Name of Interviewee: Helen Tan
Age: 51
Designation:
Ticketing & Reservation Manager
Company: Eva Air
Company
Profile
EVA Air is a privately-owned Taiwanese airline
whose parent company is the Evergreen Group.
EVA Air has a management philosophy which is to
have integrity, transparency, and responsibility. Along with their Mission, “To
provide Safety and Convenience, Excellent Services, and Customer Satisfaction”.
The company’s slogan is “Sharing the World, Flying
together
Q1) Briefly
describe your job responsibilities as a manager.
- As head of department, my main role is to manage a team of staff in the front line customer service for the company. I have to ensure that the customer needs and inquires are handled professionally by my staff and also to monitor the staff that they are effective in handling the customers and producing quality work.
Q2) What is
your management style?
- I believe in a management style where my staff are happy with their work environment and in their personal life. I'm sure that if they are happy, they'll produce quality work and also have team spirit.
Nowadays, I realised that if my staff are unable to perform well, it usually comes from having personal issues such as family problems. That is why I try to maintain a happy work environment for my team.
- According to my observations, Ms Helen follows the Human Relations School of Management whereby she shows care and concern for her staff. She also realises that her staff has social and physical needs other than monetary which is found in the Hawthorne Studies and that is why she makes sure that her staff are not only happy with the work environment but at home as well. She also strongly emphasizes and believes in managers having strong interpersonal relationships with her staff which follows William Ouchi's Theory Z to stress good interpersonal relationship between the managers and staff whilst maintaining that sense of authority.
Q3)
What are some of the difficulties you face as a manager?
- It is hard to treat everybody the same and remember how each staff individually reacts differently to different approaches. I have some staff members that are more sensitive as compared to others, so i have to be more careful when I talk to them and ensure that basically there is a lot of communication with them. Also, some staff might have family problems.
If they are having problems at home and that affects their performance, I would bring them in to talk to them. Firstly, I would address the problems, maybe certain mistakes that they do at work and how they have been lacking lately in terms of work quality. It could be family problems that made them make the mistake so I have to talk to them to make them open up if they are facing some personal problems.
Afterwards, my actions depend on how severe the problems or mistakes are at work. I will have to monitor their work performances, their attitude, and if it reaches an unacceptable level of performance, I may have to issue them a warning letter. That is if their performance is really badly affecting the company.
.
Q4) How do you overcome these difficulties
- For those staff that are more sensitive, I would be more careful in my approach when i talk to them and ensure that basically there is a lot of communication with them. As for the people having family problems, I will talk to them first, tell them where they go wrong and wait to see an improvement. I would only issue them a warning letter as really a last resort. It is only if the mistake or problem really escalates to affect the company
Q5) In your opinion, what makes a good manager?
- It is to bring yourself to their level. When you bring yourself down as a manger to their level, they will feel more at ease working with you. Of course you would still need to have their respect and make sure you get across to them that you still hold authority within the team, but at the same time you have to bring yourself down to their level and you have to know each staff individually. For example, your staff has a son having exams, you talk to them about it, show concern and treat them as a friend. You have to communicate with the staff. - communication is key. Slowly they will open up to you. However, you might sometimes face some staff that won't open up to you. In that case, you have to ensure that they get their job done, because not everyone opens up frequently or talk about their problems or families. You would have to try and make them feel part of the team so that maybe they'll open up more.
