feature | HR'S EXPANDING ENTERPRISE ROLE
ENTERPRISE ROLE
EXPHR’S ANDING be turbulence... there may
That the link between people and business enterprise is inextricable is no better exemplified than in the ultra-competitive, customer-exposed airline business. The fact that the time-honoured HR phrase “hire for attitude, train for skill,” came from none other than Herb Kelleher,
the founder of Southwest Airlines, speaks volumes. In a market of the stressed and the folding, Southwest Airlines is a company with top performance in its sector.
ARTICLE BY JEAN-MARIE DRU, CHAIRMAN - TBWA WORLDWIDE & AUTHOR OF THANK YOU FOR DISRUPTING: THE DISRUPTIVE BUSINESS PHILOSOPHIES OF THE WORLD’S GREAT ENTREPRENEURS
Thousands of leaders have taken Herb Kelleher’s advice, more or less successfully, depending on the single-mindedness with which they have followed it and have hung the heavy mantle of responsibility for commercial competitiveness around HR’s shoulders. One well known example is Tony Hsieh, the founder and CEO of Zappos. He followed Kelleher’s guidance to the letter. Hsieh is convinced that happy employees put everything into giving their customers maximum satisfaction. He talks about “happiness management” and he has written a book about his approach called Delivering Happiness. “Employees first” should not be seen as just a management adage or a sort of value-added accessory. This concept is at the very heart of Southwest Airlines’ unmatched success. Naturally, the company’s
performance relies on its business model, which does not have a central hub, boasts the industry’s fastest equipment rotation, and offers a single-class cabin. Yet, Southwest’s flamboyant founder stressed that the airline’s performance also owes a lot to the company’s strong corporate culture and, in particular, to the priority given to its employees’ fulfilment. Over the past several decades we’ve witnessed the disappearance of carriers such as Pan Am, TWA, Eastern Airlines, Air America, Northwest Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines, and New York Air, to name but a few. At the same time, Southwest has seen its market capitalisation grow twice as fast as the S&P 500. Its sales have reached $37.2 billion in 2017 and it employs more than 56,000 people. On top of all this, the company has never laid off a single
employee since its creation in 1971, despite operating in a highly volatile industry. The U.S. airline sector is often criticised for having unfriendly staff and mediocre service. Southwest is an exception. Its personnel, whether flying or on the ground, is seen as being open, concerned, always ready to do their best. This clearly comes from the company’s “hire on attitude” philosophy. For candidates, character is given more importance than experience. Julie Weber, Southwest Airlines’ HR Director, makes a point of recruiting only people who have what she calls a “warrior spirit.” Our agency worked for Southwest and our people have witnessed that this is still the case. When Southwest Airlines recruits, they are not looking for the right experience, but for the right mindset. Herb Kelleher believed that “the
20 | thehrdirector | DECEMBER 2019
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