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GSE TRAINING | FEATURE
by my Air Force days,” said Evans. “I have often seen civilian companies promote people to lead roles without leadership training. The companies assumed they could take a supervisory role because they were doing a good job. If they didn’t do well, they were fired and someone else moved up,” he said.
But Evans thought this approach wasteful. At the same time, he want- ed to encourage determined recruits to take on the mantle of leadership. “We found that the weakest link in the community of workers was that most were not used to being leaders. We’ve often got a young group of males so there’s lots of testosterone flying around. If you can channel that energy by moulding someone into being the leader of a group, you really get something accomplished,” he said.
Loredana Quercia, Head of Training & Development, Swissport
“Training has changed over the years.
Everything now needs to be done faster with higher quality standards. We find on-line training an effective method because it can be done at the trainee’s own speed and elements can be repeated if necessary”
Once they reach the proficient stage, employees can choose to study the leadership manuals and undergo leadership training. When they are ready, they take a test. The tests to become supervisors are graded at TAS’s various locations in the US. But when it comes to the tests for managers, Evans himself takes charge. “If they get anything wrong, I explain the philosophy behind the right answers. No one can become a GSE manager and achieve higher pay unless they pass the test and we have chatted about it,” he said. Evans says some of his company’s competitors disdain his belief that leadership needs to be studied. “One competitor said it was ‘too touchy feely and too squishy.’ He told me he didn’t want to spend money on leadership training as it wasn’t really teaching them about the job.” Another important factor in the TAS formula is the use of a risk- assessment programme based upon ones used by companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Evans first implemented the programme in 2001 when he was managing director of airport operations at Airport Group International. “The effect was dramatic. Within two years, our costs went from US$1.4m in accidents, incidents and workers’ compensation for the year, right down to US$64,000 and the number of incidents dropped from 121 down to 37,” Evans said.
The LSE Risk Assessment Programme is now a fundamental part of
how TAS operates and Evans teaches the classes himself. “It forces us to look at all aspects of our business, to anticipate problems and develop measures to stop them happening. For example, you could hit an aero- plane at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. We have a matrix that defines what the liability will be to the company and the probability of it happening,” he said.
The prioritisation of risks influences GSE training methods. “We use the data from the risk assessment to focus on areas of risk when we put together training programmes. A secondary control measure is to have regular safety meetings where we emphasise, for example, the impor-
tance of safe driving. Lloyd’s of London recognised our Risk Assessment Programme, which includes our training, as one of the best in the indus- try,” he said. The company’s showcase cargo aircraft ground handling operation is at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, where TAS services Air China, British Airways, Cargolux Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, EVA Airlines, Korean Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Air France, and Kalitta Airways. Last year, Korean Airlines announced that TAS Chicago was its num- ber one in the world for safety and service for 2010. Korean Airlines Cargo had 486 flights and only four delays for the year with three being weather-related. That was a 99.2 per cent on-time takeoff rate without an accident or incident. It was the second time TAS had won the Korean Airlines award for Chicago since it began ground handling there in 2007. TAS grew at 36 per cent in 2011 and plans an overseas expansion in 2012, but remains a small operator in global terms. The same cannot be said of Menzies Aviation, which is a global provider of passenger, ramp and cargo handling services. Founded in 1995, the company operates in 29 countries and has a worldwide staff of 17,000. Menzies serves over 500 airline customers handling over 800,000 flights and 1.7 million tonnes of cargo per annum. Menzies Aviation and TAS may operate on different scales, but both companies believe that efficient GSE training underpins their opera- tions. Menzies achieved the highest possible grade in the IATA Opera- tional Safety Audit.
Menzies’ senior vice-president of network safety and risk manage- ment, Bob Newman believes the key to training is striking the right bal- ance between class-room instruction and more practical training. “Some companies do more theory and less practical work. But we put greater emphasis on job training with a mentor,” said Newman. Newman says the quality of the classroom instruction depends on the trainer’s ability to stimulate trainees. “We have very little computer- based training as I think that works best for refresher courses and has little value in the initial learning experience. What I think is vital is to get the trainee to ask questions and challenge what we tell them. There are some handouts, but interaction is the most important thing. The style of training is what makes it memorable. There’s a strong emphasis on people safety and aircraft safety. Later, we follow it up with a lot of refresher classroom training.”
Following the theory course, trainees who achieve an 80 per cent pass rate can use some of the equipment under supervision. “I think the practical part is more important for learning,” said New-
man. “A lot of the guys are used to working in industrialised areas and they can find the classroom an alien environment. I also believe that what you listen to you can forget, whereas what you do, you tend to remember.”
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