Southwest Airlines really is a cool story surrounded by a
bunch of bad ones within the airline industry, and you really can feel the
difference when you fly them. Sure you
don’t get all of the extras that other airlines provide, but you also don’t get
all of the extra fees associated with them either. Additionally, I don’t think I have ever had a
pilot joke over the intercom on any other airline other than Southwest. As someone who does not necessarily enjoy
flying (I have no problem going down to test depth on a submarine but I don’t
like flying), a little humor goes a long way.
This type of service has resulted in Southwest growing from a small
regional carrier to the 4th largest in the US. In addition to this no frills service, a
large part of how they keep costs down is by the manner in which they employ
their workers. Southwest has one of the
strongest company cultures out there and it greatly contributes to the company’s
ability to do business. Teamwork within
the organization is a hallmark of the company.
Due to the fact that teamwork is such an important factor
within Southwest, I would imagine that the Culture Committees are very
effective in spreading the company’s cultural norms. I know that if I was a flight crew member
that was concentrating on getting the people off the plane so I could clean it
when all of the sudden the Culture Committee comes around, gives me food, and
tells me that they will do the cleaning, I would be both very grateful for
their help and I would also feel very thankful to work for a company that does
little things like that. Sometimes it is
not the magnitude of the gesture that is appreciated but the gesture itself,
and in this case I think just the fact that Southwest is going out of its way
to make its employees – or as they call them, their people – feel appreciated,
that certainly does help spread the culture.
The literal purpose of the culture committee (or at least
the example provided in the video) is to go out and help the flight crews get
the plane turned around while the crew relaxes.
As I described above, a further purpose of these committees is to make
the employees feel appreciated, which in turn makes them happier with their
employer. As many studies have shown, a
happy employee is a good employee. In
this case, Southwest is ensuring that their people make the customers feel
welcome while providing an enjoyable flight experience, in accordance with
Southwest’s mission statement.
As a member of the US Navy, there is a pretty easy parallel –
Flag officer tours. As I mentioned
above, the gesture is often more appreciated than the magnitude of the gesture,
and in the case of the Navy, just having a Flag Officer come by, address me by
my name (which means he took the time to learn the crew’s background), and tell
me I am doing a great job and to keep it up really does make me feel much
better. Also, the USO is another
organization within the military that is there solely to say thanks for your
service, we appreciate it, and oh by the way here is some free stuff or a
concert. Knowing that you are actually
appreciated really does increase the morale!
So, the idea of a culture committee is something that is not foreign to
me and is something that I already try to perpetuate when I go around and talk
to my sailors. I want to know what is
going on in their lives not to be nosey but so I can ask them how things are
going when we are half way through the patrol, dog-tired, and just wanting to
go home; showing that I care about them and their families, and them knowing
that I will fight for them with the upper chain of command leads to a sailor
that will go out of his way to help the entire organization. As I learned very early in my life on a ship,
morale is the largest contributing factor when it comes to success and the
ability to meet and overcome obstacles.
A crew with good morale can accomplish almost anything whereas a crew
with poor morale will do little more than get the job done. The culture committees at Southwest are
essentially a morale tool that ensures that their employees feel appreciated and
have good morale, which in the end results in a better employee and a better
product.
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