Do You Have a "Culture Committee"?
A few months ago (on one of my weekly Southwest flights) I read an article from Colleen Barrett, President of Southwest Airlines titled, “Talking Southwest Culture“. As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Southwest and have recently switched to them as my preferred airline of choice.
Part of what makes Southwest unique is their culture. One of the great quotes in the article states…
We often say that other airlines can copy our business model from top to bottom but Southwest stands apart from the clones because of our People. But I would still wager that if another company somehow managed to hire all of our fantastic Employees, that company might see its best performance but still wouldn’t match up to Southwest.
How has Southwest built such a defining culture?
- They have created standard definitions of their culture, called “Living the Southwest Way”, encompassing over 30 years of practice. The creed consists of three values: A Warrior Spirit (recognizes courage, hard work and a desire to be the best), a Servants Heart (follows the Golden Rule and treats other with respect) and a Fun-LUVing attitude (includes fun, passion and celebration).
- They have formed a Culture Committee. Interestingly, the Culture Committee was created before they even had an organizational chart. The committee is formed and shaped solely of the Employees. No executives, officers, HR, etc.
- The Culture Committee consists of approximately 180 individuals who serve three-year terms. After serving three years, a member moves to alumni status, but many alumni remain very active in the program.
For me, the customer experience at Southwest is directly shaped by the employees. I have become a customer of life because of the great culture they have created and maintained!
Technorati Tags: Southwest Airlines, culture, committee, HR
6 Comments Add your own
1. vinnie mirchandani | August 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 am
Jason, clearly their people are a huge asset, but what Colleen refers to is other assets in ops, discipline, tenacity etc that the rest of the industry has not shown patience for or ability to replicate
I have watched and patronized the airline for over 2 decades and wrote below in this note about many of its “assets”. The note was aimed at how offshore firms could emulate SW, but just about any company can learn from them
http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2005/06/what_offshore_v.html
2. Gopi Padakandla | August 24th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Good article Jason. I also heard a lot about Southwest’s non-traditional talent acquisition strategies –deliberately seeking, searching and acquiring the talent from other disciplines, such as teachers, that share similar deep customer service attitude, culture and values. No surprise Southwest thriving with Warriors, Servants and Fun Lovers at heart Living the Southwest Way !
3. Eric Antariksa | August 31st, 2008 at 12:23 am
The idea to have Culture Committee (which consists of approximately 180 individuals and serve three-year terms) is truly great. Maybe this unique approach can be applied in other companies.
4. Derek Irvine | September 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Excellent post, Jason. I blogged recently on a comparison of American Airlines and Southwest in the NY Times.
Southwest co-founder Herb Kelleher has said: “You have to treat your employees like customers. When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. We honor our people constantly. They know that we value them as people, not just cogs in a machine.”
This is exactly the point American Airlines – and numerous other foundering companies – fail to realize. Driving employee engagement by recognizing and rewarding employee efforts will always improve employee efforts on behalf of the customer. And happy customers increase your bottom line. It’s truly as simple as that – say “thank you” frequently, appropriately, and consistently to the people that matter the most – your employees.
The full blog post with citation for the NY Times article is here: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/search?q=southwest
5. ken thompson | September 9th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Nice piece Jason
SouthWest Airlines are one of the best examples of alternatives to the “command and control” culture. I feature them in my book “BIOTEAMS” with the example of how they use self-organizing queuing systems.
http://www.bioteams.com/2008/03/05/bioteams_book_just.html
Best Regards
KEN
6. Marcia Robinson @ BullsEyeU | September 12th, 2008 at 6:52 am
SW is certainly a B-school favorite case study for all the right reasons. The significant operational challenge I have seen companies struggle with, is how to bring the culture to life in the workforce in tangible ways.
Companies overflow with manuals that speak to what they want the culture to be, but come up short in actually translating what’s on paper to real behavior.
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