A630.3.3.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

Southwest Airlines is an affordable airline focused on providing their customers with an experience they will never forget. They strive to provide their customers with great customer service with employees that are positive and outgoing. I personally have flown on Southwest and although the seats are not assigned I still had a great experience. Our flight attendants were friendly and personable. Normally on every plane ride I have gone on I was bored to tears with the in-flight safety presentation; however on Southwest our flight crew turned it into a comedy performance. The entire plane was laughing and actually listening to what the crew had to say. While in flight the crew offered beverages and snacks in a fun way and when I requested a drink the flight attendant didn’t have she went and found it for me without making me feel like I was a problem. I have never had a more pleasurable experience with any other airlines and that is why my family now only chooses Southwest Airlines.

The reason for Southwest Airlines success lies in their company’s culture. It is apparent upper management empowers employees at all levels and strives to improve them. After watching the video “A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee by Southwest Airlines” I was able to see exactly what the committee does. In the video we were given a small peak into a brilliant way to surprise employees and treat them to a little rest and relaxation by providing them an unexpected break called a “Hokey Day visit” (Southwest, (2008). The culture committee waited as each plane landed and then rushed to the gate so that when the flight crew opened the door they were shocked to see a group of smiling, positive and eager to help fellow coworkers to show them a small token of appreciation for all of their hard work.  This committee is extremely successful in establishing and reinforcing the culture norm at Southwest Airlines because they are their showing their gratitude for what they everyday allowing them to know their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. Some employees are hired to fly, some are there to help passengers and maintain the plane and some are there to reinforce positive appreciation for one another. 

Southwest has “35,000 + employees and considered the heart and soul of the company. Doing the right thing for these employees includes providing them with a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Above all, Employees will be provided with the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer” (Kelly, G. (2008). It is clearly evident when you ride with Southwest that their employees are happy to be there, and their happiness transcends through the culture rubbing off on their customers creating a positive environment. Southwest managers have developed a strategy that not only empowers their employees to want to be good employees, but also provides them with incentives to do it. I believe that the culture of Southwest is successful because it is able to “achieve goals as well as satisfy the needs of members of the organization” (Brown, (2011) p 65).  Employees that are happy usually are happy because they fit in with their company. It is very similar to the saying “happy workers are productive workers” (anonymous). The culture committee keeps their fellow employees happy by giving them a small incentive of a simple break from their day-to-day tasks. Who wouldn’t feel happy to be pampered unexpectedly?

In my opinion the purpose of the culture committee is to reinforce hardworking employees by scheduling reinforcements when they are least expected. Similarly to training an animal, when they begin to perform a trick the trainer would reinforce with some kind of wanted behavior such as petting them or giving them food. I believe humans are trained similarly with other kinds of incentives such as pampering. The culture committee is there to give them a treat, and by doing so the employees are left wanting more treats, and then word of mouth spreads. This idea leaves all employees continually performing exceptional service waiting for their turn. I know that many will not receive the treatment but the logic is embedded within the culture; doing a good job will establish more rewards. Employees are rewarded with trainings, education opportunities, and an abundance more of incentives that leads to employees performing accordingly. Southwest Airlines is a popular company recognized for their ability to create a culture different then any other airline. Southwest is about the experience and they “leverage fun as a competitive advantage since it feels a fun atmosphere builds a strong sense of community while balancing the stress of hard work and competition. Humor enhances the job performance of employees, management, customer service and profits” McKenna, T. (2003). All employees, customers and management feel connected through this community and fun atmosphere because it gives them a more enjoyable family like experience.

The mission of a culture committee in my organization would be difficult because in financial aid directly we are a very specialized group because we are the only ones in the entire organization that can do our processes. I feel the only way to boost moral would be to encourage teamwork. One way could be a surprise visit by the committee offering 30-minute chair massages since we sit in front of a computer for hours on end with a large amount of pressure to get the job done. Another way could be a surprise half day where we would leave our office and go outside to build on teamwork. Doing certain challenges that would allow us to engage in a more fun-like atmosphere since we are always forced to operate quietly while facing fast approaching deadlines would help a lot. Something that could get us moving releasing endorphins would be a great way to reinforce the company’s value for what we do would definitely give us a feeling of appreciation. 

After learning about the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines culture committee I am going to start suggesting more opportunities for my organization to develop something similar. I do not foresee ERAU offering us 30-minute chair massages although everyone would love them and it would show everyone that they value the work we do. This week I am going to ask my director about an opportunity for the Financial Aid Department to get together and have a mini retreat. We have not had an opportunity to get out of the office and get together since the hiring of our newest financial aid counselor or since our director took her position. I feel we are suffering from an adjustment issue as many conflicts continue to arise. In my future I am not going to forget the importance of showing your employees appreciation like Southwest has when I am in a leadership position. The comradery and values felt from employees goes beyond the day-to-day tasks. These feelings empower and evoke an emotional connection that builds relationships and loyalty.

References

McKenna, T. (2003). Culture as a competitive weapon. NPN, National Petroleum News, 95(6), 13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/223281724?accountid=27203

Southwest Airlines. (2008). Southwest Cares Report: Doing the Right Thing (2^nd ed.). Kelly, G. Retrieved from http://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/southwestcares.pdf

Southwest Airlines "A Day in the Life of Culture Committee" [Video file]. (2008, May 31). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded

A630.2.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

The talk is titled 21^st Century Enlightenment because it is just that, a movement of the 21^st century that is needed much like prior enlightenments. In Matthew Taylor’s presentation he indicates that in the 21^st century we are facing new challenges due to our fast technological reformation and advancements. These advancements are not slowing down anytime and we need to reshape the way in which we process new information and decide the outcomes. Globally we are more capable of being able to understand one another better then ever before; however with this opportunity we have failed to make better decisions. He explains “The 21^st-century enlightenment should involve a more self-aware socially embedded model of autonomy… by understanding that our conscious thought is only a part of what drives our behavior that we can become better able to exercise self-control” (Taylor, (2010). What this means to me is that we need to reshape and change our habits to become more self-aware of our modern values, and reshape them to apply to long-term decision-making.

With the growing concern for major global issues like climate control, education, and health care we are making slow strides at resolving these issues. Instead of trying to focus on a solution we find ways to smooth over the surface by pretending to address them with politician’s claims of what will come if they are elected, but then there’s no follow through once in office. It is time to start thinking holistically instead of individually. We must stop thinking about changing the world for the better and actually start changing the world. We must surround ourselves with compassion and love for others and leave future generations with the same ideals and values. In 17^th and 18^th century enlightenments, societies were challenging ideas of irrationalities and tradition in order to become more self-aware of what is true and what isn’t (Taylor, (2010). As we become more advanced we are also becoming more detached from one another and we are used to instant gratification. It is time to again challenge our traditional outdated beliefs to become a more empathetic civilization.

In the presentation he states, "to live differently, you have to think differently" (Taylor, (2010). I believe Taylor means that we need to start seeing ourselves differently in order to better understand ourselves. Generally we fail to recognize ourselves or understand why we do what we do because we react to these issues. We make “autonomous decisions without making any conscious thoughts” (Taylor, (2010). We need to become more proactive instead of reactive. Taylor is asking us to begin seeing ourselves from a new perspective one of which we connect our conscious thought with our autonomy. Recognizing our values and how they have become valuable is the start in developing better habits. In the previous enlightenments Taylor talks about how theorist used science to define the laws of nature that contradicted religious and intuitions at the time. They critically examined values and beliefs to make breakthroughs that have led us to where we are today.

We need to go back to the days of challenging what is prescribed as true to examine it from a modern perspective. To begin we have to examine our values and what they mean to us. He then goes on to explain to become happier you must surround yourself with happier friends because this behavior will transcend through you and everyone surrounding creating a culture of happy people. We reshape our behaviors and norms by making the decision to change, and it is apparent we are slowing down on bettering civilization when we are speeding up technological advancements. We cannot forget about humanity and the need to be a culture of compassion and ethical values. We need to stop responding automatically and put some thought into our decisions so that we can make good conscious decisions that are “self-aware and socially embedded” (Taylor, (2010).

In the video Taylor argues that we need "to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange" (Taylor, (2010). What this means is to begin questioning our values and normal behaviors to determine how they became values. Did one person determine them, or was it a collective diverse thought? Those who walked before us and participated in the previous enlightenments did just that. They question religious beliefs, superstitions and intuitions that were not based on factual evidence. In the process they realized what was thought was not actually true. Taylor uses an example that we once thought the sun went around the earth; however through science we have now discovered this was false. These are the instances that have better developed our civilization. With our opportunities we have with technology we are inventing and making vast discoveries at a record pace, but somehow we have failed to become empathetic to other civilizations that we are not in direct contact with. We are able to see the world as it truly is, and it appears that we have become detached or desensitized to the issues because of the way we think. What Taylor is asking is for us to start questioning what is normal and determined for us and make well thought out decisions.

Becoming more socially aware and empathetic takes more then just knowing what is going on, we need to start making attempts to change it. When applying this to my personal life I believe an example would be to be a good mom. It is assumed by many that you have to stay home with your child because being a working mom you are putting your wants before your child’s needs. The reason I feel this is a similar instance is because I challenge these opinions by advising that in order to better my child’s life I must work and continue to educate myself so that I can help her develop into a successful adult. I have many critics in my life that give me grief about being in school while working a full time job. They question my decisions and imply that I am selfish; however I have to disagree. I know that although the path I have chosen is much different then those around me it is the right path in order to obtain my goals. I am very driven to be successful both at home and as a mom. I must go down the road less traveled regardless of my responsibilities as a woman. I have determined what drives my behavior is the want to learn and do all I can with my time here on Earth; therefore I am exercising self-control by managing my time adequately so that I can fulfill my needs. I don’t want to just go to school, to go to school. I want to become as knowledgeable as I can so that I can prepare my daughter and educate her. I am going to apply Taylor’s principles to my daily life so I can become more self-aware as I am doing this.

Taylor argues that our society eschews elements of pop culture and we degrade people. He also advises we should spend more time looking into what develops empathetic citizens, which I believe is possible. Pop culture gives the impression it’s a culture obsessed with material things and a misunderstanding of what is right and what is wrong. Many people find themselves consumed with celebrities instead of real world issues. There is more concern with what a person is wearing and whom they are dating then a civil war that is happening in Africa, or woman being threatened just for wanting to go to school. These are luxuries many of us take for advantage simply because they have always been given to us. We are very blessed and many people fail to appreciate what they have, and become infatuated with what they think they should have. There are so many reality shows depicting housewives, as they appear to be not what they actually are. There is a misrepresentation of real world issues and because of that we tend to become an ignorant culture with values lacking morals. Ethical values need to be incorporated in our daily decision-making, this is where becoming socially self-aware applies. We need to put more focus on getting these women in school and helping to end civil wars. If we can become more empathetic we will be more engaged and connected to make this world a better place. This is a very complex chaotic environment, but within the chaos comes order and from order comes new values.

At the end of the video, Taylor talks about atomizing people from collaborative environments and the destructive effect on their growth. The implication of these comments for organizational change efforts is that we “should never doubt that a small amount of people could be the change” (Taylor, (2010). Meaning in order to begin becoming a more empathetic culture we need to become individually empathetic and as this behavior is recognized and learned we will start training others to act this way. We need to start making these changes sooner then later because we are already 13 years into this millennium and it is evident we are a socially unattached population. The more we fail to recognize the need to step up and play a role to better our world the more damage is done. There should be more emphasis on following ethical guidelines versus simply rules put in place. If something is wrong then something should be done about it.

What I am going to take away from this exercise to immediately use in my career is when making decisions I am going become more socially aware of the how the outcome will affect others involved. I am a part of a small team so when disagreements occur there is usually a lot of unnecessary consequences that follow. For example two members got into a dispute and because of the way they handled the situation we all paid the consequences, which trickled down into a decrease in productivity and workload increased. We are a self-managed team so these unnecessary issues demand our manager to spend more time micro managing us. I believe that if we can better handle the issue once it arises we can become more concerned with our fellow teammates. I care more about keeping them from experiencing the backlash of a dispute if it could be resolved more civilly.

References

Taylor, M. (2010). The 21^st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be

Taylor, M. (2010, Jun 21). The 21st-century enlightenment. New Statesman, 139, 20-23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/734024297?accountid=27203

A630.1.4.RB_McNerneyLeighAnn

In 2011 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University implemented a new software system called Campus Solutions. The new software system is a more technologically advanced system than the software program we were using called Datatel. When employees were informed we were going to be implementing the software system you could feel the tension and panic, and some employees even quit before anything even started changing. At that moment I believe everyone understood the long road ahead was going to be filled with stress and uncertainty. Immediately following being made aware of the new implementation my director at the time called a staff meeting. In his meeting he provided us with reassurance and a plan of action of how we were going to implement this system successfully. He explained the scheduling of different training sessions and asked us for our thoughts and concerns. He also reminded us of our ability as a team to always do the impossible.

In Financial Aid we were a department of eight employees, but our student population is roughly 8,000 financial aid recipients. This number is always an estimate determined by the amount of FAFSA applications pulled in as well as the amount we are awarding each academic year. Since there were regions back then we had an international counselor, eastern region counselor (me), central region counselor, western region counselor, scholarship and state grants manager, verification and loan manager, assistant director who was mainly responsible for the financial aid implementation and a director we had our hands full.

At ERAU the Financial Aid Department overall is responsible for helping to increase the number of enrollments by providing our students options in order to fund their education. We also provide our students an intimate experience as they are having their personal information analyzed so that we are able to create a personal financial aid plan individualized to their specific needs.  As a financial aid employee I take this responsibility very series as I once received financial aid as an undergraduate. I know first hand what it feels like to be on the other side of the equation and I feel this personal experience allows me to treat each student the way I wanted to be treated when I was in their shoes.

Going into training in the spring of 2011 we were expected to still give each of our student s exceptional service while at the same time prepare ourselves through extensive training for the upcoming implementation. The stress of having to continue processing all of our student population while knowing we were going to be going live by the end of 2011 was overwhelming to say the least. As a financial aid counselor we are responsible for packaging awards for the academic year, which is broken into a total of ten eligible financial aid terms. Since we are a non-traditional college everything we do is either custom built to fit our university’s needs or manually processed. Traditional colleges use semester based aid while at ERAU Worldwide we operate in terms. Our terms are nine weeks long and students are able to enroll in every month of the year. However in financial aid we can only award students ten out of the twelve moths in order to abide by federal regulations. We are expected by the Department of Education to follow these regulations and are required to also attend their continuous trainings to maintain their expectations. Another responsibility as a financial aid counselor is to complete verifications, which is a process in which we verify certain documentation obtained by the student’s such as federal tax transcripts, worksheets etc. This process can take up to four weeks from beginning to end and entails a lot of research. While maintaining the above responsibilities we are also required to advise our students on their different financial aid options, analyze why some of their funds do not disburse correctly, counsel students on awareness of their responsibilities as a student as well as any other issues that may arise.

Trying to find time to maintain our workload while also learning the new system was very frustrating; especially because the university as a whole relies on our dedication to continue increase enrollment while operating with great customer service. This is where our peripheral norms helped us implement Campus Solutions successfully.  In our department we consider ourselves, as a team as there is no yours or mine because it’s really all of ours. We look at each we challenge we individually face as a challenge we face together. When one of is stuck we stop and work through the issues in order to get the functionality moving again efficiently. We operate this way because of the way we are all encouraged to act. Our director played a pivotal role in having us all adapt this mentality and he currently was promoted to executive director because of this ability in my personal opinion. If at anytime we began to fall a part he quickly recognized it and found a way to bring us back together. During the entire process this was the reason we accomplished the unthinkable. 

            Currently we feel very satisfied overall as a department thanks to the new software system, Campus Solutions. With this software we are now able efficiently to systematically package students faster then ever where previously we were manually packaging each one of our students. We are capable of pulling live data, running queries that enable better quality control, functionality alone has quickened as the student’s and the counselors are operating from the same screens. Previously in the software known as Datatel, our students were not able to see the same screens we were trying to explain which cause confusion. Now we are looking at the same information, which has increased overall satisfaction from our student population. As we were learning we were also at the same time ‘going live’ in the new system. As we went live we were still stuck trying to understand the system, but it was very helpful to be required to teach what we were learning because it reinforced the understanding of the processes. We each learn in very different ways; however through resourcefulness each of us have been able to get our student population as well as the campuses and academic adviser the training they needed in order to remain aligned with all our responsibilities we each play into the big picture.

In An Experiential Approach to Organization Development I have realized that my organization’s recent implementation was a step for our university to remain successful. In the text Brown explains “organizations need to adapt to changing market conditions while at the same time cope with the need for a renewing rather than a reactive workforce” (Brown, 2011 pg.3). ERUA did just that our university’s leadership teams recognized the way in which the world was growing and that is faster, more efficiently and more technologically advanced. In recognizing the Datatel was actually insufficient for every department they were able to adopt a new program and prepare us for the changes to come. Everything expected of this system has pretty much been fulfilled. There are still bumps and bruises experienced but the overall picture shows an increased in efficiency in the way of doing things. Brown explains organizational pivotal and peripheral norms as “essential to accomplishing the organization’s objectives where the peripheral norms differ in that they are norms that “support and contribute to the pivotal norms, but they are not essential to the organization’s objectives” (Brown, 2011 pg.11). Prior to learning the difference between the two I was not truly aware of the power and vision in which ERAU possesses in leading the future. Our organization has not only the power to go above and beyond what anyone of its students, faculty, staff or anyone else affiliating what the institution but they also as a while poses the power of doing it. We as a whole are given continuous feedback and encourage to be innovative and bring our ideas to the forefront and in doing so we are continuously changing and adapting with a diverse perspective that is better able to serve everyone here at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.