OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

Southwest Airlines is one of the four major United States airlines and the world largest
low-cost carrier with headquarter in Dallas, TX. My role in the organization is external.
The airlines industry has been reporting a steady growth over the last decade, but the
COVID-19 pandemic changed the entire game causing a huge impact on airline industry.
Southwest business model contributed to its success during the pandemic and they were
able to turn in a profit faster than other legacy airlines. While everyone else relies heavily
on fees to turn in a profit, Southwest was able to come back faster from the damage
caused by the pandemic and they were able to generate a better profit sooner. In addition
to that, international travel was uncertain during 2020, but Southwest which specializes in
domestic flights was able to focus on their loyal customers (Cournoyer, 2021).

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

Southwest Airlines became highly successful because of its positive culture. This is the
result of effective human resources. “Competitors tried to imitate Southwest’s approach
but rarely succeed because the real difference is in the effort Southwest gets out of its
people. That is very very hard to duplicate.” (Bolman, 2017). So, how does Southwest do
this? They follow the Human Resource Principle: Build and implement a clear
philosophy for managing people; Hire the right people; Keep them; Invest in them;
Empower them; Promote diversity. (Bolman, 2017). Southwest started by implementing a
culture that was focused on taking care of the employees and their CEO openly talks
about how if you take care of your employees then your employees will take care of your
customers. Next they hire the right people with an emphasis on people who are fun
LUVing and positive. You have to hire people with the right attitude because it’s difficult
to train for. Then you can train them to do everything else. Then they keep them with
industry leading wages. (Flight Attendant Pro, 2019). Southwest’s CEO took home less
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 than $1M in pay despite 35 years of record profits. (Bolman, 2017). They also invest in
them with company sponsored culture days at different airports where employees
experience festivities and even have the planes cleaned for them. Employees are also
empowered to make things right for the customers when something goes wrong. They are
trusted to make these decisions. Finally, they promote diversity with corporate
sponsorships of LGBT, Latino, Black, and Women’s groups.

During the COVID crisis, Southwest was facing furloughs of many employees.
Unfortunately this meant that many with low seniority would be losing their jobs.
However, this is where years of investment by the company into its people helped them
redeem some of that goodwill. 16,895 of 60,800 employees agreed to take early
retirement, separation package, or unpaid furlough. That more than 25% of the company.
(Klint, 2020). This was significantly higher partipation then other at other airlines who
struggled to find takers. By caring about their employees and building a culture of
collectiveness and teamwork, a significant portion of employees were willing to make a
sacrifice and walk away in order to save the jobs of other employees. Some of this was
motivated by the separation package of course, but the incredible partipation rate
indicates that there was great deal of people doing this to help their teammates out. That
kind of commitment only comes from human resources framework that has built up a
successful team culture.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

Southwest faced a difficult challenge when they had to face possible layoffs in the first
time of the company’s history. They relied on a sense of camraderie to coax a quarter of
their employees into taking early retirement, voluntary separation, or unpaid time off.
However, this likely meant that many older and veteran employees were the ones who
opted to depart the company because those are the employees who are most likely to have
saved up enough to retire early. Whereas newer younger employees were more likely to
need the job to support their families. “In shedding staff, firms often found that they also
sacrificed knowledge, skill, innovation, and loyalty (Reichheld, 1993, 1996). Multiple
studies have found tht cutting people hurts more often than it helps performance.”
(Bolman, 2017). In this way, Southwest may have lost some of their most experienced,
skilled, and knowledgeable employees as they headed out the door. An alternative course
would be to identify your lowest performing employees and separate them instead. This
would have helped prevent a brain drain.When the organization has to be smaller and
nimbler, often it is important to be retaining your highest performers.

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 This would have been challenging because union contracts state that layoffs start with the
least senior employees. Another reason that this course of action might have been less
successful is that it might have reduced payroll by a lesser amount. This is because
veteran employees tend to be paid more, so by eliminating their salares and retaining
junior employees who are paid less, then more money can be saved and fewer jobs need
to be eliminated. Ultimately, seeking volunteers was likely the right choice because it
would have reduced harmful feelings of survivors guilt from those who survived
involuntary layoffs.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

McClelland says that there are three needs as part of human resources assumptions:
Achievement, Power, and Affiliation. During non-COVID times, Southwest checked all
three boxes. Getting a job as a major commercial airline employee is hyper competitive
and even harder than getting into an ivy league college. Employees feel a sense of luck
when they are hired at Southwest. This is a significant achievement. They also feel
achievement on a daily basis when the flights that they are working arrive at their
destinations safely and on time. And with happy customers. These daily tangibles help
employees measure whether they are being successful at their jobs.

In fact, paychecks have the message “Deposits made possible by your Southwest
customers.” printed on them. This emphasis on making customers happy is measured
daily. Employees also feel empowered to fix customer problems on the spot by going the
extra mile. And they also feel empowered by the financial and business success of the
company. In comparison with other competitors they are working at the airline that pays
their longterm employees the most. That sort of power motivates employees and helps
reduce turnover. Finally employees at Southwest clearly feel the affiliation with the
company due to the strong culture of teamwork and having fun. Southwest is hitting all of
these markers strongly and I would continue to do what they’re doing to maintain the
employee motivation and happiness.

Southwest also steered itself through the COVID crisis by relying on the same human
resource principles. By following those principles during good times then they had built
the goodwill that they were able to redeem during bad times. They also put their
employees first when crews were stretched thin during the 2021 recovery and chose to
pare back their schedule so that crews weren’t stretched so thin. They also bought their
employees Door Dash subscriptions when hotel meals were inconsistent during the
pandemic. “Consistent with core human resource assumptions, high-performing
companies do a better job of understanding and responding to the needs of both

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 employees and customers.” (Bolman, 2017). Southwest took care of their employees
which translates to a superior job. So, I would keep doing what they are doing.

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 Reference or References
Bolman, Lee G. “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership” July 24, 2017.
Jossey-Bass

Flight Attendant Pro. “2019 Flight Attendant Pay Comparison”. 2019. Flight Attendant Pro.
http://flightattendant.pro/Flight-Attendant-Hourly-Pay-Comparison-2019.pdf

Klint, Matthew. “An Amazing LUV Story at Southwest Airlines.” July 21, 2020. Live And
Let’s Fly. https://liveandletsfly.com/southwest-furlough/