Strategic Communication Process in the Workplace

Communication, which the exchange of ideas, feelings, thoughts, and emotions from one individual to another or a group through mutually agreed signs and semiotic rules is essential to any organization. It is through communication that instructions are passed, commands issued, ideas exchanged, and pent up emotions released. Effective communication in the organization is even more critical in the change process which is often faced with resistance to any attempts to change the status quo either overtly or covertly. The occurrence is explained by the fact that human beings are genetically engineered to resist the unknown, nonetheless, through communication, the change process; its intended benefits, challenges and contingency plans can be elaborated to members of an organization.

In this essay, the strategic communication process is explored with a focus on the Fly Emirates as its chief pilot leads in negotiation for better remuneration of pilots.

Challenge (Rationale for Change), Professional Importance and Goals

While Gulf airlines are regarded as the best in the world owing to long haul flights, superior –in-flight entertainment, good safety records and the operation of state of the art aircraft such as the Boeing 787 dream liner and the Airbus A 380, their workers are not competitively remunerated.

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As a result, there is a deficiency of pilots, and there are unconfirmed reports of large numbers of FLY Emirates fleet that remain grounded. Worse of, the pay has led to an exit of pilots to better-paying airlines. For instance, while 42,620 AED monthly basic salaries, 16075 AED accommodation allowance and additional medical coverage for a captain flying the Boeing 777 or the Airbus A 380 is sufficient, it does not match the 415,643 annually paid to a Qantas Airline pilot of the same rank (Deulgaonkar, 2017).

Besides that, the pilots are under tight schedules as the airline's pilots fly an average of 90 hours against the industry’s standard of 75 hours.

The more extended flying hours and tight working schedules increase vulnerability to human error which despite the automation and use of fly-by-wire systems, is the leading causes of aviation accidents. The minimizations further increase the risk of HR costs which affect the quality of training offered to the pilots. Therefore, the intended goal is to have better wages and a suitable working condition which eliminate the risks such as obstructive sleep apnea and depression which result to poor judgment (Aljurf et al., 2018). Accidents have already occurred, for example, the preliminary report into the Flight 521 incident on the 3rd of August was attributed to human error, but the change will prevent further damage.

Target Audience

Fly Emirates is under the leadership of a Group Chairman and CEO, HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, who is deputized by Maurice Flanagan. Right below them is President Tim Clark who is assisted several executives who oversee; Project management, Engineering and operations, services department and Human Resources (Nataraja & Al-Aali, 2011). In this regard, the target audience is the organizations top command. The audience is quite informed on the subject, for example, the top hr understands the dangers of a poorly motivated workforce and the executive vice-chair, an engineer himself understands the risks of human-machine interactions. On matters demographics, it cuts across the age, gender, religious and racial divide as they are drawn from many parts of the world. Nonetheless, the audience is quite uneasy with the message of the communication as costs savings and tradeoffs on labor have allowed the airline to remain profitable.

Message

As the message of the communication is better remuneration of the pilots, it is clear and concise that what is required is a better contract, proper work-life balance and the reduction of flying hours. Moreover, it shall be addressed formally given its somewhat sensitive nature and should the use of letters fail, oral communication would work best, and this would involve a boardroom meeting with the senior executives. However, owing to the harsh and somewhat not so democratic nature of leadership in the UAE which is replete with the lack of workers unions as the law forbids, advocacy for change would likely be met with resistance (Solaja et al., 2016). Leaders such as the Chief Pilots are likely to be treated as renegades, and this might affect the candidness in addressing the pilots’ grievances during panel meetings.

Conclusion

While the change would be of great importance to the organization, its implementation is not as easy as several challenges mar the negotiation process. There are many barriers to communication in such a context, and the biggest is the use of overt or covert means to maintain the status quo. Moreover, as there are no trade unions to strengthen the negotiation process, the Chief pilot whose message is to have a better contract is likely to have a difficult time convincing the top leadership of the airline to increase salaries, yet the airline attributes its success to minimization of labor costs. Nonetheless, a positive response to the message would guarantee safety as suitable working conditions eliminate the risks such as obstructive sleep apnea and depression which increase vulnerability to human error.

References

1. Aljurf, T. M., Olaish, A. H., & BaHammam, A. S. (2018). Assessment of sleepiness, fatigue, and depression among Gulf Cooperation Council commercial airline pilots. Sleep and Breathing, 22(2), 411-419.
2. Deulgaonkar, P. (2017, May 8). Revealed: How much Emirates pilots earn. Arabian Business. Retrieved from https://www.arabianbusiness.com/revealed-how-much-emirates-pilots-earn-673229.html
3. Nataraja, S., & Al-Aali, A. (2011). The exceptional performance strategies of Emirate Airlines. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 21(5), 471-486.
4. Solaja, M. O., Idowu, E. F., & James, E. A. (2016). Exploring the relationship between leadership communication style, personality trait and organizational productivity. Serbian Journal of Management, 11(1), 99-117.