A Day in the Life of the Culture
Committee
After watching the video “A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee, I
realized that although Southwest tries to establish cultural norms, the company
fails to do so. In the video, one of Southwest’s flight attendants, who is also
a part of the culture committee, admitted that some of the flight attendance he
works with do not even know what the culture committee is or what they do. From
what I have seen, I do not believe that Southwest’s corporate culture incorporates
the interdependent beliefs, values, and behaviors (norms) that they wish to obtain.
However, I do believe that Southwest Airlines has good intentions and is
making a conscious effort to establish cultural norms. With the implementation
of the culture committee, Southwest is aiming to give gratitude to employees by
showing employees appreciation for a job well done. In 2009, Southwest’s
culture committee implemented “Hokey Day”, a day where different employees from
Southwest got to travel around the Southwest system giving different flight
crews a chance to take a break in between flights; so, while the flight
attendants enjoyed free food, the Hokey Team cleaned the aircraft and prepared snacks
ext. for the next flight.
At Embry Riddle, our culture committee in ran by upper management. Every
six months of so, the Enrollment Management Team is invited by upper management
to attend an All Hands Meeting. During the All Hands Meeting, upper management gives
out recognition awards to specific individuals for their hard work and
dedication. These awards are: Above and
Beyond the Call of Duty, Keys to Success and Partners in Success. Unlike most
meetings, the All Hands Meetings are fun because the university caters lunch and
gives away free door prizes.
For
me, (as a leader) I would like to embrace what I have learned about corporate
culture implement it into my work life and personal life. At work, I need to
set goals for myself that incorporate the mission and vision of my organization
(ERAU); to ensure that I am capturing the culture of my organization. While at
home, I need to recognize that the only way to create a winning culture is to
be adaptive and innovative. As (Brown, 2011) states, “it is not whether corporate
culture will continue to exist, but what type of corporate culture will be most
effective in enabling a company (relationship) to survive or excel”.
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