Author: Arend Pryor | Created: 03/12/2021
Details: Sharing content created as part of pursuing my MBA degree
Assignment: Your internship with Southwest Airlines is turning into a great hands-on learning opportunity for you. Your manager has now tasked you with proposing a talent management plan for pilots at Southwest Airlines. Your proposal will be considered by the Director of HR to make a formal plan.
When looking to fill a specialized position, such as that of an airline pilot, one of the initial challenges faced is in selecting the most optimal sources for finding candidates. Choosing the right source increases the chances of not only finding qualified candidates, but can also improve the efficiency of the process overall. When advertising for job openings, a single listing can often result in hundreds of applicants applying (Clark, 2021). The process of sorting through these submissions can be tedious, but necessary in order to eliminate those who lack the qualifications, experience, and best fit for the company. Based on my research, the following three sources of recruitment should be considered as primary avenues for finding pilot candidates at Southwest Airlines. These sources offer the greatest potential for a more efficient process:
Source 1 – Employee Referral Program:
Here at Southwest, our employees are our greatest assets. They live and breathe the culture of the company and know what it takes to be successful here, which is why they have the potential to be a great resource by far for quality pilot candidate referrals. In addition to improved efficiency in the recruiting and hiring process, benefits of these types of referrals include the following:
Quantity of Resumes:
This would result in an increase in the quality of applicants and a decrease in the number of overall resumes.
Resumes vs Accepted Offers:
Before proceeding with a referral, candidates will often ask the person referring them questions about the position, the company itself, and about the benefits offered. Those who move forward with the referral are more likely to accept an offer as there are little to no surprises.
Employee Turnover:
Employees are less likely to refer someone who is not a good fit, which decreases the chances of voluntary turnover.
Time and Cost to Fill Positions:
Having a batch of quality referrals decreases the time needed to sort through a stack of general resumes. While the cost associated with filing the position would not include advertising, it would consist of incentives paid to the employee who made the referral (Thomson, 2018).
Source 2 – Programmatic Pilot Lead Matching:
This method requires companies to work with recruitment organizations that specialize in identifying pilot candidates that meet pre-determined criteria determined by the hiring company. This service allows employers to only pay for candidates who have shown an interest in their posting. The pricing for this service is based on a flat rate and allows employers to make adjustments to their budget based on needing more or less applicants. Benefits of this resource would include:
Quantity of Resumes:
Southwest would be in control of the number of resume received.
Resumes vs Accepted Offers:
Targeting only candidates who are a good match for the position would increase the likelihood of offers accepted.
Time and Cost to Fill Positions:
This method is more efficient in that employers are able to bypass the early stages of identifying candidates and instead, trade dollars for those they know up front meet their qualifications.
Source 3 – Southwest Company Website:
The Southwest Airlines brand is well known and trusted in the airline industry. Using our website as a resource for pilot applicants is a great opportunity to sell them on the mission and vision of our company as well as its culture. This could also include a customized page that includes information about position, qualifications needed, training provided and even opportunities to further your career. Benefits of this resource would include:
Quantity of Resumes:
Educating applicants on the position with a page dedicated to the role and what to expect from the hiring process could potentially increase the number of quality resumes.
Resumes vs Accepted Offers:
Once again, using our brand and website as a tool to attract candidates, should increase the number of accepted offers.
Time and Cost to Fill Positions:
This method is more efficient than a typical posting on a job board and the cost is minimal since we would be using our own website. Resumes and online applications could be routed directly to in-house recruiters thereby saving time in dealing with external vendors ("Pilot Job Guide", 2021).
Next, let's talk about selection methods. When selecting new pilot candidates, I believe the following three methods offer a high degree of reliability, validity, utility and legality. While no selection methods are free of error, these methods are the most commonly used in the industry which speaks to their reliability and legality. Additionally, with these methods including real-world scenarios and problems that pilots will encounter on the job, their validity also ranks higher. Lastly, these methods align with Southwest’s values of their employees being safe, focused and reliable in that each of them has a focus on assessing these areas. These areas include:
Method 1 – Simulator Test:
This test is often used to check the adaptability and experience level of the candidate and includes the observance and gathering of data for a wide range of skills. This includes, but is not limited to aircraft handling, systems management, danger and error mitigation, communication, and problem solving.
Method 2 – Reasoning Tests:
Also referred to as a psychometric ability assessment, this method evaluates the trainability of a candidate by testing their lateral thinking skills, the speed and logical manner in which data is processed, and how this information is utilized and applied to solve problems.
Method 3 – Interview:
While the methods mentioned above focus on assessing the skills and experience the pilot possesses through the use of tests, this method focuses more on the human side and their ability to communicate and elaborate on the factors that led to the decisions made during the testing. To help facilitate the creation of potential questions or areas to cover, the results from the methods mentioned above can be used. The interview also provides a great opportunity to talk about the culture of the company and how the candidate feels they can contribute to it ("The Elements Of Pilot Selection", 2021).
Looking at training methods, these are typically offered by a company to help employees gain new skills, work efficiently as part of a team, and contribute to the company’s goal of gaining a competitive advantage in their industry (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019). Included below are the three training and development methods being proposed for newly hired pilots at Southwest, each of which includes an overview of factors such as outcomes, cost of training, effectiveness, and risks.
Training Method 1 – Distance Learning:
Outcomes: Trainees get a chance to ask an expert about problems and situations faced on the job. Attending a formal training session is a benefit for most. Discussions and case studies are often around real-world scenarios.
Cost: Ability to train multiple employees at once offers a cost savings.
Effectiveness: Course materials and experiences with the training can be documented and shared.
Risks: Connectivity issues may prevent some from completing the training during the assigned timeframe. Interacting with peers can be a bit awkward. Some prefer in-person learning and may not be as motivated to attend courses presented in this manner (Hutt, 2017).
Training Method 2 – Simulations:
Outcomes: Simulator can be programmed to mirror situations and problems experienced on the job. This method can provide a higher level of confidence in successful completion. Employees can be exposed to dangerous situations in a controlled environment.
Cost: Training can be completed in shorter periods of time. The costs associated with this method are higher cost due to need to update scenarios, however, when considering the cost of the equipment being used on the job, this training has the advantage of improving safety and better preparing employees, which gives a positive return on investment.
Effectiveness: Experience gained can be seamlessly applied on the job as the equipment used during a simulation matches with real-world equipment. Classroom training materials can be used as reference guide and studied.
Risks: Not every scenario can be covered in a simulation. The lack of real consequences may result in employees underperforming. Due to the higher costs of simulation training, the timeframe of availability and number of those trained at one time may need to be spaced out (Christiansen, 2012).
Training Method 3 – On the Job Training:
Outcomes: Less experienced employees get opportunities to work with and observe trainers in order to imitate and learn from their actions and examples. Useful for new employees or for cross-training those with more experience when new technology or equipment is introduced.
Cost: Cost of training is minimal since the trainee is shadowing an employee who’s working on the job.
Effectiveness: Through repetition, questions, and feedback, employees learn first-hand from real-world situations, some of which is off script.
Risks: Trainees may be intimidated and not ask enough questions. Trainers may not be the best and training others. This process can sometimes be rushed and produce safety risks (Skentelbery, 2018). These risks speak to the importance of structuring the training to be effective and safe and in selection of the right trainer for the job (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019).
The creation and use of performance management systems is an involved process that revolves around setting and measuring strategic, administrative and developmental goals that benefit both employees and the companies where they work (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019). Based on my research of the types of performance management systems available, choosing one that takes a quality approach would make the most sense for pilots. Details and benefits of this system are as follows:
Performance Management System Method – Quality Approach:
Strategic Congruence: This method focuses on the improvement of customer satisfaction by way of working with employees to both identify and prevent mistakes in an effort to continually improve. This aligns with the company’s belief that, “people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage” ("Purpose, Vision, And The Southwest Way", 2021). Working with employees through this approach aids in the desire to provide better customer service.'
Reliability: In an effort to avoid errors with the measuring process, both subjective and objective feedback are obtained from managers, peers, and customers and take into account the process itself.
Validity: Feedback provided is job specific and includes areas where an employee has opportunities to improve.
Acceptability and Specificity: Managers work directly with their employees to specifically identify the measures where the employee needs to improve. Supporting the employee in this effort and providing assistance increases the probability of acceptance.
Voluntary employee turnover is often the result of factors such as job frustration, lack of task complexity, personal conflicts, and mismatches in expectations related to benefits (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019). While several of the proposed recruitment efforts suggested earlier in this proposal look to mitigate this issue, my recommendation for improvements in this area would be in the use of the following complementary method:
Method Suggestion – Prosocial Motivation: This method is used to identify the ways in which employees are motivated to help others and the recognition of their impact (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019).
Meeting Pilot’s Needs: While the specifics of what motivates our pilots to help others may differ, identifying these areas and putting a plan in place to trigger these reactions can go a long way in making our pilots feel valued and help instill a drive to keep going the extra mile for our customers. This could include campaigns focused on sharing customer experiences and how our Southwest team (and pilots) helped make it happen. Featuring pilots in our magazine and sharing information on their personal and professional background could be another potential idea.
Cost: The costs associated with this method depend on the types of plans implemented by the company as a result of identifying these motivating behaviors. Using the suggestions above, the cost associated with these items would be somewhat minimal.
References
Christiansen, N. (2012). Human factors of flight simulation. Retrieved from
Clark, B. (2021). How many interviews for one job? (stats from a recruiter). Retrieved
from
Hutt, M. (2017). Top 10 disadvantages of distance learning. Retrieved from
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B. A., & Wright, P. M. (2019). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Pilot job guide(2021). Retrieved from https://pilotjobcentral.com/pilot-job-guide/
Purpose, vision, and the Southwest way(2021). Retrieved from
Skentelbery, H. (2018). The main pros and cons of on-the-job training. Retrieved from
The elements of pilot selection(2021). Retrieved from
Thomson, G. (2018). 6 keys to attracting more pilot applicants. Retrieved from
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