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Airline is giving all of its employees a huge bonus equal to 8 months of salary

This is how successful companies do good business.

Image credit: N509FZ

Singapore Airlines employees are getting an enormous profit-sharing bonus.

What makes an airline the "best in the world"? Stellar service, on-time departures, plentiful routes, comfortable seating, reasonable ticket prices, solid safety ratings, good loyalty benefits, etc., right? Those are all things customers look for in an airline, and many of them have given Singapore Airlines the title of "most awarded airline." In 2023, it was named the World's Best Airline by Skytrax World Airline Awards for the fifth time, more than any other airline in the 24-year history of the awards.

Now there's another reason Singapore Airlines is being praised by both flyers and non-flyers alike. After the company announced a record net profit for 2023/2024, a source told CNN in May that the airline was giving all of its employees a bonus equivalent to almost 8 months of salary. Though details of the bonus have not been shared by the company, a similar bonus was awarded to Singapore Airlines employees last year, which was also a record-breaking year for the airline. According to an airline spokesperson who spoke to Business Insider, the bonus is due to "a long-standing annual profit-sharing bonus formula that has been agreed with our staff unions."

Profit-sharing plans provide an added incentive for employees to boost performance, which benefits both employees and employers—as long as those at the top are not determined to hoard all of a company's profits. Singapore Airlines' profit-sharing bonus may be part of its overall compensation package as opposed to a discretionary bonus, but even so, it's a largely unprecedented amount for any company to pay as a bonus, and people have weighed in with their thoughts.

worker pay, economy, paid time off, airlines, air safetyHappy airline employees on the jobImage via Canva

"Smart, this is what keeps employees happy and willing to continue going the extra mile. They are about to have even better coming year now."

"It's not just that it's a bonus....it's the percentage. 8 months of salary is amazing leadership. Wish corporate America would not be so greed with their record profits."

"Paying the staff a bonus, not just the executives, that’s good leadership."

"Congrats to Singapore Airlines! Setting a great example of rewarding employees for their dedication and hard work."

As part of the explanation for its profit of 2.68 billion Singapore dollars ($1.99 billion USD), the airline shared, "The demand for air travel remained buoyant throughout FY2023/24" with a boost by several major Asian countries fully reopening their borders after the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline shared that it carried 36.4 million passengers, a whopping 37.6% increase over the prior year.

Clearly, a lot of people choose Singapore Airlines, but why? What actually makes it the best (or for 2024, second best after Qatar Airways) in the world?

For one, they dominate the awards for First Class travel, which is nice but doesn't really affect the average traveler who flies economy. However, even Singapore's economy experience also miles above most other airlines. Singapore Airlines cabins are known for being well designed, impeccably clean and comparatively comfortable and the crew has a reputation for being friendly, attentive and helpful. (In fact, Singapore Airlines was honored with the World's Best Cabin Crew award by Skytrax in 2024.) People who fly Singapore Airlines frequently tout the experience as feeling like it's in an entirely different class than domestic airlines in the U.S., even when flying economy. The seats, the food, the service both on the ground and in the air—all of it adds up to excellence.

When you provide customers the things they value, keep your employees satisfied and happy with fair profit-sharing incentives, and also operate in a cost-efficient way, it's not surprising when you rank highly for awards across the board. That recognition then leads to more customers seeking you out, further increasing your revenue and ultimately leading you to record profits, which then get shared with employees who work that much harder to ensure that this positive cycle continues.

Amazing how when you put customers and employees first, everyone wins.

This article originally appeared last year.

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'One-step-ahead' sneaker store owner found a genius way to stop thieves during a break-in

All they had to do was look in the window.

via Canva/Photos

Some thieves try to break into a store.

On Monday, December 30, a car driven by thieves plowed into the front window of DripOnDrip, an athletic shoe store in Fresno, California, and a team of robbers ran into the place. But after they entered through the busted window, they ran around the store confused for about 30 seconds and then returned to their cars. Why? They couldn’t find anything to steal. The store’s owner, Roman Gonzales, was a step ahead of the thieves by making sure there was very little in his store to take. All they made away with were a few backpacks and some shoes that Gonzales planned to donate to charity.

Evidently, the thieves weren't that bright. “If they would have looked through the window, they would have saved themselves some time and energy from even trying to break in,” Gonzales told KTSM. “They would have noticed that there is nothing here on the floor for them to take.” After having his store gutted by thieves about a year ago, Gonzales ensured it’d never happen again by using clever anti-burglar tactics.

When the store closes every night, he removes all visible merchandise, clears almost the entire floor, and takes every last dime out of the cash register. He even leaves the empty register drawer open by the front window so thieves know there’s nothing they can steal before they bother to break into the place.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

He also ensures that all of the shoes on display are right-footed because there’s not much you can do with just one shoe.

“There’s no value once you take this shoe. I mean, you can’t just buy a left-foot shoe online, either. So you’re not going to be able to use that item or even resell it. It’s just pointless,” Gonzales said. One of the only things left out was some shoes he planned to give to those in need. "They did take some donation shoes that I give away to the community here for teenagers that come in, and I want to make sure that they have some new kicks," Gonzales said.

Gonzales’ approach to preventing his store from being robbed is pretty simple: Don’t give them anything to take.



After the recent break-in, Gonzales spoke to the people who run the shopping center about having some large concrete blockades installed between the street and his store to prevent cars from smashing into the window. Ultimately, he hopes the people who broke into his shop will be deterred from doing it again. “Let’s hope they get caught and learn from this situation,” Gonzales said.

This story comes as California is dealing with a jump in property crime that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. This bucked a 40-year-trend in the state where crime had dropped for 40 years. Since 1993, the state's violent crime rate has decreased by 49% . To reduce the state’s prison population, the state passed Proposition 14 in 2014, reducing many property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. However, the state passed Proposition 36 in November, which returned many crimes to felony status to reverse the rise in property crime.

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Nike employee goes from intern to CEO in 30 years

He's like if "Just Do It" was a person.

LinkedIn & Nike

Elliott Hill doesn't fit the usual mold of CEO of a multi-billion dollar global corporation.

He wasn't brought in from some fancy consultancy to cut the bottom line and boost profits. On the contrary. He worked his way up from the very bottom.

In this day and age, that's a pretty remarkable feat.

After being announced as the next leader of the storied company, a screenshot of Hill's LinkedIn profile went mega viral.

Why?

Well, just take a look.

Hill has only worked one place — Nike — where he started as a simple intern over 30 years ago. Now he's the CEO.

LinkedIn

Obviously, it was a long journey.

Hill spent two years as an intern, then worked his way up through Sales before becoming a VP. That alone took 10 years of hard work.

A few years later he was a President-level executive, and he continued to work on many different teams and divisions for the global brand, gaining valuable knowledge and experience with many different facets of the company

Hill briefly retired from Nike in 2020 before being recruited to come back this year.

Bringing Hill back on board comes on the heels of the previous President & CEO stepping down from the role.

John Donahoe was a former management consultant and previously served as the CEO of eBay and of a cloud computing company before joining Nike.

He was big on tech, big on cost-cutting, and big on layoffs. But he didn't know much about sneakers, or the Nike brand. The results were disastrous for what as once the biggest sneaker brand on the planet.

So Nike looked at its own homegrown talent to find a replacement, seeking someone who not only got the brand and business, but respected and understood its core customers.

Based on tenure and experience, there weren't many better candidates than Hill!

No one would ever accuse Nike of always doing the right thing over the years. But this is one good example that other companies should follow: promoting from within.

It's not a great look to bring in an outsider, hired-gun CEO to the tune of a nearly $30 million pay package, only for that person to ruthlessly slash jobs.

But it seems to be a popular choice for big companies these days: Tap a leader who will blindly optimize for profit and shareholder value and/or strip the company for parts. Capitalism, baby!

Nike the corporation will probably be more-or-less fine either way. It's the passionate sneakerheads and the dedicated employees who get hurt — the people who make the brand what it is.

Sean Lemson, a leadership development coach and author, wrote on LinkedIn:

"It was very hard for me to watch (and be swept up in) the way John and other leaders from Silicon Valley just completely devalued the nike-blooded employees who were let go over the years."

Heather Smit, a marketing and creative operations professional at Nike, was extremely candid in her own post:

"Though I survived and even thrived amidst the 2 massive reorganizations John led, they have left us with bumps, bruises, and even scars. We lost a lot. We’ve been through hell and back in the last 5 years under John’s leadership. We’re still here because we LOVE this company and we know we deserve better. The consumer deserves better. Elliott doesn’t have an easy job ahead of him, but he’s got about 80,000 hopeful and energized employees behind him, ready to go."

It's not often you find yourself rooting for a millionaire CEO, but Elliott Hill's story is just so dang inspiring we might not have a choice.

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Business expert shares how he could tell someone was a high performer in 10 seconds

“I just overheard someone and even in a 10-second conversation, I knew they were a high performer."

via Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels

A college student reading in the library.

According to sales guru and business expert Mike Manzi, there is a subtle but powerful difference between the attitudes of people he deems “high” or “low” performers, whether in academics or their professional lives.

He shared the observation in a video he recently posted to TikTok. “I just overheard someone and, even in a 10-second conversation, I knew they were a high performer,” Manzi started his video.

“They were some kid in college and they just were like, ‘You know, I don’t get it. As long as you just go to class, study, listen to what they’re talking about, and then try to apply it to your own personal life, how do you not get an A?’” he continued.

How to spot a high performer by eavesdropping 

@officialsalesleadertips

How to spot a high performer by eavesdropping #highperformer #highperformancehabits #salesleader #sales

Manzi believes the underlying message is to “Do every single thing and do it well.” The high performer sees operating on a high level as “normal,” whereas the low performer sees doing the basics, such as studying or going to class, as a chore. It’s the difference between having a genuine interest in success and being satisfied with doing the bare minimum.

Just about everyone in the comments agreed with Manzi.

"Yes, and when you inevitably run into a roadblock, you don't say 'It's hard, I can't do it'; you figure out what key part you misunderstood, get help if you need it, then move on," Messnabout wrote. "Truly!! Bc then you’re in the workforce and everyone acts like doing the bare min is pulling teeth. Just do the bare min and then a little extra and managers stay off your back...easy," Sherri added.


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