The first day Fred Ring walked through the doors of Calgary-based WestJet, it seemed just like high school.

An educator for 32 years, he was preparing to retire as principal of Western Canada High School and was on a fact-finding mission looking for a new career.

“It was full of life,” recalls Ring, who took a tour of the company’s Calgary head office with president and CEO Clive Beddoe four years ago.

“What I was struck by that day, what absolutely overwhelmed me, was the culture of the company, the vibrant enthusiasm, the way people reacted, very friendly, very warm. It was very much like a high school where things are always happening, where there’s a fast pace, and you never know what you are going to do day to day when you walk in the door.”

Mike Dempster, Business Edge
Former high school principal Fred Ring enjoys his new career as WestJet VP of People.

Ring was hooked, joined the company in 2001 and today holds the title of VP of People (human resources). He oversees a department that receives 1,000 online resumes a week from people hoping, like he once did, to work at the low-fare airline.

With 30 consecutive quarters of making a profit, WestJet is certainly a high- flying success story. But it’s the happy, casual, creative workforce that truly impresses customers (including this columnist).

And that’s the reason for the eight-year-old company’s success, believes Ring.

This month, the airline writes a new chapter in its history as it begins regular service south of the border to destinations that include New York, Los Angeles and Tampa.

But challenges still exist, allows Ring.

In New York City, for example, if WestJet doesn’t have the right person in charge, “that whole station could go down the tubes in terms of customer service and reputation,” he says.

“To me it’s very important that we get the person out there who is going to represent everything that we believe in at WestJet.”

Ring says that a WestJet person, not a contracted party, will be on the ground in New York, promoting a culture based on what he calls a common-sense approach to business.

WestJet treats its employees as its No. 1 priority, he explains. And those employees treat the customers in kind.

“It’s really that simple. It’s a lot of hard work to do that, a lot of diligence . . . from the beginning, WestJet’s founders really understood people.”

To that end, the company offers profit sharing, a matching share purchase plan, an internal hiring policy that favours current employees, training and a growing infrastructure with opportunity for advancement or change. In each of the past two years the airline has boasted net growth of 800 people and by the end of this year its workforce, average age 34, will approach 4,900 people.

In step with its growth, the company continues to earn admiration for its business practices. For example, a 2003 Ipsos-Reid survey of leading Canadian CEOs rated WestJet second in the most-admired company category in Canada, and first in customer service.

Indeed, it’s a company that seems to wear a permanent happy face. Last month, in an interview with Ring, I couldn’t help but notice how many employees made a point of saying hello to me in the busy reception area. They weren’t paying lip service to a WestJet vision statement hung on a nearby wall – they were just being themselves.

How WestJet continually finds the right employees is instructive. In advance of the interview, I’d searched through WestJet’s website and one impressive aspect was its thoroughness in explaining to potential employees just how the hiring process works.

It offers interview tips on a number of issues: On how to dress; explaining to candidates not to fear asking recruiters to clarify questions; explaining that they will be asked behavioural-type questions (“How did you handle a specific situation in the past?”); and stating that they will be interviewed, in part, by peer selection committees made up of regular employees.

The final tip summed up the culture nicely: “Above all, smile and have fun – this is your chance to shine!”

The tips help put people at ease, Ring says, noting that some candidates have never experienced behavioural-type interviews. “We don’t want to lose good people because they freeze up with these kind of questions,” he notes.

The behavioural questions were developed by observing and talking to top employees in various departments and recognizing the particular skills they possessed, because “we want more just like them,” Ring adds.

Peer selection also plays a vital role. “I think our employees understand the whole concept of culture and understand they want to get the right people. And they want to do their part to make sure the person coming in is going to add to that.”

The peer selection teams include pilots, who will reject applicants who have all the technical qualifications if they don’t feel they will fit in. “That’s important,” says Ring. “They believe you have to have those kinds of characteristics that are going to add to our team.”

The process gives employees a sense of shared ownership, important for a company that constantly encourages its staff to think like owners.

Whether it’s keeping costs down, customer service or taking ownership of issues and problems, the company believes in talking about ‘we’ and not ‘they.’

Once hired, all employees spend three weeks training in Calgary. Key senior managers talk to employees about the company culture – including CEO Beddoe, who ensures that he spends at least 90 minutes with each new group.

The focus on people began on Day 1 in 1996, when WestJet started service to five Western Canadian cities. Today, the carrier flies to 24 Canadian cities and is in the process of expanding to eight U.S. destinations.

In trying to meet future demand, the company started a leadership development program two years ago. About 500 people have completed the initial phase.

“It’s probably the single most difficult challenge to ensure the right people are in place for the future,” says Ring.

In a sense, it’s just like high school.

For years Ring and his academic team helped shape the lives of generations of students – aiding them in creating personal flight plans for the future.

“In high school, one of the things I enjoyed the most was going out into the hallways at lunch hour and visiting with people, getting to know them,” he says. “That’s what was fun working in a place like that. It’s much the same here.”

Web watch:
www.westjet.ca

(Mike Dempster can be reached at mike@businessedge.ca)