Page 63 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Keeping the People Who Keep Your Business in Business 43

Some Serious Advice About Fun
Keep in mind that what’s fun for one person may not be
fun for another and what works for one organization’s
culture may not be appropriate for another.
Look at the contrast between two highly successful airlines:Virgin
Atlantic and British Airways.Virgin is known for its zany, thrill-seeking
CEO (and hot-air balloonist) Richard Branson, who inspires lots of
fun, out-of-the-box, in-flight perks, such as magicians who entertain
passengers and masseuses for the travel weary—and not just in first
class.According to Branson, founder of Virgin’s mega music stores,
“We’re still in the entertainment industry at 25,000 feet.” British
Airways, on the other hand, is far more traditional in how its people
celebrate their successes and conduct in-flight business—and they
don’t care to be in the entertainment industry at all.That doesn’t
mean that British Airways employees don’t work in an enjoyable
atmosphere or have fun on the job.
To keep employees happy, you don’t have to create a big-top circus
environment.What matters is that your employees enjoy what they’re
doing.

their performance will be measured. Managers need to commu-
nicate those expectations right up front, succinctly and clearly if

they want new hires to become long-time, motivated employees.

Make every resignation an opportunity for retention and
improved morale. If you’re not conducting employee exit inter-
views, then you may be missing out on the biggest opportunity

Master of Employee Relationships
Herb Kelleher, chairman of the board and former president
of Southwest Airlines, never ceases to amaze both internal
and external customers with his uncanny ability to remember the
names of everyone he’s ever met. It wouldn’t matter if Kelleher met
you in San Antonio or Seattle among throngs of people in a crowded
airport; if he met you once, he’d remember you when you ran into
him a year later at Love Field in Dallas. His extraordinary way with
people and his attention to what they care about continues to set him
apart from the pack. Note: his company is not small, with more than
33,000 employees.