LUV Lessons: Growing Great from Within

In my years working at Southwest Airlines, it struck me that one of the primary ways they built a strong, productive organization was what I call "growing from within."  This took several forms, and I'll share three of them here.

LESSON #1:  Trust your front line workers.
Southwest's training of their employees is thorough and extensive, but I was very surprised at how much POWER those on the front line had!  Customer Service Agents (those people who check in your baggage and give you your seat assignments) empowered to make many decisions--including those dealing with thousands of dollars for oversold flights--without even consulting as supervisor!  Sure, there are some rules and guidelines for such situations, but the agents themselves can determine how to apply the rules.  And when they made mistakes, they weren't chastised or fired.  They were mentored and taught.  Putting this kind of TRUST in the employees that dealt with the public made for an efficient and effective workflow.  In an industry as highly regulated for safety as the airlines, there were of necessity lots of checks and balances.  Most of these were done behind the scenes, and rarely brought to the attention of staff unless specific action was required.  Stephen Covey talks about The Speed of Trust (Free Press, 2008), and Southwest Airlines is a fine example of this.  Trust becomes the basis for creating a sustainable, genuine culture of success.

LESSON #2:  Promote from within.
Almost everyone at SWA started out at some "entry level position" or has worked for the company for many years.  Agents become supervisors, then managers, then directors, etc.  This provides a continuity of culture and leadership that serves as a foundation for growth and productivity.  Part of this is a result of their hiring practices--in almost everyone they hire they see the potential for upward mobility.  It also results in good relationships between management (administration) and workers (faculty), because they already know each other.  That doesn't mean things always work out perfectly, but while many people move around in the airline industry, Southwest's turnover is among the lowest in ANY industry.  In an educational setting, this would be an incredible asset.

LESSON #3:  Seek innovation from everyone, especially those on the front line.
One might think that hiring from within would result in a kind of  "corporate incest."  (Many educational institutions don't hire their own graduates or promote long time employees fearing this.)  Such has not been the case for SWA, partly because they encourage ideas for innovation from EVERYONE in the organization, especially those in contact with their customers.  (In education, this would be staff and faculty who have the most interaction with students.)  For those who have flown Southwest and any other airline, it is apparent that Southwest does things differently.  Many of the efficiency-related improvements germinated from the perspectives and suggestions of customer service and operations agents themselves, and were eagerly adopted by management.  Rarely does Southwest Airlines use consultants, because they feel their employees are their best and most insightful critics.

What would happen if Yavapai College would adopt these practices?  How might that change our organization for the good?