Culture Committee at Southwest Airlines, March, 2010

COUNT ON ME to OWN IT! is the theme for 2010 as Southwest Employees are pumped and ready to “kick tail” to stay out in front in their industry. Gary Kelly, CEO, challenged all of us in his recent Message to the Field to each bring our best self to this year as it promises to be yet another really challenging year to stay profitable with rising fuel prices.
Wednesday, Carol Haddock and I enjoyed the first of four all-day meetings with the SWA Culture Committee. This begins the 20th year we have had the honor of participating and experiencing tremendous change. For example, as a direct result of an Employee Survey two years ago, Colleen Barrett added a team of Culture Ambassadors, one for each major work group, to work full-time in support of their local culture. In all there are eight Ambassadors and they also help plan the Culture Committee Meetings.
One of the creative things they did last year was to design a Culture Passport for each of us. We get it stamped whenever we participate in a service/celebration event, such as the SWA/Ronald McDonald Dallas LUV Classic Golf Tournament to raise money for this charity, Message to the Field, appreciation events with a meal for the Maintenance Teams, packing over 3,000 goody bags to give out to the flight crew who work over Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, etc.
They come up with a fun theme for each meeting and the 120 members are seated at tables so we meet new friends at each of the four meetings. This meeting was all about sports so there was football, baseball, volleyball, etc. We were asked to come in sports attire with T-shirts for our favorite sports team. We had members in tennis outfits and hockey gear and lots of funny stuff. One woman brought her kayaking paddle and gear. Carol came home with an official Green Bay Packer’s Cheese Head hat!
There is always a report from Kevin Krone, VP, Marketing, Sales and Distribution, and we get to see the new commercials. What is so cool is the Culture Committee is educated at each session about the complexity of the airlines business and why it is increasingly difficult to make a profit. What has always been so fascinating is that their motto and guiding principal is to “do the right thing”. So, for example, with Bags Fly Free, they are foregoing a lot of potential profit but not hassling their Customers with extra fees. And Customers obviously appreciate this. A significant number continue to switch to Southwest Airlines after experiencing being quoted a ticket price only to discover that there is an extra $120 round trip for baggage fees!
I sat at a table with two new “rookie” members of the tea, Kelly Tidwell & Tisha Hirsch, who had both worked at other airlines prior to Southwest. They both were so enthusiastic about getting to work at Southwest. One thing they both shared was the importance of Employees “self policing” to keep the culture strong. Both are flight attendants and they said they learned early that if someone on their crew was grumpy or not stepping up with a great Southwest Spirit, they would tactfully remind them that every Customer and every contact counts tremendously. If we want to keep our jobs secure we’ve got to come through with spectacular Customer Service! And that means a big smile and searching for creative ways to make every Customer glad they chose to fly SWA.
When you have this level of ownership from a majority of Employees who “get it”, you have something really special. And we can tell you that Southwest works very hard to make sure complacency doesn’t creep in.
At the end of the day we had seen several fun videos (some made on his own time by a very gifted volunteer, Bob Hurst!) We had lots of fun. Worked hard together on ideas for new, fun events for 2010. We made many new friends. And signed up to pitch in and help out with dozens of great celebrations and service events that will happen coast to coast! By keeping work fun and keeping Employees feeling appreciated and in on things, they keep the morale high for every Employee. Carol and I left really inspired and energized by the amazing spirit that keeps Southwest at the top of their industry!
Ann McGee-Cooper & Carol Haddock
P.S. If you haven’t already found it, go to www.southwest.com for more great stories about Southwest Spirit!


(This terrific video was produced by Bob Hurst, award-winning videographer for Southwest Airlines Culture Committee!)