forget...one word of warning to United: I beg of you...don't try to press charges. I get that it's a 'federal offense' to ignore flight attendants instructions, however, you think you have a PR nightmare on your hands now? Press charges and see how ugly things can really get. You created this. Don't deflect blame. Own it. Fix it. Learn from it. Empower your people to know when to go off script! Don't make it worse.
Lastly, to the PR/Marketing team at United...I don't envy you. This is now your mess to clean up. You put so much time and effort into crafting the right narrative for your brand and then this happens. So many hours changing one word in an advertisement to strike the right tone...and poof! I truly don't envy the task you have in front of you.
Worse, if this ends up impacting long term financial performance, you know who is getting blamed right? Yeah. You. Not the idiot in the suit who came up with not only the policy, but then made it apparent that it was an inflexible policy at that. Your jobs will be on the line because his (or her) quarterly bonus is only six figures instead of seven.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
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