One of my former SCORE colleagues, Tuck Aikin, wrote the following article about valuing your greatest assets, your employees several decades ago. Some of the data contained in the original article have become stale with time, but the message remains as true today as it was when Tuck penned them. To ensure the message continues to resonate with readers today, I took the liberty to update some of his original data but kept the intended message intact.
Recently National Public Radio featured Southwest Airlines in a special report, citing its one-of-a-kind financial performance since it was founded in 1971. From 1973 to 2019, Southwest was the only domestic airline with 47 consecutive years of profitability.
Several business pundits have offered explanations for Southwest’s success, but none seem to have hit the mark. In NPR’s report, however, was an interesting description of a long hallway in its corporate headquarters. It is lined with thousands of photographs of Southwest employees (they have 32,000 employees total), and at the insistence of the Southwest President and CEO, Colleen Berrett, the pictures are updated and refreshed every three years.
And when you check out their website, they describe Southwest as “A company of people, not planes.” Interesting.
Updated Quote: “The biggest thing that makes us ‘us’ is our People, and the unique and unrivaled Hospitality they deliver. No one has a Heart for service like the People of Southwest Airlines. No one.” Bob Jordan, Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines
Many corporations make the same claim that they care about and take care of their people, but when it comes to performance, none seem to be able to bring about the same result. What’s the difference?
Probably the explanation is that Southwest’s top officers engage in one of their most important responsibilities: to continuously and persistently present to everyone, especially employees, the big picture. The challenge is like climbing a mountain.
No matter where you are on the trail, the most you can see is what’s at eye level and what’s below you. You have no idea of what the view looks like above you. To keep your spirits up, then, it helps a lot to have the top dogs tell you what the scenery is like up there, to let you know you’re not lost, and to explain how your mountain fits into the entire range. They can give you weather reports too, so when an occasional storm hits, you’ve already put on your rain gear.
Too often, managers and entrepreneurial founders get caught up in the daily challenges of keeping ahead of competitors, controlling expenses, devising strategies to maximize revenues, attracting and retaining good employees. What they don’t realize is that they aren’t answering the most common complaint of virtually all employees: “I don’t know what’s going on.” and “They don’t know what I do.”
Sure, it’s fine to take a paternalistic approach and “take care” of your subordinates, but does that really inspire commitment, encourage risk-taking, and welcome initiative? Not at all. What does work to foster such constructive behavior is to endeavor to create a true sense of partnership, and the best way to do that is to share your view, to explain how each and every fellow worker contributes to the big picture.
Ever notice your reaction when an acquaintance (or romantic interest, for that matter) opens up and shares their world with you, tells you about their hopes, dreams, frustrations, and disillusionments in life? It’s quite a compliment that they feel safe sharing such information with you because they’re making themselves vulnerable, showing you that you mean something to them. Well, it works the same way in a business/organizational setting too.
So, if you are in a position of responsibility, talk about your vision, explain where the company is going and why, solicit their contribution to that vision, and genuinely listen. Keep everyone “in the know,” keep nothing secret, but explain what is sensitive information if it gets into the wrong hands (a competitor’s, for instance). Be open. If you have a board of directors, invite employees to attend meetings, invite board members to attend staff meetings, and have “mixers,” let no one be left out.
And, oh yes, everyone loves recognition, especially when they know they’ve done something important that contributes to the overall mission of the organization as they understand it, as it’s been shared with them. Hallway photos help.
If you’re in charge, you are the only one that can do it. Get the picture?
Tuck Aikin was a former SCORE colleague of mine for many years until his retirement. Tuck is a prolific writer and wrote small business-themed articles for the Colorado Springs Gazette for many years. As a co-mentor, Tuck was my inspiration for me starting this blog. The preceding post is reproduced with permission from the author.
