theceomagazine.com | 127“The important thing
is when we make a mistake,
we determine how we can
learn from it.”
As Weststar Aviation moves into new
territories, the challenges it will face will
also change. “In any new region that we
go into, we face two challenges. First, there
are the regulatory challenges. There is a lot
of regulation as far as aviation is concerned
- tax law, labour law, and so on. However,
those kinds of challenges can be managed.
“The second and more difficult challenge
we have is in infrastructure. In most of the
countries where they want to explore or
develop oil and gas fields, there is insufficient
infrastructure in place. If we intend to go in,
we have to go in together with infrastructure;
we have to build it ourselves. Otherwise, we
just can’t operate in those kinds of countries.”
Expansion will also mean further
recruitment. Finding suitably qualified pilots
for the company is relatively easy, General
Muhammad explains, as there are established
benchmarks in place. “They have got to fly
X number of hours as a captain, a number
of hours offshore, and so on, and they need
to have six to seven years’ experience.”
However, he says, recruiting management
staff, such as flight operations general
managers, is a more complex task.
“They spend 35, 40 years in the air
flying, but they don’t have much managerial
experience. We have to not only look at
their competency in understanding aviation
but also their ability in managing and leading
people in the organisation.”
General Muhammad says finding people
with the requisite leadership ability remains
a challenge. Faced with this uncertainty,
Weststar Aviation will often look internally
for management staff and has developed a
talent management program for this purpose.
“We identify people at a very early stage and
see their potential. If they have the potential,
then we start to develop them, bringing them
to the various departments where we feel
they can become good managers and leaders.”
Weststar Aviation also looks for a real
passion for the industry in those it recruits
as leaders. Enjoying your job may seem
largely irrelevant to maintaining safety
standards, but General Muhammad says
a love for aviation is vital. “This is a company
that puts us under tremendous pressure all
the time. It’s a risky business, and we can’t
afford accidents. You can guess how much
pressure my people are under. I tell my
employees, ‘No matter what, enjoy your job
first. If you don’t enjoy your job, you will be
under tremendous pressure.’
“What I do is motivate them to be happy
with the job they are in. Also, I always try
to emphasise that they should not be afraid
to make mistakes. In this business, a lot of
people are afraid to make mistakes because
mistakes can cause accidents. But we are
human beings and are bound to make
mistakes occasionally. The important thing
is when we make a mistake, we determine
how we can learn from that mistake.”