A630.3.3.RB_SchreterPaul

            To make things interesting at Southwest, they have what’s called the Culture Committee. The purpose of this committee is to make Southwest a fun, exciting, and wonderful place to work. ( NutsAboutSouthwest, 2008) In this blog I’ll review the goals of Southwest’s Culture Committee, what it could do for organizations in general, and a quick tidbit on what I can take from it.

            Determining whether or not this committee is effective at establishing cultural norms is pretty hard to measure, however that doesn’t mean their efforts aren’t being recognized in published articles. Dr. Noelle Nelson, a psychologist and business trial consultant, gives credit to Southwest by stating “companies such as Southwest Airlines and See’s Candies have embraced the appreciation approach. The result? Southwest Airlines is making money while its competitors are filing for bankruptcy.” (Nelson, 2006) So by taking advantage of the appreciation approach, Southwest has been able to stay in and excel in their domain. But what does it mean to have an appreciation approach?

            Showing appreciation for your employees is one of the best ways to gain their loyalty. It has been said “appreciation has a real and measurable impact on your bottom line. Studies reveal that the degree to which people feel their company recognizes employee excellence results in dramatic differences to the company’s bottom line. Businesses effectively valuing their employees enjoy triple the returns on equity, returns on assets, and higher operating margins.” (Nelson, 2006) This shows that a direct return will come from showing employee appreciation. However one manager or leader in a large company won’t be able to show valuable appreciation for everyone, and so Southwest created the Culture Committee to go around the company and show others how much they’re valued. By having employees show appreciation for other employees, overall attitudes and moods are better off within the company.

            When everyone feels appreciated, motivation increases. Brown talks about multiple dimensions that affect organizational performance, one of which is motivational climate. Brown defines motivation climate as something that “consists of the set of employee attitudes and morale that influences the level of performance.” (Brown, 2011) Employee appreciation is something that has been shown to have a direct correlation to overall organizational motivation.

            Something that I can immediately take away from this is to show more appreciation towards my coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates. Making them feel better about themselves in an already difficult deployment environment would have nothing but positive benefits. They say that happiness spreads, so perhaps by spreading happiness onto others, I too can benefits and live a happier life myself.

References

NutsAboutSouthwest. (2008). Southwest Airlines "A Day in the Life of Culture Committee". Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded

Brown, D. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development. New Jersey: Pearson.

Nelson, N. (2006). Culture of Appreciation. Leadership Excellence , 11.