COMMUNICATION AUDIT

Southwest Airlines
Kathleen Arroyo
HRMN 302
Professor Gwyn Robson
November 8, 2015

DESCRIPTION OF A COMMUNICATION
AUDIT
A communication audit is a comprehensive evaluation of an
organizations ability to send, receive and share information with
various audiences within the organization (and as organizations
become flatter to allow groups within the organization to
cooperate and share among themselves), as well at key
constituencies outside, such as customers and investors, in the
case of publicly traded companies (What is a communication
audit, n.d.)
It is recommended that organizations initiate an annual audit
focused on the distribution and communication and not just in
some crisis or financial failure (Rdulescu, V., & Cruceru, A. F.,
2013).

DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANIZATION

Southwest Airlines was founded in 1967 and is the worlds largest
low cost airline carrier
Southwest currently employs over 47,000 employees
(Southwest.com, 2013)
Southwest focuses on being a customer friendly airline with happy
and motivated employees

DESCRIPTION OF ADMINISTRATION
The surveys were printed out and disseminated by me on October
1, 2015 at 9 am EST. All surveys were completed and returned to
me on the same day.
Each participant was given one hour to fill out the survey, most
only needed a few minutes.
The surveys were not facilitated.
The directions on the survey were that the survey was confidential
and to answer each question to the best of the participants ability.
The participants were expected to circle the answer they felt best
described them according to the question.
The answers to each question were all a scale of 1 being
completely dissatisfied and 5 being completely satisfied.

DESCRIPTION OF SURVEY
RESPONDENTS
The survey participants were all full-time employees who had been
working for Southwest Airlines for at least one full year.
There were 20 survey participants.
2 participants were considered upper management, 8 participants
were considered junior management, and 10 participants were
considered entry-level.
2 participants were considered executive staff, 6 participants were
pilots, 7 participants were considered flight attendants, and 5
participants were considered ground crew.

SURVEY QUESTION #1-HOW WELL

DO I ENJOY MY JOB?
Participants
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Completely Dissatisfied Somewhat Dissatisfied

Neutral
Participants

Somewhat Satisfied

Completely Satisfied

SURVEY QUESTION #2- I RECEIVE

INFORMATION I NEED IN A TIMELY AND
RESPECTFUL MANNER
Participants
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Completely dissatisfied

Somewhat Dissatisfied

Neutral
Participants

Somewhat Satisfied

Completely satisfied

SURVEY QUESTION #3- I SEND

INFORMATION TO OTHERS IN A TIMELY AND
RESPECTFUL MANNER
Participants
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Completely dissatisfied

Somewhat dissatisfied

Neutral
Participants

Somewhat satisfied

Completely satisfied

SURVEY QUESTION #4-I FEEL I RECEIVE

INFORMATION FROM THE CORRECT SOURCE
Particpants
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Completely dissatisfied

Somewhat dissatisfied

Neutral
Particpants

Somewhat satisfied

Completely satisfied

SURVEY QUESTION #5-I FEEL THE

INFORMATION IS PRESENTED IN A TIMELY
MANNER
Participants
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Completely dissatisfied

Somewhat dissatisfied

Neutral
Participants

Somewhat satisfied

Completely satisfied

SURVEY QUESTION #6-I FEEL THERE

ARE OPEN CHANNELS OF
COMMUNICATION
Participants
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Completely dissatisfied

Somewhat dissatisfied

Neutral
Participants

Somewhat satisfied

Completely satisfied

DATA ANALYSIS QUALITY

The participants felt there are open channels of communication

They were satisfied in the way information was sent
They were dissatisfied or neutral in the way information was
received
Participants seem overall satisfied with communication

TOP 3 COMMUNICATION
CHALLENGES

Receiving information
Timeliness of information
Sources of information

RECOMMENDATIONS

Focus on widest dissemination of information to lowest levels

needed using company email and memorandums
Give suspense dates on dissemination of information to ensure it is
sent out in a timely manner
Encourage open door communication with immediate and second
level supervisors and HR personnel to ask questions

SUMMARY
Overall, Southwest is doing well communicating information from
upper management to entry level employees.
Southwest Airlines needs to focus on making sure its employees
are receiving information in a timely and respectful manner.

REFERENCES
HRMN 302 7983 Organizational Communication (2158). (n.d.). What
is a communication audit? Retrieved from https://
learn.umuc.edu/d2l/le/content/89068/viewContent/3706822/View
Rdulescu, V., & Cruceru, A. F. (2013). The significance of the audit
of distribution and communication policy in increasing
organizational performance. Romanian Journal Of Marketing, (3), 4650
Southwest.com. (2013). Southwest airlines reports fourth quarter
and record annual profit; 42nd consecutive year of profitability.
Retrieved from http://
southwest.investorroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1975

APPENDIX
Survey Question #1- How well
do I enjoy my job?
Completely dissatisfied

Survey Question #2- I receive

information I need in a timely
and respectful manner.

Somewhat dissatisfied

Completely dissatisfied

Neutral

Somewhat dissatisfied

Somewhat satisfied

Neutral

Completely satisfied

Somewhat satisfied
Completely satisfied

APPENDIX
Survey Question #3- I send
information to others in a timely
and respectful manner.
Completely dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat satisfied
Completely satisfied

Survey Question #4- I feel I

receive information from the
correct source.
Completely dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat satisfied
Completely satisfied

APPENDIX
Survey Question #5- I feel the
information is presented in a
timely manner.

Survey Question #6- I feel there

are open channels of
communication.

Completely dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat satisfied
Completely satisfied

Completely dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Neutral
Somewhat satisfied
Completely satisfied