Note: I sent the following letter into Air Canada’s ‘customer relations’ group today and in the spirit of being open, I thought I’d share it here as well.
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I fly a lot. Mostly with Air Canada/Star Alliance … and occasionally with others.
I am an author (FLAT ARMY, 2013 and THE PURPOSE EFFECT, 2016) as well as being CLO at TELUS. I study, write, speak and teach about organizational behaviour, leadership, learning, technology and culture.
I had the privelege of flying AC190 in seat 2D today en route to Washington. Jacques Godin was the Service Director.
I must say, Jacque’s demeanour and professional conduct is something Air Canada might want to clone right across the organization. Helpfulness, humour, harmony and happiness are but four of the ways to describe Jacques. He was engaged from the moment I sat down to the time I left. He had everyone throughout the cabin feeling good about a five hour flight regardless of where you were sitting.
When he failed to make an announcement about a passenger’s nut allergy at the beginning of the flight, he calmly got on the PA system and fessed up to his mistake, hoping we’d accept his apology. (We did)
He played trivia games with those of us in the Executive Cabin testing our knowledge on the safety demonstration and videos. I didn’t win. I didn’t have a clue what the correct answer might be on question number two either and I swear I could sense his disappointment in me.
To whomever reads this, I have a challenge for you.
Talk to Jacques and find out a) how he conducts himself on flights, b) find out why he does it and c) find a way to employ him as your Chief Engagement Officer. Having Jacques at the helm of employee engagement may help turn Air Canada into being a good organization to work for in favour of a great one.
Sincerely,
Happy Passenger 2D