The Southwest Airlines Way

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Keep Jobs Flexible at the Boundaries

At Southwest, anyone can do any function, even the supervisors. Some union contracts don’t allow that—they have covered work. Our contracts here don’t have covered work. The job descriptions all say at the end “and whatever you need to do to enhance the overall operation.”

—Ramp Manager, Southwest Airlines

JO B D E S C R I P T I O N S T H A T limit employees from doing each other’s work can be found in many organizations. Traditionally, “managers have assumed that once a worker has been provided with a job description, the roles and tasks described represent the functional borders within which the employee must work. Encroaching on someone else’s job territory has been considered a terrible offense.”1 But rigid, well-defined job responsi- bilities are no longer considered necessary or useful in many organizations, for several reasons. First, traditional job descriptions are considered to be too static in a dynamic economy. Such job descriptions assume that the same tasks and skills that are relevant at one point in time will continue to be relevant in the future.2 Second, traditional job descriptions focus too much on specific tasks rather than on broader, more generic characteristics and behaviors that are needed to achieve organizational success.3 Third, with greater job flexibility, it is possible to utilize people more fully, achiev-

Chap 12 11/20/02 3:03 PM Page 155

Gittell, Jody Hoffer. Southwest Airlines Way, McGraw-Hill Trade, 2000. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/erau/detail.action?docID=4654913. Created from erau on 2022-09-17 04:22:12.

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ing higher labor productivity. However, there is another benefit to making jobs flexible at the boundaries, as we will see in this chapter. Flexible job boundaries help to build stronger relationships between functions, im- proving coordination between them.

In response to these perceived benefits, there has been an effort to broaden job descriptions to allow employees to take the actions they see as necessary to accomplish the organization’s goals. However, broadening job descriptions is difficult to achieve because it threatens people’s sense of security and introduces an element of the unknown into their jobs. These fears can prevent organizations from broadening job descriptions, particularly in unionized settings like the airline industry, where job descriptions are contractually negotiated through collective bargaining.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, job descriptions were a major sub- ject of negotiation as airline management sought to reduce inefficiencies to compete better in a deregulated environment.4 One way that a union can seek to protect the jobs of its members is by negotiating job descrip- tions or “work rules” that prevent employees in other workgroups from performing the work of its members. However, although these rigid job descriptions or work rules seem to boost job security, particularly in the face of potential downsizing, they also create boundaries that undermine working relationships.5 Southwest Airlines has successfully negotiated flexible job descriptions in all of its union contracts. This chapter describes Southwest’s approach toward job flexibility, compared to its competitors, then illustrates the impact of flexible jobs on relational coordination and performance.

Job Flexibility at Southwest Airlines

On the one hand, each person at Southwest has a very clear and specific job description. According to a Southwest station manager:

We train people to do a specific function, and we train them very well. They are exposed to other functions in their training, but we don’t cross-utilize.

On the other hand, a Southwest employee’s job includes helping other colleagues with their work whenever necessary. A Southwest pilot explained:

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This is not like People Express [an airline of the 1980s known for job descriptions that encompassed a wide range of functional responsibilities]. Each person has a specific job, but part of the job is to help the other person. Then it’s easier to work in a more efficient manner.

According to a station manager:

There are no work restrictions in our contracts. Most airlines have very restrictive work rules, will list in the contract very detailed job definitions. . . . We don’t have the “it’s not my job” mentality. We have very thin contracts.

With flexible job descriptions, Southwest employees are able to help each other as needed, often crossing functional boundaries to do so. A ramp manager explained:

Maintenance has helped us load bags, push planes out. All we have to do is just call them. Not all of our rampers are technically inclined. We’ll get help [from maintenance] disassembling a wheelchair [even though] it’s not in their job description.

What’s really strange about the whole thing—these guys are represented by Teamsters. Teamsters seem to me to be a national labor organization that’s the most traditional kind. Still, I’ve never seen one guy in maintenance hide behind a job responsibility issue. We’ve had cars break down and these guys will go help people out with their cars. This station is so much like a family.

A Southwest pilot had similar comments about the absence of restric- tive job descriptions at Southwest, whether formal or informal.

I’m not saying we’re pristine or anything, but I’ve worked for other airlines and it’s nothing like this. We had a lady pilot throwing bags the other day. You’ll never see it somewhere else. Working for TWA, if you picked up a bag, the ramp filed a grievance. You’d have to write a letter saying “I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t believe they would file a grievance,” said a young ramp worker who was sitting nearby.

An additional benefit of flexible job boundaries was that Southwest managers and supervisors were permitted to work side by side with frontline employees. Some made a point of doing so on a regular basis,

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while others pitched in primarily on busy days. The Los Angeles station manager gave an example:

The Thanksgiving rush was very, very hectic. Supervisors were not giving up—managers were throwing bags.

A ramp supervisor claimed this was typical behavior at Southwest:

Management will always pitch in at crunch time. This is true throughout Southwest. That’s what’s unique about this airline. . . . Whatever it takes to get the plane out.

Benefits of Job Flexibility

Southwest had higher levels of job flexibility than most other airlines included in this study.6 This study, which was outlined in detail in Chap. 3, included two American Airlines sites, two Continental Airlines sites, two Southwest Airlines sites, and three United Airlines sites. A statistical analysis of boundary spanner staffing showed that job flexibility is associ- ated with higher levels of relational coordination. Job flexibility also con- tributes to improved flight departure performance, particularly faster turnaround times, greater staffing productivity, and fewer customer complaints.7 To observe the effects of flexible jobs on relational coordi- nation, we can plot job flexibility for each of the nine sites against rela- tional coordination. Exhibit 12–1 suggests a clear impact of job flexibility on relational coordination.

Job Flexibility at Continental Airlines

Because most workgroups were not organized at Continental after the Frank Lorenzo union-busting era, flexible jobs were thought to be one of Continental’s competitive advantages. According to reports from Conti- nental employees, there were no contractual job descriptions that excluded employees in one group from doing the work of another group, aside from those that were mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Even supervisors were not prevented from doing the work of frontline employ- ees. Employees were hard-pressed to think of any exclusionary job de- scriptions at Continental. According to one employee:

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The only work rules that I can think of are that only flight attendants can do safety demos. But this is both the FAA and the contract. It’s OK to help peo- ple get seated though.

The mechanics at Continental, though not unionized, did have job descriptions that were somewhat traditional:

Company Policies and Procedures are the work rules for ops, customer ser- vice, and ramp. [But] maintenance has its own work rules. Completely dif- ferent, more along the line of union rules. Their supervisors have to come through the ranks, for example. But people can help each other out. Even the maintenance guys will ask if they can help.

The relative absence of exclusionary job descriptions was useful for the implementation of the Continental Lite quick-turnaround opera-

Keep Jobs F lex ib le at the Boundar ies 159

* Each circle denotes one of the nine sites included in the study. Job flexibility is assessed on a 1–5 scale. Relational coordination—coordination carried out through relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect—is measured as the percentage of cross-functional ties that are strong or very strong, based on an employee survey. Rela- tional coordination in turn has a positive impact on quality and efficiency performance, as illustrated in Exhibit 3-4.

Relational Coordination

Jo b

Fl ex

ib ili

ty 5

28% 62%

CON2 CON1

UAL3

UAL2

SWA2

UAL1

SWA1

AMR2 AMR1

Exhibit 12–1 Impact of Job Flexibility on Relational Coordination*

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tion, which had been designed to rely on cross-functional teamwork. The manager of customer service explained:

In Lite, it can be really critical to do everything you can. We may run people down from the ticket counter to help clean the plane or do catering. Gate agents will also help to clean. There are certain flights that the flight atten- dants have to clean. But everyone helps—I’ll even go and clean the planes.

Exhibit 12–1 shows Continental’s high levels of job flexibility, com- parable to those of Southwest Airlines, though its levels of relational coordination are substantially lower than Southwest’s, suggesting that Continental’s job flexibility is offset by other, less supportive organiza- tional practices.

Job Flexibility at United Airlines

United Airlines shared in common with American a traditional attitude toward job boundaries that proved difficult to transform. A ramp agent explained:

We try not to get out of our classifications because it can get grieved. . . . It’s a silent type of thing. If they don’t have enough manpower, that’s for man- agement to fix.

As a result of this attitude, it was perceived that “unions have always been an obstacle to productivity at United,” according to a United man- ager. One result has been animosity between union and nonunion work- groups at United. A United ticket agent explained to me that “unions are disgusting.” Another manager explained:

Covered work is a big deal at United. It’s very symbolic. We are trying to transcend those lines. Customer service reps will carry the bag down to the ramp when the bins are full on board. There have been no objections to that. But a union person would say no.

Unions have always been an obstacle to productivity at United. Even within the International Association of Machinists [which represents mech- anics, ramp agents, baggage transfer agents, cabin cleaners, and so forth], only mechanics can put in the chocks under the plane’s wheels when the

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plane comes to a stop at the gate. Everybody would sit and wait for the mechanic to arrive, if necessary.

Employees for the Shuttle belonged to the same unions as their coun- terparts in mainline United Airlines, but the success of the Shuttle was thought to depend on increasing the flexibility of jobs so employees could step over job boundaries to help each other out. A gate agent described the changes that had occurred in the Shuttle operation:

On this side [the Shuttle side], there is an emphasis on teamwork. In main- line you have all the unions—ramp, cabin, maintenance. In the Shuttle, we were able to cross that line—I don’t know how we did it. It’s everybody’s job. On the other side, you try not to offend anyone. You ask for their permission. Can you do this, can I do that? There’s a different mentality in the interac- tion with other groups. . . . Here it’s more informal. Flight attendants help cabin service clean the cabin. I wish it worked over there.

Consistent with these reports, a ramp employee for the Shuttle told me, “Here we can go up [on the jet way] and check for bags if it’s a heavy flight.” Much of the relaxation of rigid work boundaries on the Shuttle had been accomplished through tacit agreement among employees, rather than through formal union negotiations. Nonetheless, these changes had reportedly had a notable effect on cross-functional coordina- tion. One Southwest pilot observed the job flexibility that had developed at the United Shuttle and took this change as evidence that United could become a serious competitor to Southwest over time:

I’ve seen things at the Shuttle that amaze me. Interesting departures. Now you see the pilots helping out. You never saw that at United before. They’re a formidable foe, don’t get me wrong.

Inspired in part by the new employee ownership and in part by the Shuttle experience, United as a whole began working to increase job flexibility. According to the Los Angeles station manager, some progress was achieved. By late 1994 it was possible, for example, for a customer service representative to go into the bag room to help identify bags. The station manager explained:

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As long as it’s presented in a positive way, and not as trying to do your job, it’s not been a problem. There has been no grieving it so far. We say some- one’s just trying to assist you—it’s for a better product. Maintenance some- times puts the jet way in place, to help customer service reps. We are trying to get more of it. There have been no grievances over this since I’ve been here [late 1993].

Similar reports were heard in United Airline’s Boston station. Though the changes were still marginal, they carried great symbolic importance.

As a result of the Shuttle’s greater job flexibility (and other practices highlighted in this book), the United Shuttle achieved significantly higher levels of relational coordination compared to United’s non-Shut- tle sites (55 percent versus 42 percent of cross-functional ties were rated by employees as strong or very strong). Exhibit 12–1 shows how these higher levels of relational coordination are related to job flexibility. The United Shuttle, denoted by UAL3 in Exhibit 12–1, has higher levels of relational coordination than its non-Shuttle counterparts (UAL1 and UAL2), corresponding to its higher levels of job flexibility. In addition, as we saw in Chap. 7, the Shuttle outperformed its non-Shuttle counter- parts at United on both quality and efficiency dimensions.

Job Flexibility at American Airlines

American’s management had worked hard over the years to achieve flex- ible job boundaries. In the 1983 contract with the Transport Workers Union, contractual changes allowed all jobs on the ramp, except mechanics, to be merged into one classification—ramp service worker. However, restrictive job boundaries between ramp employees and mechanics, and between ramp employees and customer service employ- ees, still remained and appeared to undermine working relationships among frontline employees.

Customer service agents in the Boston station reported that, “If you want to help the cabin crews clean up because you’re running late, you can’t because that’s their work.” Also, when a passenger brings excess baggage to the gate, “union-wise, the ramp won’t come up and get it. We send it back to the passenger, and they take it back to the ticket counter,” even at the risk that the customer might miss his or her flight. Formal job descriptions also restricted the extent to which flight attendants could

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assist airport employees to achieve faster turnarounds. According to an American station manager:

At Southwest, flight attendants collect trash on the plane. They go through the aisles and collect trash periodically throughout the flight. Our attendants do not. Our ground people have to do it. By the time the plane gets to the ground, it is full of trash. It creates extra work, unnecessarily. And it slows down our turnaround time.

Exhibit 12–1 shows American’s low levels of job flexibility relative to Southwest Airlines, and its correspondingly low levels of relational coor- dination.

Why Flexible Boundaries Are So Uncommon

Given the performance benefits of flexible boundaries, why is encroach- ing on someone else’s job territory so often considered “a terrible offense”?8 Although rigid job descriptions are often blamed on unions, they were originally developed as part of a management system designed to improve workplace functioning.9 They were seen as a way to rational- ize the division of labor and prevent work overload.10 Managers sought to establish formal job descriptions because they were considered to be the most effective way to manage a workforce in settings where there was little change and where environmental parameters were stable and pre- dictable. Employees came to value job descriptions as a means of pre- venting work overload and as a means of protecting themselves against managers who might otherwise treat them arbitrarily. In addition, clear work boundaries may serve the interests of employees by permitting them to deepen their areas of expertise and therefore to take greater pride and ownership in their work.11

While specialization is clearly beneficial for all of these reasons, there is increasing evidence that flexibility at the boundaries of jobs is also beneficial, and that it can be achieved without losing the benefits of specialization. In particular, flexible job boundaries are conducive to co- ordination because they create more opportunities for communication across functional boundaries,12 therefore enabling employees to develop stronger relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect. Traditional job descriptions impede coordination by creating

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overspecialized knowledge and detracting from communication among parties who are engaged in interdependent tasks. Especially in settings that require a more spontaneous form of coordination, it is important that jobs be defined flexibly enough that people can come to understand the jobs of those with whom they must coordinate. Flexible job bound- aries enable people to experience directly the work of those with whom their work most closely relates.

Summing Up

We have seen in this chapter the importance of flexible jobs for building strong relationships and high performance. Flexible jobs tend to get a lot of attention in the airline industry, relative to other organizational prac- tices that are also important for achieving coordination. This attention is warranted not because flexible jobs are more important than the other practices, but rather because flexible jobs are one of the hardest to achieve, given the two-way negotiations and the high levels of trust required to achieve them. As Southwest’s leaders pointed out on several occasions, flexible jobs are not simply achieved once and for all. Flexible jobs are an outcome of negotiations that occur repeatedly over time. Every time a contract is negotiated, the flexibility of Southwest’s jobs is at stake. In Chap. 13, we will explore the labor/management partner- ships that have made flexible jobs possible at Southwest Airlines.

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