Yesterday the spokesman for the new American Airlines
started his remarks saying this new airline was going to be good for investors
— good for shareholders. It will also be good for our customers and our
employees.
Talk about starting off on the wrong foot. They never learn. The suits never learn. Perhaps
it is business school indoctrination. I don’t know, but that is not how it is
done. In fact he’s got it just about backwards.
You want to run a successful business; you take care of your
employees. Then you make sure they take care of your customers. When you do
those two things your stakeholders will be taken care of with rich returns.
That is the order of the universe.
Ever wonder why Southwest Airlines has been so
successful? Aside from a great fuel deal
they struck a decade ago, which has now played out, they put the employee
first. They take care of every man and
woman who works for them. They make sure they have a great company for which to
work, one who cares about them and takes care of them and treats them like
humans. Then Southwest says, “Now you go
take care of our passengers.” And they
do. And the shareholders and the crooks on Wall Street make big returns on SWA.
It is how it is done.
Look at the truly successful companies and you’ll see that
the CEO makes it his duty to see to it that the employees are well treated and
are empowered and expected to take just as good a care of the customer. (Read
about Costco and GE just to name a few.) The money guys will get theirs in due
time. And it will be in big returns.
Get it backwards, American, and you’ll be right back here
where you are now, in just a few years.
The employee comes first.
Then the passenger. Treat them
both with respect and treat them well and you will be financially successful.
Then your stakeholders will be taken care of.
Do not get it backwards. Too much is riding on this for you
to screw it up again.
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