But these options aren't necessarily optimal for staffers who spend most of their time above 30,000 feet. Southwest is one of many companies that relies on inventive means to communicate with a highly mobile and far-flung workforce that does not always have immediate access to a computer. The air transportation industry supports 240,000 pilots and flight attendants, and the trucking industry employs some 850,000 truck drivers. The Dallas-based airline's employee hotline is wrapping up its first year of usage and appears to be a success, although Churchill says cost and usage figures are still being calculated. In Miami, the commercial trucking firm Ryder Systems keeps in touch with its 7,000 drivers by distributing quarterly audiotapes.
Content is developed inhouse, but the recording and dubbing is outsourced.
On the other hand, it's a very effective way to reach the audience. We can get so much more out in a truly cost-effective manner. He interviews guests from inside and outside the company and recently began a solo segment. It tells people that he stands behind the business direction that senior leadership has put forward and he does so in a much more committed way than in just some sterile document. Anywhere from half to three-quarters of Sun's workforce listens in each month.