Comair employees do not trust the airline’s management, according to research by the Solidarity trade union. Employees are highly critical of the company’s leadership under former former boss Glenn Orsmond. Former CEO Wrenelle Stander, who put the company in business rescue, stepped down in late 2020 when Orsmond was appointed by a new batch of investors. In correspondence with Comair’s shareholders, Labor outlines sentiment towards Orsmond, who has been in the hot seat for just over a year. The letter said: “He is not trusted by the staff, nor by the majority of his managers. He has…
Comair employees do not trust the airline’s management, according to research by the Solidarity trade union.
Employees are highly critical of the company’s leadership under former former boss Glenn Orsmond. Former CEO Wrenelle Stander, who put the company in business rescue, stepped down in late 2020 when Orsmond was appointed by a new batch of investors.
In correspondence with Comair’s shareholders, Labor outlines sentiment towards Orsmond, who has been in the hot seat for just over a year.
The letter said: “He is not trusted by the staff, nor by the majority of his managers. He failed to deliver a strategy, KPAs [key process areas] for his supervisor or, in effect, a tangible short to medium term roadmap for this company. When asked directly, his response to: [Solidarity] was that the strategy was to make a profit.”
Comair spokesman Stephen Forbes said: “Our investors have complete confidence in Comair’s leadership team and its ability to successfully manage and rebuild Comair as an industry leader.”
But the Solidarity survey found that 84% of employees said they were not confident in the company’s approach to the company’s management and its people, and 59% said they don’t understand the company’s strategy. Most employees said they did not trust the leadership of the organization, 18% of respondents suggested that the work environment is toxic.
Another 18% said the company is operating in crisis mode and another 18% called the working conditions “unhealthy”.
Just under half of employees say they do not trust Comair’s management at all. In the letter, the union wrote: “Our members are extremely concerned that their jobs will be further damaged due to a lack of strategic intentions and the failure to implement a proper change management process. without you [shareholder] intervention, we do not believe that good collaboration between the company and its employees will be achieved quickly enough to achieve sustainable returns.”
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Overall, 64% of staff said they wanted to leave, while 71% were no longer proud to work there. The employees surveyed also complained about the lack of a positive culture at Comair. The survey also found that 21% of staff labeled executive management behavior as despicable, 20% said they were simply absent, 18% said management was erratic and 12% moderate.
A further 16% noted that there was room for improvement when the same question was asked and 66% of staff felt that their safety at work was being compromised. The staff also said former CEO Stander was much more transparent and often communicated with employees — something the workers’ organization surveyed said is lacking under current leadership.
And 91% of staff said no vision or roadmap had been communicated to them.
Comair’s Forbes said: “The Covid pandemic has been a huge setback for the entire aviation industry and its impact is still clearly felt.
“Unfortunately, some very difficult and inconvenient decisions had to be made and may have yet to be made in order to secure a sustainable future and ensure the job security and well-being of the employees. Comair’s senior management will not shy away from these responsibilities.”