The Reality of Service Culture

The aviation industry has a long history of doing business on an international stage. Passengers, flight crews, maintenance techs, flight attendants, schedulers/dispatchers, and the people who work within the industry are from every corner of the earth. On any given day, an airport located in what might be considered even the remotest of locations will play host to international government officials who are flying with international flight crews who work for a multinational corporation.

It is, in fact, an assumption and expectation that those who work within aviation demonstrate an appreciation for and sensitivity to the cultural differences found among the people who populate the industry. But while employees and managers within aviation have an almost natural, implicit awareness of culture by virtue of the diverse constituency they serve, it is critical to highlight another culture — what is known as the organizational culture.

“What is organizational culture?

In today’s highly competitive and complex arena, organizational culture is not just a topic for company executives. Organizational culture influences every division and department, every executive, and every employee. To understand why, we simply need to ask “What is organizational culture?” To better answer this question, think about an international customer who recently used your airport services. The customer came from another country that probably has different values, beliefs, and ways of communicating than what we are used to here in the U.S. In the same way, organizational culture is the unique blend of values and beliefs that define an organization. It is also the way we interact with one another, how we speak, and the attitudes and feelings we have about our company. In this light, it is easy to see how different companies have different organizational cultures. But let’s take this a step further. How or why is this important for the future of business aviation? One example:

A strong and well-established organizational culture can help bring people together with a common cause. One example is the generational gaps that seem to cause much difficulty these days that can be addressed by a strong, well-defined culture. The culture brings people together as opposed to having to order, lecture, or dictate constant commands like “this is how we do things here!” The culture of your company/organization/shop will and should transcend and cut through any preconceived personal or generational differences.

If something called ‘organizational culture’ really exists, and it certainly does, is it likely that something called ‘service culture’ also exists? Service culture is very real. Service culture is more specific than organizational culture, because everything relates back to customer service. Instead of talking about values and beliefs in general, we must talk about our values and beliefs about customer service. How, specifically, do we provide service to our customers and to each other? How do we communicate with customers and behave around them? All of these elements and more define service culture. Companies, from executive to employee, that embrace the idea of service culture and work to maintain and improve it are the model organizations of our time. Next month, we will fill in the service culture puzzle more completely and provide distinct dimensions that can help profile any organization and the service it provides.

Bob Hobbi is the founder, president, and CEO of ServiceElements International Inc. Bob has 30 plus years in aerospace and aviation leadership roles with FlightSafety International, Honeywell Aerospace’s Aerospace Academy, and MedAire. ServiceElements is an organizational and people development company, now in the aerospace industry for almost 15 years. For more information visit www.ServiceElements.com.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”      

- Peter Drucker