WE retrenched people during the pandemic and (when) we try to call them back… they think twice.

Captain Izham Ismail, group CEO of Malaysia Airlines, apparently said this in his address to industry representatives at a panel session during the Aviation Festival Asia in Singapore recently.

Was he surprised by the reactions of these former staff or he thought that, by being honest, it will take the pressure and focus away from him and the airline for any shortcomings it presently experiences?

Was he surprised why former staff did not want to come back? They did not leave voluntarily. They were retrenched.

In every case, when a company scales back and retrenches its staff, the ones to go are all mid- to low-level staff.

Senior management rarely get retrenched or are asked to take a pay cut, especially in a government-linked or owned entity.

Life for senior management proceeds as usual with the normal perks accorded.

Immediately when the movement control order (MCO) was imposed and the airline was grounded, employees were crying out for support. Understandably, most were concerned about their job security.

Yes, Malaysia Airline is also struggling with a multitude of challenged posed by the pandemic because it differed fundamentally from previous economic downturn and recovery cycles.

MAG is not only the airline but not everyone understands what is really going on. Some make ineffective moves based on faulty assumptions, but generally all failed in one area.

There were no concerted efforts made to better understand their employees before deciding on cost cutting and retrenchment.

The primary goal of senior management is to preserve their own and the company’s survival, and the easiest way out was to cut costs immediately, the most drastic and easiest of which was to make employees redundant, specifically the mid- to low-level staff.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

If Izham and his team had make a concerted effort to better understand the situation instead of taking the easy way out, meaningful action could have been taken to retain them.

MAG could become the great attraction now.

By seizing the unique moment at that time, MAG could have gained an edge in the race to attract, develop, and retain the talent it needed to create a thriving post pandemic airline.

Obviously, it won’t be easy at that point in time to do so.

However, the senior management should have taken the initiative to re-imagine how they will lead, manage and develop a much deeper empathy for what their employees are going through.

Then managers could pair that empathy with the compassion and determination to act and change – together with those employees.

They would have properly re-examined the wants and needs of their employees, and retained and re-skilled them.

The management is obviously misguided if it thinks that when the airline business rebounds, former staff will be jumping at the opportunity of getting rehired.

Izham, you can’t fix what you don’t understand. For sure, your senior management is struggling to do so too.

When you retrenched them, you have pointedly told them that they are not valued by the airline.

No amount of explanation will make them understand the rationale for the retrenchment, more so when the senior management were not subject to the same cuts, no cuts to their pay, perks or allowances.

During the year or more in the wilderness, all those who were retrenched had to provide for their families and to cope with their mental health after their sudden loss of employment.

They are not going to sit around waiting idly for a recall when there is no support from the management. If the management in MAG thinks they are, it goes to show how out of touch or disconnected it is from the situation.

Managers should take the time now – if it is not too late – to empathise and understand just how the past year or so has been for these former employees.

Compensation, work-life balance, and poor physical and emotional health are no longer the priority for these former staff.

This trend not only is poised to continue but could get much worse for MAG, but it also presents a unique opportunity.

MAG’s former staff are not coming back of their own volition. Options are increasing for more and more employers to offer remote work choices for hard-to-source talent.

The pandemic has irrevocably changed what people expect from work. If your only response to hire former staff is to raise compensation, you are telling them that your relationship with them is monetary and their only reason to stay with you is financial.

Employees’ needs and expectations have changed.

Izham, the best move for you and your team now is to pause and take the time to think through your next moves.

A heavy-handed back-to-the-office policy or other mandates delivered from on high, no matter how well intentioned, no longer work.

You and your team must go and get them, while also learning a lesson from this pandemic. Don’t think through your moves in a vacuum.

Include your employees in the process. Look to them to help shape the plan and solutions.

Your earlier move appears to indicate that you and your senior management aren’t listening to your people enough.

You and your team are still trapped in the present, in which the further into the future a cost or benefit, the disproportionately smaller it becomes relative to immediate costs and benefits.

Seize this moment and MAG will be better placed to support its employees and drive sustainable business performance. – June 17, 2022.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.