Introduction
This week’s blog is
about one of my favorite companies, Southwest Airlines. If you have ever flown
Southwest Airlines you probably have an idea of why they are one of my favorite
companies. Yes, they are imaginative, yes they are fun and yes they are often
the lowest fare on the market. These are all good reasons to admire Southwest
Airlines, but the kingpin reason of them all might catch you by surprise. The
featured topic of this blog is a video, Southwest
Airlines: A day in the life of the culture committee, and how Southwest’s
airlines attention to culture not only keeps them competitive in a tough
industry, but helps them maintain top tier status in customer satisfaction.
The Culture at
Southwest is a Reflection of the Founder
Herb Kelleher, the
founder and retired CEO of Southwest Airlines, founded the company on some very
simple principles. “Hire for attitude;
train for skill…The first thing we look for is the warrior spirit…We are
battle-born, battle tried people.” (Gallo, 2013, para. 7). In addition to careful
hiring practices that focus more on attitude than skill, Herb started his
company with an employee first (not customer first) perspective “The difference
at Southwest is this: Everything begins and ends with our people. If we keep
our employees happy and engaged, they will keep our customers happy, who will
reward us with their loyalty.” (Gallo, 2013, para. 13).
Herb has created a solid
foundation that rings of authenticity from which his employees habitually go
the extra mile to keep the customers coming back for more. While awards /
recognition programs are important in their own right, they are not
foundational nor do they provide an authentic way to grow innovation from the
ground up. Additionally, employees who sense the absence of authenticity will
likely lack the inspiration needed to keep renewing their energy to go above
and beyond and provide great customer service.
The Culture
Committee
At Southwest Airlines
there exists a company sponsored committee called “The Culture Committee”. (Southwest
Airlines: A day in the…, n.d.). There is actually more than one Culture Committee
and in fact Culture Committees exist throughout Southwest Airlines vast
network. These committees are made up of volunteers and they seek opportunities
to promote and nurture the Southwest Airlines culture. In the video Southwest
Airlines: A day in the life of the culture committee, a local chapter of
the Culture Club is out to make a flight crew’s day and promote the Southwest
Airline’s culture. Upon arriving at the gate, the Culture Club boards and pleasantly
surprises the flight crew by relieving them of their clean-up duties with an
order of relaxation and beverage. You can imagine how good the flight crew
felt!
What is the
Significance of Southwest’s Culture and the Culture Committee?
The cultural norms that
was established in the 1970s when Herb Kelleher founded the airlines are as
strong as ever. In 2007, I was fortunate to have worked at the Southwest
Airlines maintenance hangar in Dallas Texas as a contractor. I told you there
would be a surpise! The first day of work was a memorable one. Nobody told me
that dressing casual meant jeans, flip flops and a clean T-shirt! There was a
ping pong table at the center of the work area, and showroom Harley’s lined the
hallways. Everyone was unbelievably friendly and was genuinely concerned with
my living arrangements. This was truly a great place to work and the people
were authentic.
The maintenance
organization where I worked had a culture committee as described in the video.
Though I don’t recall any specific activities they participated in,
conversations about these activities seem to be a daily occurrence. The
importance of these committees cannot be underestimated. While they did not
create the great culture that exists at Southwest Airlines, they have a nurturing
affect on the Southwest Airlines culture and allow employees to directly
participate in caring of that culture. Allowing direct employee involvement in
caring for this culture strengthens the core of who they are as individuals.
This strengthening in turn adds to the strength of the Southwest Airlines culture
as a whole. By describing the Culture Committee and employee involvement in
this way, hopefully you can see how they operate together as a system. “A
system is a set of interrelated parts unified by design to achieve some purpose
or goal.” (Brown, 2011, p. 38). The goal is clearly to maintain the health of
the Southwest Airlines culture.
Remember, the ‘don’t
hire for skill…hire for attitude’ perspective Herb Kelleher instilled when
founding the airline? (Gallo, 2013, para. 7). The Culture Committee is a direct
result of hiring for attitude. So think of the Culture Committee as the lubricant
that keeps all of the gears oiled and operating smoothly as one system and the
participants of the committee as the service technicians applying the gear oil
in just the right spot as a gear begins to squeak out a little creak.
So you see, it isn’t Southwest
Airlines’ great service and business acumen I admire the most. No, it goes much
deeper than that. The culture is what I admire most about them and how they are
able to maintain it through a great hiring process and the authentic means they
take to nurture and protect it.
How Could a Culture
Committee Make a Difference in Your Workplace?
The culture at my
current workplace is much different than the one at Southwest Airlines. Our
culture was established back in the 1940s when we manufactured one of the most
durable and hardworking fighter aircraft the world has ever known and I think
sometimes we forget to have some fun at work. I could envision Culture Committees
being created to change our culture to have more fun at work. In the case of
Southwest, Culture Committees maintain the culture created by Herb Kelleher. In
our case I think a Culture Committees could be used as a culture change agent
to first have more fun at work and then turn the fun into projects that spur on
innovation.
Summary
Establishing a sound
healthy culture by hiring the right kind of people provides a foundation from
which an organization can build on. Maintaining a healthy culture in organizations
with a good foundation is much easier than changing a culture in an
organization with a poor foundation. Culture Committees can be used in both
instances and other tools are available as well. One of the advantages that a
Culture Committee like the one at Southwest holds over typical tools like an
awards and recognition program is authenticity. Having a change tool that
carries with it authenticity versus a change tool without authenticity is like
comparing a power spray painter to a 3 inch paintbrush. Which would you rather
paint a 16’ x 16’ wall with?
References:
Brown,
R. D, (2011). An experiential approach to
organization development (Eighth edition.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Obolensky,
N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership:
Embracing paradox and uncertainty. Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing
Company.
Southwest
Airlines: A day in the life of the culture committee. (n.d.). [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=youtu.be.
