Key Idea: Hire The Smile Then Teach
John Hawkins hires the attitude he wants to reflect in his company.
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Key Question:
A: If you are hiring service providers, look for a quick smile and people who love people.
Q: What is unusual about the hiring process at Cloud 9?
A: Anyone who wants to be a driver for Cloud 9 has to make a speech to a group of 50 people about why they want to drive for Cloud 9. They see the drivers as entertainers on stage. If an individual can convince a group of strangers that they should be hired, they probably have some good communication skills which include showmanship. Also, you can't be a shy person and meet hundreds of strangers every week. The Cloud 9 driver is supposed to be friendly, warm and full of fun facts about San Diego. If they are having a bad day, they still have to "step on stage" when they go to work and act as if the rider has not only purchased a ticket for a ride, but for a performance.
If you have studied our episode about Boston Duck Tours you learned that the customer experience is both educational and entertaining. It's entertaining because the vehicles themselves are fun and funny to look at. They are the opposite of high tech. They are a novelty and make us feel as though we are stepping back in time. They are painted bright colors and cleverly named. They make people smile. However, the key to the entertainment aspect is the tour guides themselves. They develop their own World War II character and "stay in character" the entire time they are working. They are excellent story tellers; and, even though they are given a script, they are encouraged to make it their own. Audience participation is key. Our tour guide got us all to say "quack, quack" on his signal. We had fun doing it and the people on the street laughed as we drove by.
To hire the right people who can create an entertaining experience, Boston Duck uses a drama coach. The coach then basically conducts an audition rather than an interview. The people who want to be a tour guide have to demonstrate creativity, enthusiasm and story-telling skills. Boston Duck and Cloud 9 are copying Disney in that Disney sees all of its theme parks as a stage and all of the employees as actors and all of the customers as the audience.
We taped a speech by Herb Kellerer once and then had a chance to interview him. We asked him if he hired funny people or if Southwest Airlines took time to teach people to be funny. He said they hired fun and funny people as there is no way to teach a person how to be funny. He told us that the first thing they say to a person coming to interview for a job at Southwest is, "Welcome to Southwest and the first thing we need you to do is take off all of your clothes."
Herb laughed and said that if people panic and turn pale the interview is over right then and there. If the person laughs, they are taken into a dressing room full of Southwest Airlines uniforms and told to choose the uniform they like best and to come out to the conference room in their new attire. The person has total privacy but they do have to take off all the clothes they arrived in and change into clothing provided by the company.
Q: How does Cloud 9 prepare a driver for the first day of work?
A: Every driver spends 40 hours in training before they begin to carry passengers. The company has a trainer whose job is to not only teach the mechanics of the job, but also to pass on the Cloud 9 corporate culture. Anyone who wants to be a driver for Cloud 9 has to make a speech to a group of 50 people about why they want to drive for Cloud 9.
Q: Why does John believe that the tie is a management tool?
A: The tie is fun and whimsical, not serious. Every driver at Cloud 9 wears a white shirt and the company tie -- this is a uniform. John says, "When a person puts on this tie, they are reminded they work in a fun place." When you wear that tie, it gives you permission to be the best San Diego booster, the warmest welcoming committee of one, and the foremost historian about everything-good San Diego, the branding is working. People have to be willing to wear the tire with affection just like when people come to interview for a job at Southwest Airlines, they have to take their clothes off.
Think about it
Do you have hiring criteria? Do you stick to it?
Clip from: Cloud 9 ShuttleSan Diego: Meet John Hawkins and learn about his company, Cloud 9 Shuttle; he threw out conventional marketing wisdom, pulled the company out of bankruptcy, turned employees into owners, and installed key technologies. It just doesn't get any better than this. Not that it has been easy for John and his team; it has been very tough. Yet, this is the great American success story. He may not have made billions of dollars, he did save a business and he instills confidence being a good citizen is good business.
Upon arriving in America's Finest City with her beautiful, cloudless skies and moderate weather, you quickly discover that there are ubiquitous clouds at city's airport, Lindbergh Field. Here, the clouds are "Cloud 9" vans, a shuttle service from the airport to anywhere.
But it wasn't always so perfect in this perfect city.
This is a turnaround story. It's a branding story. And, it is a love story. To begin this story we went to the airport to meet the man who knows San Diego better than anyone. John Hawkins just loves this community and her people. And because of his service, when we asked about a business to study, everybody recommended John -- the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Mayor's office, Economic Development and many others.
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Cloud 9 Shuttle
John Hawkins, CEO, founder
3550 Kurtz Street
San Diego, CA 92110
858-505-4900
Visit our web site: http://www.Cloud9Shuttle.com
Office: 858-505-4900
Business Classification:
Transportation
Year Founded: 1991
Hire The Smile Then Teach
JOHN: People like to live in San Diego. Then we try to hire folks that were born on the right side of the bed and then teach them what we do. And they just are born with a smile on their face. Our most important asset is our people. If our most important asset is our people, we'd better well make sure that we've invested a huge pot of money in their success. And whether that's compensation or whether that's cultivation, you know, whatever it takes to get that done. You can buy vans -- anybody can buy vans. To make them work, to make them dance, to make 'em sing, it takes people.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) Every Cloud 9 driver receives three to five days of training, including everything from marketing and sales to routing and safety standards.
JOHN: He started as a driver.
HATTIE: Oh, you started as a driver.
MIKE THORNHILL: I started as a driver.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) The head trainer is Mike Thornhill.
MIKE THORNHILL: Well, we instruct our driver trainers into a little history of San Diego as well, so they're more than just driving a shuttle. They're somewhat of a tour guide, a problem solver. They have to be a mathematician. They have to think quickly on their feet, and they have to have some wits about them. It doesn't help to have anything other than a wonderful sense of humor about themselves.
HATTIE: So you're looking for attitude, sense of humor and what else?
MIKE: We have a number of retirees. People who have been retired from the military as well as from their 30 to 40-year careers. They're looking for something else to do and sometimes the spouses wants them out of the house. They're looking for something really fun to do and the majority of our drivers absolutely love doing what they're doing. Driving for Cloud 9 is fun because you're working in the people business and those individuals in the people business have a marvelous time with each other.
HATTIE: How do you find the right attitude?
MIKE THORNHILL: Well, we have the individuals come in and they stand up and have a chance to talk to us about why they'd like to be a Cloud 9 driver.
HATTIE: You mean they get up in front of a group?
MIKE THORNHILL: Absolutely.
HATTIE: They have to give a speech?
MIKE THORNHILL: Complete strangers--up to 40, 45, 50 individuals and...
HATTIE: Forty or 50 people in the audience and the person has to stand up and say, `Why I want to drive for Cloud 9.'
MIKE THORNHILL: Complete strangers. And if they have any intimidation factor there, well, we say, `You're gonna have seven strangers on board your Cloud 9 Shuttle. Why would you be intimidated by...'
HATTIE: So this is an audition?
JOHN: Yes.
HATTIE: It's like trying out for a play or the theater.
JOHN: But they're told they're gonna have to do this when they fill out that little form and they have a clean driving record, they're told, `You're going to have to come in stand up in front of a large group of people and tell them why you want to be a Cloud 9 driver. And you have to do it with enthusiasm and exuberance or you're not gonna get the job.' They're hired by their willingness to participate. And to have fun.
HATTIE: Well, do you find when you go for the personality you find also a person who, like me, hates to fill out paperwork?
JOHN: Absolutely. Absolutely. So that's the end of my speech, but bear with it, guys, it's really necessary because we all want to be on the same page in the hymnal so that it works for 300 people, not just one. If it was only five or 10 guys, everybody could have their own idiosyncrasies, but for 300, there needs to be some policies and procedures and practices. So bear with this stuff and it'll consume half of your energy for the first two weeks and you'll be really frustrated because you're a personality person, you're not a, you know, mechanical person who'd be very good at what we're trying to drive down, you know, square peg in a round hole. But once you get good at this, it'll be second nature and you can let your personalities come to the front, and that's what makes your incomes and gratuities and that's where you get a large proportion of your wealth. Unidentified
Employee #1: I love going to work every day. I have fun.
HATTIE: Do you make money?
JOHN: So do I.
HATTIE: You make some money?
JOHN: You've got to...
Employee #1: Well, you know, you could always get him to give me a raise anytime you want to.
JOHN: I'll give you more raise. I'll give you more--as soon as we make it, you'll get it.
Employee #1: All right!
HATTIE: OK, she has to get to her dance class.
Employee #1: Yeah.
JOHN: We've got a dance contest to get to, so scoot.
Employee #1: Got to get along. Bye.
HATTIE: Bye-bye.
JOHN: Bye. Thanks.
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