Southwest
Airlines (SWA) is known as the low fare carrier that delivers more than just a ‘welcome
aboard’ speech. Ask most anyone who has
flown Southwest and chances are you will find someone who has experienced their
company culture. From smiling faces and
silly songs as you taxi to the gate, you don’t just feel like a number to them
you feel like a part of their company. A
part of this always cheerful attitude is in how the employees are treated by
each other and by management. In the video
one of the major comments that stuck out for me was the flight attendant explaining
the Culture Committee. She said it was
employees appreciating employees. How
many employees can say that about where they work? This statement is what makes SWA a great
place to work because they are all about that culture.
Having
the Culture Committee is a big part of establishing the cultural norms of
SWA. Giving the flight attendants a
small break by cleaning the plane for them and giving them small snacks is just
one way to say thanks for all the hard work.
It is a way to give back to make everyone feel appreciated in every
way. Their enthusiasm and positive
attitude plays a big role in this. You
could tell in the video how surprised and happy the flight attendants were to
see the Culture Committee greeting them when they opened the airplane door.
By
focusing on making happy employees, SWA makes its customers happy as well. It is like a domino where one piece falls into
place and then the rest follow as well. "They
have to practice the golden rule every day - first with each other, and then
with our passengers," Barrett said. "They have to serve because they
want to. They have to smile because they want to, not because they have to"
(CBS News, 2009). So it is about how you
feel and how you interact with each other as well as the customers. When you love what you do and why you do it
the rest is easy. I feel this is a big
part of why the Culture Committee does what it does.
Having
the Culture Committee in place not only shows employees how much they are each
appreciated by each other but how valuable team work is and perhaps a big
reason employees stay and how SWA continues to stay successful. Part of this success is the key difference in
how employees treat each other. “Kelly
says the difference between his company and others is simple: "People
working together, people lovin' each other, people respecting each other"
(CBS News, 2009).
If
I were to try to put together a Culture Committee for my department I would
probably focus on the little things first like bringing in breakfast for
everyone as small token of appreciation.
We function very well as a team and we all jump to help each other out
so there isn’t one thing that one person does that another doesn’t. If I had to start my list I would say picking
two counselors and telling them that they don’t have to work their queue for a
day that everyone else will work it for them.
Then pick something different for another counselor like returning phone
calls, or answering tickets. To be able
to give each counselor a small break to be able to work on one area without
having to worry about getting behind in another would be a huge help the
department as a whole.
What
I can take away from this exercise is that if you have to have the culture within
your employees, make sure you find out what makes them happy while keeping with
your standards of the company. Planning
retreats or enrichment seminars for the department to attend can help to shape
that more positive culture. As we saw on
the video doing just one small thing for your fellow employee can go a long way
and creating an environment that everyone wants to be a part of. Changing the culture from one that is negative
(be it employees or the organization) to positive takes hard work but it can be
changed for the better. It takes
patience, understanding and the ability to bring out the best in everyone.
References:
Something Special About
Southwest Airlines - CBS News. (2009, February 11).
Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-3221531.html
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