The “People” Focus: Human Resources at Alaska Airlines
With thousands of employees spread across nearly 100 locationsin the United States, Mexico, and Canada, building a commit-ted andcohesive workforce is a challenge. Yet Alaska Airlines is making itwork. The company’s “people” focus states: While airplanes andtechnology enable us to do what we do, we recognize this isfundamentally a people business, and our future depends on how wework together to win in this extremely com-petitive environment. Aswe grow, we want to strengthen our small company feel . . .We willsucceed where others fail because of our pride and passion, andbecause of the way we treat our customers, our suppliers andpartners, and each other.
Managerial excellence requires a committed workforce. AlaskaAirlines’ pledge of respect for people is one of the keyele-mentsof a world-class operation. Effective organizationsrequire talented, committed, and trained personnel. Alaska Airlinesconducts comprehensive train-ing at all levels. Its “Flight Path”leadership training for all 10,000 employees is now being followedby “Gear Up” training for 800 front-line managers. In addition,training programs have been developed for Lean and Six Sigma aswell as for the unique require-ments for pilots, flight attendants,baggage, and ramp personnel. Because the company only hires pilotsinto first officer positions the right seat in the cockpit, itoffers a program called the “Fourth Stripe” to train for promotioninto the captain’s seat on the left side, along with all theadditional responsibility that entails. Customer service agentsreceive specific training on the com-pany’s“Empowerment Toolkit.”Like the Ritz-Carlton’s famous customer service philosophy, agentshave the option of awarding customers hotel and meal vouchers orfrequent flier miles when the customer has experienced a serviceproblem. Because many managers are cross-trained in operationalduties outside the scope of their daily positions, they have theability to pitch in to ensure that customer-oriented processes gosmoothly. Even John Ladner, Director of Seattle Airport Operations,who is a fully licensed pilot, has left his desk to cover a flightat the last minute for a sick colleague.
Along with providing development and training at all levels,managers recognize that inherent personal traits can make a hugedifference. For example, when flight attendants are hired, the oneswho are still engaged, smiling, and fresh at the end of a very longinterview day are the ones Alaska wants on the team. Why? The jobrequires these behaviors and attitudes to fit with the AlaskaAirlines team—and smiling and friendly flight attendants areparticularly important at the end of a long flight
Visual workplace tools also complement and close the loop thatmatches training to performance. Alaska Airlines makes full use ofcolor-coded graphs and charts to report performance against keymetrics to employees. Twenty top managers gather weekly in anoper-ations leadership meeting, run by Executive VP of Operations,Ben Minicucci, to review activity consolidated into visualsummaries. Key metrics are color-coded and posted prominently inevery work area. Alaska’s training approach results in empoweredemployees who are willing to assume added responsibility and acceptthe unknowns that come with that added responsibility.
What make up the company job design?
