Running head: SOUTHWEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE

RELATIONSHIPS

Southwest Practices for Building High-Performance Relationships

Student's Name

Institutional Affiliation
SOUTHWEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS 2

Southwest Airlines has accomplished unique success in the United States’ airline

industry. The company has overcome high dynamism of the airline business and maintained

consistent profitability since its inception. Notably, the company has gained a reputation for

safety and convenience, as evidenced by a few complaints, mishandled bags cases, and delays.

The company’s management associates this success with the effectiveness of practices for

establishing high-performance relationships.

In general, the management relies on ten practices in establishing high-performance

relationships. The most effective ones are an investment in front-line leaders and promoting

relational competence in its workforce. The company recognizes leadership as a critical element

for its success in the highly volatile and competitive industry. In Southwest Airlines, leadership

exists in a distributed format that focuses on increasing the leader-employee ratio. Currently, the

company has a higher supervisor-employee ratio than any other U.S. airline. In its workplace,

every supervisor is assigned 10-12 junior employees (Gittell, 2003). The supervisors are

expected to assume managerial responsibility of guiding junior employees in task execution. The

supervisors focus on supporting their subordinates in decision making and problem-solving

instead of disciplining them. The supervisors are expected to work closely with their

subordinates, which enhances their credibility.

At Southwest Airlines, leadership is recognized as a process that can occur at any

management level. Over the years, the company has developed leadership internally to increase

the leader-employee ratio at any management level. The leadership development process is

accomplished through training employees in leadership roles. For instance, the company holds

leadership training programs to transform junior employees into competent leaders. Engagement

in the leadership process starts at the supervisors-in-training level. Eventually, continuous

SOUTHWEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS 3

experience and frequent training transform employees into independently functioning

supervisors. The leadership skills supervisors and managers are expected to possess effective

communication, problem-solving, strategic thinking, interpersonal skills, and teamwork. The

leadership skills enable managers and supervisors to enhance the alignment of employees with

the company goals and values. The strategy leads to performance enhancement in all the

company’s departments.

Southwest Airlines promotes relational competence in its workforce by hiring individuals

with teamwork competency. The company deliberately designs a good working environment and

compensation package to promote attraction and retention of high performers. Hiring competent

candidates enables the HRM team to integrate them smoothly with its workforce. At this point,

the HRM team scouts for individuals with the right attitude to work in a collaborative

environment. Hence, the HRM team selects potential hires who possess both technical and

teamwork competence. The company also supports its newly hired employees in developing

teamwork skills through relational competence training (Parker, 2011). Southwest Airlines’

HRM team focuses on working with the newly acquired employees to boost their teamwork

competence skills.

The team working qualities employees are expected to develop include commitment to

shared goals, interdependence, interpersonal skills, and effective communication. Commitment

to shared goals enhances engagement and motivation to the company’s success. Interdependence

allows employees to create an environment where responsibilities are shared effectively. The

interpersonal skills that support interdependence include commitment, respect, supportiveness,

trustworthiness, and honesty (Bacharach, 2005). Combining effective communication and the

other two qualities enable employees to share ideas effectively. In the company’s workplace,
SOUTHWEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS 4

employees value their colleagues’ ideas and express their willingness to receive constructive

criticism. Employee collaboration in the company allows employees to solve complex problems

easily and quickly, which is manifested through high-quality customer service.

The success of Southwest Airlines is associated with its success in establishing high-

performance relationships. The most effective practices for establishing high-performance

workplace relationships are relational competence promotion and investment in front-line

leaders. The practices offer the airline flexibility and strength in decision making and problem-

solving hence improving the quality of services offered to clients.

SOUTHWEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS 5

References

Bacharach, M. (2005). Foreword: teamwork. Gold, Teamwork–Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives,

Palgrave Macmillan: xxi-xxv.

Gittell, J. (2003). The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve

High Performance. Summaries.Com.

Parker, G. M. (2011). Team players and teamwork: New strategies for developing successful

collaboration. John Wiley & Sons.