WESTJET CASE STUDY

S3-Group 11
Ankur Chaudhary (FT13307) Chetna Mehra (FT13369) Guru Prasad (FT13332) Mala Subramanian (FT13344) Priyanka Venkatesh(FT13357) Sathya (FT13369) Sushma R (FT13381)

PROBLEM STATEMENT
How to keep the unique culture of the Company intact? What skills/competencies should leaders possess?

How to re-engage the work force ?

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
The culture at Westjet is to demonstrate a caring attitude towards their colleagues and the customers (guests). The no. of employees (or People) had grown from 200 in 1996 to 6187 in 2008. Westjet had been ranked as having the Most admired corporate culture 3 years in row. Westjet had captured 36% of domestic market for air travel, had achieved net profit at an average annual rate of 35.8% and reported revenue growth at 37.4% over 11 years The most recent Employee Engagement Survey indicated that 97% of employees were satisfied and loyal to the organization

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

CONTD

As the Company continued to grow all the International flights had contracted out its employees, who knew very little about the Westjet culture.

In 2009, amidst expansion, pilots seemed dissatisfied with their new elements of contract offer and negotiations were taking place between pilots and management.

ALTERNATIVES
The pay packages should not be modified even if to ensure the market parity with the canadian commercial aviation industry.

West Jet management should understand that Motivated and committed employees hammer away at problems and persist until they find creative solutions and workarounds.
The success of west Jet so far can be traced to the positive attitudes and behaviors of employees. West Jet management should help their employees align mission and social goal for the organization which will help employees see a purpose in their work.

ALTERNATIVES
WestJet management should help the employees get a sense of significance that is seeing the link between the sometimes small tasks they perform and the bigger goal. President Lyndon Johnson loved to tell the story about asking a truck driver working at NASA in the 1960s what his job was. The drivers response: Im helping to put a man on the moon. Thats task significance. WestJet management should hire the right people, develop them internally, and improve their morale. WestJet management should bring a sense of reciprocity with the workforce, looking after their interests and those of their families, and implicitly asking employees to look after the firms interests in return.

SOLUTION
WestJet should focus more attention to employees along with the expansion plans and this is not just because they want to be generous to their employees. It is because it drives the competitiveness of their businesses. Culture Westjet can contract out the International sector jobs. However, they should involve the domestic pilots in Employee Engagement program meant for the contracted international sector employees. In this way, the domestic pilots will also feel responsible, motivated and recognized. Compensation Package Westjet should restructure the compensation package in such a way that the take-home salary is still similar to the old ones though some changes in the components (base package + bonus) for the domestic pilots.

LEADERSHIP

Law of reciprocity
Universal belief that people should be paid back for what they do in some way or the other

LEADERSHIP

Law of reciprocity
Universal belief that people should be paid back for what they do in some way or the other

Leadership that reinforces learning

My managers invite input from others in discussions.

My managers acknowledge their own limitations with respect to knowledge, information, or expertise. My managers ask probing questions. My managers listen attentively.

LEADERSHIP
My managers encourage multiple points of view. problems and organizational challenges.

CONTD

My managers provide time, resources, and venues for identifying

My managers provide time, resources, and venues for reflecting and improving on past performance. My managers criticize views different from their own. Managers need to be especially sensitive to local cultures of learning, which can vary widely across units. When leaders demonstrate a willingness to entertain alternative points of view, employees feel emboldened to offer new ideas.

THANK YOU.