The Human Resource Department

The human resource department has a critical role in recruiting, hiring, training and promoting individuals who fit with the strategy of Southwest Airlines. Southwest may not allow its HR managers to be informal in its methodology, though managers can be creative. One suggestion would be to provide training, job rotation, job enrichment, and training opportunities, in addition to pay and benefits (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007).

HR is also responsible for identifying those who will be great performers. Just as the employee is interested in the best company, the company needs employees that are best for the company. Once hired, HR must continuously evaluate their workers, as some workers may be determined to perform better in a position other than the one they were hired for. This is talent management (Rodriguez, 2007).

The keystone of HR responsibility is talent retention, keeping great performers from going somewhere else. Many organizations are looking to fill the vacuum of star performers (Chambers, 1998). The war for talent, and talent retention, must become a burning corporate priority. HR managers must identify talent in the individual, not just by comparing a person to a job description. Rodriguez (2007) points out that employees flow through an organization as they flow through their career. The company spends a great deal of money training employees.

HR is tasked with retaining the best talent in the company. This is accomplished through compensation, recognition, new assignments, and promotions. Southwest must continue to market its culture. Organizational culture is the shared values among organizational members (Mathis and Jackson, 2000). Linking human resource practices to the culture is part of the overall strategy and becomes a core competency for the company. Southwest relies on its People Department to hire those who are a good fit with each aspect of the culture. Most employees are familiar with the knowledge, skills, and abilities that hiring managers use to match prospective employees with the technical requirements of a job. However, using human resources as part of the strategy