Southwest Airlines HR Strategy
Executive Summary
Southwest Airlines’ current HR strategy does not consider workers’ needs because it is aligned with the company’s inorganic growth strategy that focuses on increasing shareholder value, the company’s expertise level, and service and product portfolio. The report’s first section reviews the type of strategy Southwest Airlines is following. The second part identifies the HRM implications for Southwest Airlines based on the company’s current strategy. The third part reviews the business strategies for each of the 3 HRM implications. The final section discusses the proposed HR strategy that Southwest Airlines should use to improve human resource management.
Analysis of current strategies and issues
The type of strategy followed by Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is following an inorganic growth strategy. Hammer et al. (2017) state that inorganic growth arises from takeovers and mergers rather than increasing a company’s business activity. Southwest Airlines has been focusing on enhancing its broadness in service and product portfolio, expertise level, and increased shareholder value. There is limited attention to human resources development, and the company intends to freeze wages and tighten rules on sick time. These actions aim to improve the company’s profitability at the expense of employees, thus posing a threat of poor performance and high turnover.
HRM implications for Southwest Airlines
One of the HRM implications for Southwest Airlines is poor performance management. Currently, the company has not created any performance management approaches that can be implemented to ensure that employee performance is not affected by the wage freeze and the tightening of rules on sick time. According to Noe et al. (2019), HRM policies on performance management are essential in an organization because they affect employee progression and the organization’s goal attainment. Southwest Airlines must ensure that employees perform well and are committed to their work to achieve shareholder value. Proper performance management will also increase the likelihood of employees accepting the proposed wage freezes and tight rules on sick time because employees will feel that their contribution to the organization is appreciated. The second implication is conflict among full-time and part-time employees. Southwest Airlines intends to hire more part-time workers. Although hiring part-time workers will reduce labor costs, it will create various issues that will affect the company’s operations.
One of the main issues linked to part-time workers is less commitment to the company. Part-time workers are less loyal and committed to the company because they do not owe the company loyalty since they do not receive benefits. This may create conflict among full-time and part-time employees, mainly because the company has already proposed a wage freeze for full-time employees. The full-time employees may reject the wage freezes and argue that they will be doing more work because part-time employees will not show the same level of commitment to achieving the company’s goals as full-time employees. Workload differences may also cause resentment among full-time employees, thus affecting the company’s performance. The second issue is work inconsistency because part-time workers may ignore the company’s policies, procedures, and acceptable practices. The third implication is the conflict between top management and employees, mainly due to the proposed wage freezes and the tightening of rules on sick time. Employees may assume that the company prioritizes profits over their well-being, thus reducing performance.
Business strategies for each of the 3 HRM implications
The applicable business strategy to address poor performance management is competitive compensation. According to Greene (2018), competitive compensation includes offering higher wages and salaries than competitors in the same industry. This will increase employee retention because employees will be guaranteed good pay after the wage freeze. Competitive compensation will also increase employee commitment to their work, thus increasing shareholder value. Southwest Airlines should also consider adding overtime hours and offering good overtime pay to motivate employees to work long hours instead of hiring part-time workers. This will create a productive workforce because employees will not be resentful and have conflict. The company should also use collective bargaining to address employee and top-management conflicts. Addabbo et al. (2021) argue that collective bargaining effectively addresses issues between employees and top management because employees have a more prominent voice, increasing the likelihood of their grievances being met. Southwest Airlines should encourage its employees to join unions to be represented in collective bargaining.
HR Strategy
Southwest Airlines should adopt a high-involvement HR strategy. The strategy focuses on involving employees in decision-making, giving them access to information, and offering them training and incentives. Southwest Airlines should include employees in decisions that affect them, such as the wage freeze, tightening rules on sick time, and hiring part-time employees. This will reduce resistance to change and create a sense of belonging, contributing to improved productivity because employees are treated as partners in the organization, and their interests are respected. High employee involvement will also enable Southwest Airlines to improve employee relations since employees can recommend improvement areas and develop a mutual understanding with the company on how shareholder value can be increased without putting too much pressure on the employees. For example, they may recommend the best work schedules that include overtime hours to avoid hiring part-time workers, thus helping the company reduce labor costs.
References
Addabbo, T., Ales, E., Curzi, Y., Fabbri, T., Rymkevich, O., & Senatori, I. (2021). The collective dimensions of employment relations: Interdisciplinary perspectives on workers’ voices and changing workplace patterns. Springer Nature.
Greene, R. J. (2018). Competitive and equitable compensation: Can you have both? Compensation & Benefits Review, 50(4), 196-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886368719852200
Hammer, B., Knauer, A., Pflücke, M., & Schwetzler, B. (2017). Inorganic growth strategies and the evolution of the private equity business model. Journal of Corporate Finance, 45, 31-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.04.006
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2019). Human Resource Management: Gaining A Competitive Advantage 11e. McGraw-Hill Education.
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE
We’ll write everything from scratch
Question 
You have been told the HR Director is pleased with the work you have completed for the organization and would like to take your contribution to the next level. She would like you to review several strategic reports on the organization and provide feedback on how you think Southwest HR should move forward.
Southwest Airlines HR Strategy
Review the recommended sources in addition to your research.
Compile a strategy recommendation to the HR Director to be used for company-wide decisions. Include the following information in your report:
An executive summary of the HR strategy project
An analysis of current strategies and issues
Identify the type of strategy Southwest Airlines is following.
Identify 3 HRM implications for Southwest Airlines.
Develop and justify business strategies for each of the 3 HRM implications.
Determine an HR strategy.
Review the Southwest Airlines Co. SWOT Analysis via the “Business Source Complete: SWOT Analyses” in the University Library. Enter “Southwest” in the search bar for access to the company profile. Once you have selected the appropriate year, select the PDF full text. https://library.phoenix.edu/ORG535r1/w3
Use an additional source in your recommendation. Cite all sources.
Format your citations according to APA guidelines.