Being kind to everyone you meet might just be a ticket for landing a dream job.
Southwest Airlines’ CEO said that a candidate for a top role aced their interview, but wasn’t hired because they were “rude to the receptionist.”
Bob Jordan, who started at the airline in 1988 and rose through the ranks, spoke about the importance of company culture at the Semafor World Economy Summit on Monday.
He described Southwest’s culture as one that hires people who are “low ego” and “seek to serve others before they serve themselves.”
“I think it comes out,” he added. “You can tell when somebody is not a fit.”
Jordan added it’s difficult to get a job at the airline because it has a “very rigorous” interview process, but you can learn if someone’s not a fit from their interactions.
“We were interviewing for a very senior position, and they interviewed well, but they were rude to the receptionist in our building,” he said. “They did not get the job because they treated one group of folks one way, and they treated that receptionist another way.”
The Southwest boss also spoke about taking care of employees to help ensure that culture filters down to passengers on the plane.
“We spend a lot of time making sure that we go overboard treating our employees like family,” he said.
Jordan referred to a group called Cohearts, which meets employees’ needs. For example, if someone has a parent in the hospital, Jordan said they would check on them daily and send something to them.
The airline’s website also says the Coheart Relief Fund can give staff financial assistance during a “catastrophic event in their lives.”
Southwest last year won USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Cabin Crew.
In January, the airline ended its characteristic open-seating policy, so passengers are now assigned seats.
At the Semafor event, Jordan said Southwest is “following our customers,” driven by research showing that 80% of them wanted more choice, such as assigned seating or extra legroom.
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