• The Human Resource Department is referred to as the People’s Department, making it a large asset base, hence maximizing the airline’s solvency.
• Employees are involved in decision-making procedures, which shows they value employee’s welfare and input in the proper functioning of the airline (Stewart, 2019)
• The airline considers its employees to have future economic value as they are brand ambassadors, drivers, and determiners of the airline’s sustainable competitive advantage
• Employees are partners with the airline where they can buy corporate stocks and be part of the airline’s ownership
• The company allows nine separate employees unions to oversee appropriate employee relations which they have never faced any severe allegations or lawsuits
• Employees are highly motivated through the profit-sharing policy, as they are shareholders as rewards and bonuses.

These reasons show that Southwest Airlines understands the value of their workforce to have an economic benefit. Exceptional motivations show that the company tries to keep employees happy, as valuable asset resources of the airline. When employees are viewed as assets, they are treated respectfully, as owners are appreciated, and acknowledged, which is the case in Southwest Airlines. Being assets, the airline tries to keep them engaged to increase productivity and maximize performance (SWA, 2020).

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Employees with job titles of flight attendants make an annual average compensation of $41,992.

When comparing with the airline’s industry average salaries, those employees with job titles namely flight engineers, pilots, and copilots are paid an average of $103,776, while for flight attendants lies at $41,189 (Payscale, 2020).

This analysis and evaluation, thus makes the airline’s compensation strategy competitive. The airline’s compensation strategy is strengthened by the corporate involvement of employees to acquire stocks and own part of the airline, among other perks and benefits.

A competitive salary in Southwest Airline shows that the pay equals or is slightly more than the average offer granted for similar jobs in the industry.

The compensations include direct and indirect payments and non-monetary benefits. This compensation value is determined by the airline’s compensation and rewards system that supports its corporate mission and customer service strategy (Stewart, 2019).

The airline prides in acquiring the most talented employees hence, motivating them with competitive compensations accompanied by impressive benefits, shows an alignment with corporate culture and a good investment.

Besides, when employees are viewed as assets, motivating them with competitive compensations is the appropriate action to take

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These training and development programs are planned for various reasons. For instance, once new employees are hired and selected, they have to undergo training and development to enhance skilled labor forces as well as onboarding socialization procedures.

When the airline feels employees require advanced skills and knowledge, they plan for training sessions.

The airline, through its university the Southwest Airlines University, offers its employees leadership courses through the ELDP program. Mostly, employees can undertake these courses as on-job-training, which is more planned than occurring spontaneously.

The airline is ranked first in customer services, showing that it plans and develops many training and development programs to facilitate extensive training in exemplary customer service providence (SWA, 2020).

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The airline is very selective, hence, ensures that job descriptions are specific to align the expectations and needs of the job position with organizational goals, mission, and culture.

Certain positions in the airline require SPECIFIC skillsets requiring the airline to develop specific job descriptions.

Through this philosophy, ‘hiring the right people at the right time with the right attitudes” the airline recruits people that match their corporate culture and that fit appropriately into the company despite high educational papers or many years of experiences (SWA, 2020).

To match this uniqueness, the airline uses specific job descriptions to develop job titles.

Surprisingly, if a potential candidate portrays the required skillsets, namely appropriately matching the company’s requirements and fitting into the culture but lacks operational skills, he or she is trained on the skills.

Even though the duties and responsibilities of pilots, copilots, and flight attendants, among others, are similar, the general aspect is not much considered during selection and recruitment. The specificity created and demanded is what shapes, influences, and directs the selection and recruitment process.

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Candidates selected must represent the airline’s brand and portray a passion for maximizing customer experience and service.

The airline ensures it has the right team onboard by recruiting both internally and externally, hence making its recruitment policy a source of its competitive advantage.

The mixed recruitment policy is guided and shaped by the airline’s recruitment philosophy, which is ‘hiring the right people at the right time with the right attitudes” this result in a mixed strategy. Whereby whether the candidate is selected internally or externally must be the right match for the airline’s corporate culture.

The hiring process involves evaluating behavioral elements through behavioral interviews. One open position can result in interviewing about 100 candidates both internally and externally if an internal employee does not possess the right attitude despite having five years of experience they dismiss that candidate and result in external recruitment (Verasai, 2018).

Currently, the airline is promoting internal mobility, whereby it applies external recruiting processes and practices to facilitate internal hiring. Concisely, the airline employs over 6,000 employees, externally annually and increases internal selection, which lies mostly in a mixed recruiting strategy.

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Socialization of new employees is conducted through formal and informal training programs where they are notified and explained to the airline’s policies, culture, hierarchy, and effective operations. Orientations are facilitated and conducted effectively.

According to employee comments, reviews, and sentiments concerning the airline’s employee onboarding program,  100% of new employees recorded a positive onboard experience, 57% declared extreme preparedness, and 75% of the employees recorded having their direct managers being helpful during their onboarding period (SWA, 2020).

These statistics show that over 80% of the new employees had positive onboard socialization into the airline, 17% were neutral, and the remaining 3% did not appreciate it.

Southwest’s employee-centered culture provides for an extensive onboarding process that nurture the new employee’s talents, skills, and knowledge. The onboarding and orientation program focuses on creating a warm, welcoming, respectful, and fun working environment, hence increased employee performance and productivity.

Concisely, employee socialization and onboarding in Southwest Airlines is extensive in nature.

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Labor relations are highly respected with active participation in union negotiations. The company provides for an employee and a collective bargaining table that provides guiding information on employee group representation. The airline just like other airlines in the USA use the CBAs, (Collectively Bargained Agreements) under the RLA (Railway Labor Act) that is amendable and renewable.

In collective bargaining, the focus of the unions and the airline is to attain a rewarding employee contract that maximizes their competitiveness and lengthens their job security for sustainability.

This shows that employee contracts are mostly initiated and negotiated through collective bargaining unions and strategies, which is achieved through the nine separate employee unions (SWA, 2020).

The employee unions engage in direct negotiations, as seen currently through the Airline’s Pilot labor union that seeks for a newly developed collective bargaining agreement. The association of pilots is referred to as the (SWAPA) with over 9,900 pilots.

This, among other employee relations and negotiations, is thus achieved through collective bargaining.

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