Cruising Altitude

This episode of Cruising Altitude features a conversation with Elizabeth Bryant, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Southwest Airlines, hosted by Nicole Alvino, CEO and co-founder of FirstUp. Elizabeth and Nicole discuss the importance of employee engagement and its impact on organizational success. The conversation explores Southwest's employee-centered approach, leadership development strategies, and the link between employee treatment and customer experience. Bryant shares insights on creating a culture of learning, valuing employee contributions, and fostering an environment that supports growth and innovation across Southwest's 75,000-strong workforce. Listeners gain valuable lessons on personalized employee journeys and the significance of leadership in enhancing employee satisfaction and company profitability.

Quotes

*”If you treat your employee well, they in turn will treat your customers well. And by doing that, they'll come back and that will make your shareholders happy. By that, what I mean is genuinely care about your employees, put them at the center of our decision making model, involve them in problems and opportunities and challenges, trust them that they know what to do, and then they can make the right decisions. When you empower people to do that, they will do well. They make good decisions.”

*”How are we ensuring that the employees of Southwest Airlines are feeling seen and valued for the skills that they bring? So much of that actually is about leadership development. It's about equipping our leaders with the tools and the skill set to bring out the best in our employees.“

*”Leadership is something that, there may be some innate qualities, but I fully believe that leadership can be taught. And there's an investment that needs to be made on behalf of the organization in order to do that well.”

*”I think there's a difference between a healthy and a smart organization. In a smart organization, you hire in the right people that have the background and the skillset. But the healthy is all about the EQ and that ability to connect with what's important in employees’ lives.”

*”An environment that allows failure to happen and to have a growth mindset, it doesn't always mean you're moving forward. And sometimes we will make mistakes as we're growing. So to have an environment that recognizes that mistakes are part of it, they're part of the growth, and as a leader, to be equipped with the tools and the skills to help employees as they are working through that, and it's a supportive environment versus a punitive one, I think is important as well.”

Time Stamps

[0:41] Introducing Elizabeth Bryant, SVP & Chief People Officer at Southwest Airlines

[1:30] Southwest Airlines: A People-First Culture

[3:28] Learn more about Elizabeth Bryant's Background

[5:36] Southwest Airlines' History and Culture

[8:15] How to Support Employee Development and Career Growth

[11:38] Leadership Development at Southwest Airlines

[18:37] Using Data to Enhance Employee Experience

[22:25] Translating Employee Experience to Customer Experience

[24:38] Adapting to Workforce Changes

[28:43] Personal Stories and Reflections from a Career at Southwest Airlines

Links

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn

Learn more about Southwest Airlines

Thanks to our friends

This episode is brought to you by Firstup, the world’s first intelligent communication platform. More than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies use our platform to connect with their people, design and deliver personalized communications, and gain engagement insights throughout the employee journey. That’s how they give their employees better experiences from hire to retire. Learn more at firstup.io