It’s So Simple
But Not Always Easy
How Southwest Airlines Keeps its Employees
Flying High
Our History
• Founded in 1971
• Profitable for 34
consecutive years
• Serve 63 cities
nationwide
• More than 32,000
Employees
• 2007 36th Anniversary
• Largest airline in U.S.
in terms of Customers
carried
Character Building
• Southwest received 284,827 resumes and hired
3,363 new Employees in 2006.
• In 2006 Southwest served 93.8 million bags of
peanuts
• Southwest has 1,133 married couples. In other
words, 2,266 Southwest Employees have
spouses who also work for the Company.
• The airline is approximately 87 percent unionized.
•For the eleventh
year in a row,
FORTUNE magazine
recognized
Southwest Airlines in
its annual survey of
corporate
reputations.
•Among all
industries in 2007,
FORTUNE lists
Southwest Airlines
as the number five
most admired
corporation.
It’s About the Culture
What is Culture?
Defined as the set of shared
attitudes, values, goals, and
practices that characterizes a
company or corporation
Southwest Values
• Fun
• Family
• Egalitarianism
• Simplicity
• Low cost
Golden Rule
Treat others the way you want to be treated
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•
•
•
•
•
Answer every letter
Call back
Bend the rules
Do the right thing
Find ways to say yes
Treat with respect
Live the Southwest Way
1. Have a Servant’s Heart
Serve Others
•A passion for
Customer
Service
•Internal and
External
Share the Spirit
• Ronald McDonald House
Charities
• LUV Classic
• Adopt-A-Pilot
• Make-A-Wish
Internal Customer Care
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cards
Food Baskets
Party-in-a-Box
Flowers
Gifts
Phone Calls
Live the Southwest Way
2. Have a Warrior Spirit
Innovate
•We were born
of innovation
• Employees
are not afraid to
innovate
because they
trust
Fight to be the Best
• The 10-minute
turn
• The $13 Fare War
• Wright Fight
Rally Cry
• Our People work best when working
towards a common goal
– Operation Kick Tail
– Gimme Five
– September 11th
Live the Southwest Way
3. Have a Fun-LUVing Attitude
Starts at the Top
Malice in Dallas
Our Collective Heart
“At Southwest Airlines, we take the competition seriously,
but we don’t take ourselves seriously”
Company Celebrations
• Spirit Parties
• Chili Cookoff
• Company
Anniversaries
• Halloween
PHOTO OF PARTY
Party Like It’s 2007
Okay, Southwest has Culture,
but what do we get?
Act/Think Like Owners of the Company
• Profit Sharing
• 401(K)
• Listen to Employees’ Ideas
Started the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in
1973. Through this plan and others, Employees own at least 10
percent of the Company stock.
Freedom
•Create & Innovate
•Make a Positive Difference
•Work Hard & Have Fun
•Get out of Town
•Learn & Grow
•Stay Connected
•Get Healthy
•Be Wealthy
Let it Ring
• Free to be
ourselves
• Free to do the
right thing
• Free to make our
Customers
laugh and smile
36 Years
1971
2007
3 cities, 1 state
63 cities, 32 states
18 daily flights/day
3,200+ flights per day
3 airplanes
483 airplanes
195 Employees
More than 32,000
Employees
It’s All About the Employees
The Customer Isn’t Always Right
• Value your
Employees
• Believe in them
and show you
care
• Broaden their
knowledge
Communicate
• Who are you?
• Do your
Employees
know?
• Do you have a
consistent
message?
Knowledge is Power
• Message to the Field
• Today@SWA
• LUV LINES
• Departmental Publications
• Days in the Field/Walk A Mile in my Shoes
• Weekly CEO Message – Shout Outs
Ambassadors
As we grow, our philosophy doesn’t
change, just our tactics
– Turning Southwest fans into fanatics
– Creating Customer evangelists for the
brand
– Nurturing the trust built among the
Employees (we are a family)
Culture Committee
100+ people across the Company representing all
job functions, levels of leadership, and tenure
Group’s goal is to:
• Help create the Southwest Spirit and Culture
where needed
• To enrich it and make it better where it already
exists
• To liven it up in places where it might be
“floundering”
Spread the LUV