Creating culture is so important to the success of an organization. Having a foundation with your employees creates not only a family-feel but also creates a feeling of pride. In the Southwest video, the Los Angeles team promoted a culture that they have created which helps and rewards both flight attendants and pilots. Below I will be answering four (4) additional questions regarding the video in more detail.
Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?
I have found that after watching this video, which includes employee feedback and testimony that yes, Southwest is effective in establishing cultural norms. According to the Brown (2011) text, I have found that Southwest is creating strong corporate culture as well. People often ask what does it mean to be “effective” and how to measure “effectiveness” and I have found that the best way to establish effectiveness is by feedback and employee engagement. The only way to know if something is done right is to see how it stacks up with other people and also to see if you, the person creating the culture, would find these strategies effective.
From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?
The purpose of the culture committee at Southwest is to provide both pilots and flight attendants with a reward for all the hard work they put in day-after-day. When you create a culture within an established organization you have to make sure the purpose is clear and positive to promote a sense of community from within. Due to the large scale of employees Southwest has, it can be difficult to start a culture that affects everyone but from this video it is clear that this is just a part of the larger culture that spreads throughout each airport which in turn unifies the organization and the brand.
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)?
In my department at ERAU Worldwide we have the Party Planning Committee also known as the PPC which is a trio of individuals who create culture by planning and developing team building activities each quarter. Because of the nature of our department we all often work different hours and can be swamped by the heavy workload so having a time when we can all get together and relax is very important. I think before this committee was enacted there was a lot of disconnects between employees and now are mission is to work as a team and utilize each other’s strengths.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
I love any organization that can showcase means in which they take to create culture in their organization as it helps to promote ideas I can use in my organization. The team I currently work for is always looking to find ways to bring the department closer together and any examples I can find only make it easier for the committee to build in new experiences as well as continue to build on the already established culture we have.
This video really struck home for me because I can relate to the video along with my fellow colleagues and I would love to see my department make something like this to showcase what we are doing to help other organizations create culture and community.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
NutsAboutSouthwest (2008). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded
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