A630.3.3.RB_A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee_Wathen_Sandra

       A630.3.3.RB_A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee_Wathen_Sandra

        

       The Culture Committee at Southwest has established a cultural norm for the airline with their theme of employee appreciation.  Although it seems localized at the LA airport, it will most likely spread throughout the entire key airports that Southwest provides its services.  The reason is that it seems to be successful because the culture committee is bringing fun and excitement to the work environment and also making the employees feel appreciated amongst each other.  The culture included the term “the hokey” which is a cleaning tool used to clean the aircraft.  The “hokey” is also part of the theme in support of the cultural norm as well as “T-shirts” that exhibit the culture for the individuals that are members of the committee. 

        

       The purpose of the culture committee at Southwest is for employees to appreciate employees and at the same time make it fun and exciting; basically a wonderful place to work.  The framework for the culture committee is foster appreciation for each other within the airline.  The culture committee demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm with regards to appreciating those that are providing services on-board the aircraft; pilots and flight attendance.  This enthusiasm extended beyond their duties to include taking on tasks of the flight attendance so that they can relax and eat instead of having to clean the plane and prepare for the next flight.  The culture committee took on an additional role in order to allow others to take a “break”.   This culture builds strength among all the employees at Southwest as it brings a team spirit atmosphere vice individualism.

        

       In my work place, I can see where a cultural committee could build a stronger teaming environment; especially if built on the same foundation as Southwest airlines where employees appreciate employees.  Currently, the appreciation is expected from a hierarchical perspective and that doesn’t come too often.  Management and leadership tend to have corporate goals that distract the committed focus on employee appreciation.  This type of committee would be more regular and sincere in that it is built and focuses on peer appreciation. 

        

       My next step as a take way from this video is to present a plan to my leadership on fostering a similar environment in our workplace.  It will require that I develop a plan to present to corporate which would include value-added for “investment”, but I think it would be worthwhile as it will increase productivity and employee morale which is well needed in our organization.  This would be a wonderful opportunity to establish a company cultural norm that would be a win/win scenario if the company is willing to incorporate or at least try it as a “test scenario” for several months to see if they would be willing to make it a long-term company cultural commitment.