Rlchard Pettlnger

Ryan Air

The Irish low-budget airline provides all of its brochures, time- tables and range of ancillary services (car hire, hotel bookings) on-line. This is supported with fully serviced customer and client helplines to which ready and immediate access is always possible. There are very few instances of having to queue on the telephone in order to confirm bookings or speak to the company’s customer services section. This, in turn, is reinforced by the clear standards and values of the company’s owner, Michael O’Leary.

Mr O’Leary understands that stress is caused:

» to customers when they cannot easily make bookings or gain ready access to staff, making them likely to take their business elsewhere; and

» to staff, as the result of having to field large volumes of negative attitudes from customers.

He has therefore taken all possible steps to ensure that his company removes these two main causes of stress (and loss of business performance).