Leadership Southwest airlines, a company that is known to have strong employee relationships, believes that the happier an employee the better productivity they will have. Southwest Airline CEO, Gary C. Kelly, has stated that in order to have a strong company he needs to take time building strong relationships as well. “Happy Employees = Happy Customers. Happy Customers keep Southwest flying” (Southwest). He created an environment that challenges employees to be innovative which lead to creative solutions. Gary C. Kelly is able to initiate structure within the company, since he had a clear goal and direction for the company employees were not confused. If Southwest Airlines was to change their leadership style to reflect a …show more content…
Employees have a strong sense of loyalty to Southwest Airlines; their loyalty and admiration to Southwest CEO, Gary C. Kelly, makes the ability to influence the behavior of its employees easier. “Original employees – many of whom say they considered him more of a father than a boss – wanted to please and emulate him. Workers routinely went above and beyond the call of duty to help the airline thrive” (Trottman, 2003). Another form of power is reward power. There is an incentive for working at Southwest for a long time; Employees who work with Southwest Airlines receive benefits as well as stock options within the company. Southwest believes that hard work and dedication to the company should result in rewards and promotions. They do not rely on the reward system to motivate their employees, but they believe it is a great way to let employees know they are appreciated. Power such as coercive power will only hurt communication within an organization. If an organization operates on the principle of fear and withholding of information employees will feel less inclined to communicate with one another. This type of power creates an environment that stiffens creativity in fear that they will be punished. Another form of power that may hinder communication within an organization is legitimate power. This form of power is based on authority or position. If Gary C. Kelly were to exert his authority over employees simply
People – One of the many things good about Southwest Airlines is that the kinds of people who are heroes of the organization are people who care and go out of their way to help the customers. They’re the ones who are celebrated and held up as shining examples. Additionally, high levels of satisfaction among employees can be attributed to Southwest employee policy. Happy employees can provide high quality service and bring more customers back. To reinforce the culture of hard work, high-energy, fun, local autonomy, and creativity, the company provided continuous education program to employees. If you can help someone out or brighten someone’s day, be it a co-worker or a passenger, you’re doing your job well.
We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all,
Here are examples of Southwest Airlines ' approach to motivating and encouraging the workers that was in fact more than just financial benefits.
Southwest Airlines is dedicated to incorporating all servant leadership principles throughout their organization. Accordingly, their mission statement is clear and concise it evidently exemplifies all principles and acknowledges a servant-led organization. Their mission statement embraces their commitment to serve the highest quality of customer service through a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Southwest, 2014). Therefore, through Southwest’s’ mission statement it makes it explicitly apparent that they seek to listen and commit to the growth of their people. Southwest empathizes with their employees because they are dedicated to providing
At Southwest Airlines, the company’s business strategy has a positive effect on the training they provide to their employees. Southwest Airlines is a Texas based airline that started up in 1971 (Corporate Fact Sheet). Over the years the airline has been recognized for its outstanding customer service and its low airfare fees. Due to their excellent customer service, the company has been ranked number one in customer satisfaction in 2013 by the U.S Department of Transportation. In. 2015, Southwest airlines was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award. The reason that Southwest airlines is recognized for all these great things is because they obtain a good organizational control over the airline.
By the very nature of its business model, the United Parcel Service of America (UPS) is task- and process-intensive, relying on its employees as the catalysts of delivering excellent service. While nearly every CEO at one time or another has said that their people are their most important assets, UPS lives by this mantra and has the financial figures on their investments in training and intensive programs to prove it (UPS, 2013). In a typical year UPS will spend nearly $300M on training including customized courseware and distance learning programs, many of them oriented towards giving their employees a more solid base for personal and professional development (Emmons, 1995). In conjunction with intensive training programs and high levels of investment in education, UPS also has one of the most advanced and thoroughly subscribed-to employee ownership programs in the Fortune 1,000 today. Their employee ownership program is designed to provide every employee with a very strong foundation of autonomy, mastery and purpose in their jobs, which are the building blocks of long-term learning and motivation (Dwortzan, 1982). The combination of the training programs and employee ownership give each employee a very clear sense of how valuable they are to the company and how critical their role is to daily profitability. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate why the UPS employee reward system is the best
Southwest had an edge over its competitors because of its people and their people management. The culture practiced at Southwest ensured progress towards their primary goal of customer service and low cost. The HR programs at Southwest were based on the preserving the values and special culture of Southwest Airlines (SWA).
As the low-cost leader, Southwest spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on its mission, vision, culture, and goals. This concentration allows Southwest to rank as one of the 100 Best Companies to work for in America. The employee’s attitudes and efforts lead to fewer customer complaints and more on-time arrivals and departures.
Southwest Airlines' strong organizational culture is reflected in its mission statement "dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit" (Southwest, 2012). Southwest serves not only as a prime example of a company that excels in customer service and profitability, but as one that has utilized employee development as a means to meet these ends. Southwest makes a strong commitment to foster ongoing relationships with human resources. They demand that their employees are responsible members, however
During the rapid globalization, being one of the topmost and sustainable airlines is not easy due to the highly competitive airlines industry. Southwest Airlines, founded by Rolling King, Herbert Kelleher, and Lamar Muse in 1967, is considered a very long history of success following its goal that emphasizes on customers’ satisfaction. The key of organizational success relies on human value of Southwest CEO, managers, and employees who try to help each other in order to reach the customers’ best service because these people are the major factors to justify their own images that represent their organization. Furthermore, Southwest has motivated its employees to be more creative and improvable by allowing suitable norms and
HR Policies and Leadership: The advanced employee training techniques and employee engagement is an important element of Southwest’s success so far. The exceptional customer service which differentiates SW from their competitors is attributed to their strong employee base. Herb Kelleher, a transformational leader, led the organization by maintaining a fun-filled culture. By creating a friendly working environment in the organization, CEO of southwest airlines was able to retain the employees in the organization. Employees were not only extrinsically motivated to be in the company but intrinsically motivated to be a part of the Southwest Airlines family. It was demonstrated from the fact that when there was a downturn, managers froze their salary for 5 years just to maintain
When Herb Kelleher and Rollin King founded Southwest Airlines in 1971, their mission stated the “dedication of the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit” (Smith, 2012). With that mission in mind, Herb Keller and Rollin King managed to make Southwest the only profitable airline in the United States (Smith, 2012). Southwest’s mission is not the only reason why the airline continues to grow. Without the way, Herb Kelleher former CEO of Southwest, had developed a particular leadership style, power base, and a set way the organization motivates its’ work force, the company would not be as successful as it is
Organizations like the Southwest Airlines all have a culture, which demonstrates how the organization works and usually acts as its motivational tool. An organizational culture is important to the organization, as it is the major element in helping attain the organization's goals and objectives. Cultures in organizations are vast, with different organizations adopting their own type of culture. The examples of culture include; club cultures, where employees of the organization are assisted to fit into the culture. This is the most common type adopted by most organizations. There is also the academy culture, where the organization keeps its most skilled employees. The skills are developed by the company and an example of the organization that mostly uses this culture is the large corporations like the Southwest Airlines. The base team culture is designed to maintain high skilled employees, as these employees have great skills and can work for many other organizations. Other organizations have cultures that are highly discouraged, like the fortress culture, where employees hardly know their fate, and can be laid off any time. These organizations often undergo changes through reorganization, and only the specialized skilled people have chances for positions in the organization. Despite these many types of the cultures, management should ensure culture that is reputable, and
Southwest Airlines is one of the most successful airlines in the United States. There has never been layoffs or strikes in the history of the company, although there were several times when layoffs could have been justified, including the months following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. However, Southwest's Mission statement says “Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.” (Southwest, 1988). The Airline has always believed that their corporate culture is one of the keys to their success. The culture recognizes that employees have emotional intelligence and that their
The management style of Southwest airline is characterized by how greatly it takes care of its employees’ well-being. The management considers it as a mean to achieve higher customer satisfaction: “Keep employees happy, then they will keep customers happy”.