At Southwest Airlines, they have an internal mantra that everyone lives by: “Wheels Up”. This means that if the plane’s wheels are up, the company is making money. As a result, Southwest is the only airline in which the crew cleans up the plane while passengers are exiting so they can get back into the air ASAP.
So what’s your company’s “Wheels Up” statement? Here are some tips to help you develop one:
Define the End Goal.
In other words, what do you need to happen in order to be successful as a company? Do you need to get more orders out the door? Stay on the cutting edge of technology? Earn a certain percentage of new business each month? Just like “wheels up” clearly says to employees that the wheels need to be in the air for the company to be making money and stay in business, your statement needs to make it clear what will make your company successful.
Identify Actions That Will Make it Happen.
Southwest employees are responsible for specific actions to fulfill the “wheels up” mantra, such as cleaning up the plane before the wheels hit the ground. The airline also offers check-in kiosks to shorten the time it takes for customers to check-in. This kind of offering not only saves Southwest time and money, but it also provides added convenience for customers. So what specific and actionable items do you and your team need to undertake to contribute to company-wide success?
Promote It.
A “wheels up” statement does no good if every employee doesn’t live by it and act as a cohesive team in terms of making it happen. That’s why you need to promote it wherever you can, from company meetings to internal communications.
Your employees can’t help the company succeed if they don’t know what makes it successful. But once they have this knowledge, they’ll be able to judge whether their actions are aligned with your company’s own “wheels up” statement.
And if your team needs some tweaking to get the right mix of skill sets and personalities to achieve your new company mantra, give Peoplelink a call. As a leading recruiting agency, we can connect you with smart, qualified, and dependable people who are ready to get to work. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
