In Southwest airlines, employees were given the latitude to do whatever is necessary to get a plane
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In Southwest airlines, employees were given the latitude to do whatever is necessary to get a plane turned around in the targeted time of minutes. There was emphasis on fun for employees and travelers. Ground and Inflight employees were encouraged to be creative in the way they delivered required announcements to the passengers. Some employees sang the messages, others delivered them in dialect such as an Arnold Schwarzeneggerlike you will sit back. You will relax. You will enjoy this flight. Hasta la vista, baby or in Donald Duckspeak. Companys main event of the year was the annual awards banquet, for which employees from all over the system were brought to Dallas and honoured for their length of service. In addition, the culture committee sponsored a hero of the heart celebration at headquarters on February each year. Awards were made to groups nominated by others in the organization that had gone above and beyond to deliver Southwest service. Joint problem solving was the culture of Southwest airlines. Southwest engaged in joint problem solving exercises with those supplying everything from fuel to peanuts served on planes. Teamwork was the spirit of this organization. Works were assigned in groups. Failure to do so according to schedule resulted in a team late Rather than assessing individual responsibility, teams were then tasked to figure out how to avoid problem in the future. Pilots sometimes handled baggage or helped cabin attendants in picking up the cabin while gate attendants might be seen putting provisions on board for the departing flight. The main spirit was to do everything that was required to complete a task rather than having mentality that it is not my job. Southwest Airlines looks for the people who can think in terms of we rather than me
One way the company assesses these service inclinations is by interviewing potential flight attendants in groups to see how they interact with each other. Pilots are also interviewed in groups to assess their teamwork skills, a critical factor above and beyond the essential technical skills they are required to possess. Throughout the organization, stress was placed on the value of family in the organization. All ground operations employees had one to two weeks of technical orientation at individual stations before going to class in Dallas for a week to study everything from the use of the company systems to the organizations values. Southwests employees total compensation was roughly equivalent to other airlines but productivity of Southwest employees was more and it led to decreasing cost of Southwest airlines. After completion of six months probation period, all Southwest operated on some basic principles; focus on the situation, issue or behavior, not on the person, maintain the selfconfidence and selfesteem of others maintain constructive relationship with your employees, peers and managers, take initiative to make things better and lead by examples. One of the Southwest employee stated that the most enjoyable thing about his job is coming to job every day. A quote from Southwests president, Herb Kelleher, illustrates the importance of selection of right person. the Logistic Department name given to a Department by Southwest went to Herb Kelleher, one day and said, We have interviewed people for this ramp agents position whose responsibilities are marshaling aircraft, loadingunloading and sorting freight and baggage, servicing the aircraft, assisting with pushback and towing, deicing and other duties and we are getting a little worried about the time and effort and cost that is going into it And he said if you have to interview people to get the right person, do it Southwests management used to host best practice teams from all industries that wanted to discuss hiring, training, and employee relations practices. After some time it discontinued this practice as it was devoting too much time, energy, attention and resources educating the outside world. So he thought to devote that time, energy, attention and resources internally on enhancing and enriching their own culture.
Questions:
From the above excerpts from Southwest Airlines case study, identify five salient Leadership Position management practices that stood Southwest Airlines out for competitive advantage in its industry.
What is the significance of each of the Management practices identified to a corporate organization.
Clearly articulate two each of what todays Leadership HRs roles entails as:
a A Strategic Business Partner.
b Change Agent.
c Administrative Expert and.
d Employee Champion.
Related Book For
Operations Management Processes And Supply Chains
ISBN: 9781292409863
13th Global Edition
Authors: Lee Krajewski, Naresh Malhotra, Larry Ritzman
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