Southwest Airlines: A Loving Culture

Southwest Airlines is a company that places their employee’s first, customers second, and share holders third. Chairman Emeritus, of Southwest Airlines Herb Kelleher said in A Loving Culture: Access McCombs with Southwest Airlines said “Your employee’s come first and they will treat the customers well if they know that you care for them, that you are going to take care of them, you are going to protect them, your customers will come back, and that will make the shareholders happy.” This message coming from the top leaders of an organization helps to shape the culture for the entire organization and is able to be passed down all the way through. In the Southwest Purpose and Vision video, Southwest Airlines simply identifies their purpose

A majority of the awards do not have to do with their financial success, but their ability to create a successful environment and culture for their employee’s to succeed and flourish. In the article “Southwest Employee Branding” Southwest Airlines has won awards such as Performance Through People, Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Award, Most Pleasant Airline, and Employer of Choice Among College Students just to name a few. These award and others like them really show what type of organization Southwest Airlines is, and what is important to their team. The accomplishments also show that there priority of focusing on employee’s first has been successful, and can be used to create a successful

Southwest Airline also makes sure to educate their employee’s on what makes Southwest different from other airlines. In the “South West Employee Branding” article on page 542 it explains that Southwest takes a two pronged approached when managing the employee’s brand image. First, the organization sends out frequent and consistent messages updating employee’s of the desired brand image, and secondly they motivate employees by ensuring their psychological contracts are upheld. Knowing exactly what an organization is expecting from their employees make for a clear, happy, and productive work environment. Southwest also believes wants to connect with their employee’s on a level deeper than just work. “Southwest Airlines: How Internal Marketing Pilots Success” article explains “While most companies only seek to engage the workers through pay or through their minds and intellect, successful internal marking offers a vision to create a sense of spirit and emotion that engages not just the mind, but also the heart of the employee.” Again, Southwest is able to put their employee’s first which interns produces a positive working