From Love Field

Sometimes looking outside your own sector can give you a real insight into how your sector can improve. My curiosity about how other people deal with common situations or specific issues has been illuminating. I fully accept that whilst the private sector is famously efficient for what it does (although historically abysmal at working out what is worth doing), there are useful things to be found in ultra-competitive sectors. ‘Excellence at low cost’ is the mantra of most companies, but it’s a tough brief, so who else might have some clues on how we can improve our game? I have recently been taking a close look at low-cost airlines, which are the best in the business in this ultra- tight market. What can we learn?

During my research – looking, reading and travelling – Southwest Airlines, originally from Love Field, Dallas, Texas, in the 1970s, emerged as special. Not only has it become America’s biggest airline by passenger volume, but also it has the lowest customer complaint record of any American airline and 35 consecutive years of profit. Southwest somehow gained significant market share and customer support despite their no-frills stance. Yes, it had implemented all the tactics that we know about low-cost airlines, it had done away with in flight meals and operated ticketless flights, but Southwest had taken on and beaten really big competition such as American and Continental. Its competitors introduced services that applied the same basic principles and practices without the same success. For me this is interesting: can the arts learn anything from an airline? I believe we can. The company has innovated and has had setbacks, but it has some other traits which are worth noting.

Teamwork

First, its website doesn’t look or feel corporate, the approach is personal. Second, its business model is very straightforward: keep travel costs low, and make sure customers have a good time using the service. Finally, the part which we can make most use of is its approach towards employees. Traditionally, low-cost carriers achieve their goal by paying their staff less and making them work harder. Southwest, however, identified another route, to do with how its teams work. The emphasis is on shared goals and knowledge, mutual respect between roles, frequent and timely communication and internal conflict resolution. The mutual respect, knowledge and a shared big picture make Southwest staff much more focused when it comes to tight deadlines.

Running a venue or attraction means interdependency of teams: all functions are closely inter-related. Southwest provides some useful checks for team members, which you may like to try with your own team. When you think about other departments in your organisation, do you believe they have the same work goals as you? How much do the people in those departments know about your job? How much respect do you get from the people in each of these departments? However, teamwork requires further communications effort. How often do you communicate with the people in the other departments? Do you communicate with them frequently and in a timely manner? Finally, if a problem occurs, do the people in these groups try to solve the problem or try to determine whose fault it was?

Looking at the teamwork approach, it’s easy to see that perhaps we could improve our relationships across departments. The other points of emphasis at
Southwest in relation to personnel are: provide credible, caring leadership; invest in frontline leadership; hire and train teamwork competency; use conflicts to build relationships; consider the whole person, their work and their family; measure performance broadly; keep jobs flexible at the boundary of the business; make unions your partners; and build relationships with suppliers. It’s reassuring that winning amidst ultra-tight competition means that teams need to be taken care of. Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest, described his mother’s advice: “She said that positions and titles signify absolutely nothing: they’re just adornments; they don’t represent the substance of anybody.” The idea that every person and every job is worth just as much as any other person and any other job is a stark statement from such a hugely successful company.

So, if you are contemplating the impact of economic slowdown, I would recommend you check all the options for efficiency improvements. After 9/11, the American airline business was itself in a tailspin. Southwest emerged from the economic crisis of their sector faster and more effective than their competition.