Reference no: EM132941833

Case study: WestJet Airline's Employees Work Together

What do empowered employees do? Calgary-based WestJet Airlines employees are given lots of freedom to manage themselves. Clive Beddoe, the company's president and CEO, was determined to create company "where people wanted to manage themselves."

At WestJet, employees are asked to be responsible for their tasks, rather than rely on supervisors to tell them what to do. That includes Beddoe: "I don't direct things," he says. "We set some standards and expectations, but [I] don't interfere in how our people do their jobs." Instead, employees are given guidelines for behaviour. For instance, flight attendants are directed to serve customers in a caring, positive, and cheerful manner. How do they carry that out? It's up to them. Employees also share tasks. When a plane lands, all employees on the flight, even those who are flying off-duty, are expected to prepare the plane for its next take off.

Obviously, WestJet can lower its costs by keeping the number of supervisors down. The company operates with about 60 employees per aircraft, while a typical full-service airline such as Air Canada needs more than 140. But allowing employees to manage themselves has a bigger benefit. Beddoe believes it encourages employees to take pride in what they do. "They are the ones making the decisions about what they're doing and how they're doing it," says Beddoe.

Q1. What do you mean by empowerment? How it is helpful for organizations like WestJet?

Q2. What do you mean by ' Where people wanted to manage themselves'?

Q3. As per the information above, What kind of leadership and work culture is followed by West Jet? Explain the pros and cons of be in such culture and leadership style?