Culture Commitee

• Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?

 Cultural norms, these are behaviors that are carried out by employees on a daily basis because they are used to doing things a certain way and this is what is acceptable. To establish cultural norms we first have to “understand corporate culture; corporate culture is a system of shared values and beliefs that interact with an organization’s people, structure, and systems to produce behavioral norms (OD pg.64)”. I think that the culture committee for southwest airlines understands the culture of a flight attendant and they understand how hard it can sometimes be to finish a long flight and then have to clean the airplane with perhaps an empty stomach. The life a flight attendant can be a thankless job, I think that the culture committee understands that and makes it a point to change the culture from being an underappreciated employee to someone that feels valued.

In many organizations there are a lot of employees that feel like they are just another number, when people from management show them that they are also important, that gesture can go a long way. Employee’s that feel appreciated in an organizations culture can prove to be an important step in creating a better company environment.

• From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?

The purpose of the culture committee is to improve employee morale, having strong and positive moral at work can have a lasting effect on any business. In my studies of business I have always been made aware of the fact that it is your employees which have the most contact with your customers. If your employees hate their jobs and are very negative at work than this will have a direct effect on a company’s revenue. If you have happy employees which enjoy their jobs than I believe that you will see sales improve as that positive attitude will be transferred through the employee to the customer.

• What would you see as a viable mission for a culture committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?

My job at the railroad as management causes me to have a nice and comfortable atmosphere where we occasionally get fed lunch on the companies dime, I have a heated or air-conditioned office, and I have a break room where I can access all different sorts of food and complimentary coffee. My biggest concern are the people who are out there in the field moving our trains in -30 degree temperatures, they work in the heat, rain, sleet or snow. These people are the employees which I could see needing a visit from some sort of culture committee. The culture amongst these employees is very negative and they always feel as if the company is doing them wrong. I believe that there should be a mission to reach out to our field employees much more often.

I think that it would be nice to create a more positive environment amongst field workers and change that corporate culture. The company needs to show that they care about their most valuable employees which are doing the grunt work. It might be as simple as a fresh box of donuts and coffee at the terminal, or perhaps a bigger bonus at the end of the year. I do believe that there is a lot that can be done to improve our company culture on the railroad.

• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

From this exercise I will take with me the compassion which is put on display by southwest airlines. In this video they are letting the employees kick their feet up and relax for just a second while on the job, this is an important message which is being put on display. As managers we do not want to have an impression or a corporate culture of being known as slave drivers or ruling the company with an iron fist. It is important that we show compassion for those which are below us and understand that we were once in their shoes also. Most people which are at the top of an establishment for the most part must remember what it was like to be the person that is working out in the cold or extreme heat. We cannot forget our humble beginnings and the hard work that was put in to climb the ladder of success.

I will try to be as understanding as possible with my crews which are out on the field working their hardest to make my organization the best. When I do climb higher in management I will make it a point to show my employees that I have been in their shoes and I know how they feel. This will be an outlook which I will try my hardest to stay true to as I climb to higher positions in my company.  

Question:

Why would a manager not try to bring company morale to a higher level?

Reference

·         Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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