In a down economy, you sometimes have to forget about company cars, four-week vacations, and on-site haircuts. The best benefit, in fact, might be one that keeps the company strong, thereby preserving as many jobs as possible.

Delta Air Lines, a leader in the industry that has taken perhaps the hardest hit in the post-9/11 slump, understands that. Delta is impressive--while competitors have cut their workforces or even gone under, Delta has met workforce reduction goals primarily through retirements and voluntary-leave programs. While future cuts may be unavoidable, employees are more likely to understand the bigger picture.

Why? In part it is because of a unique training program that Delta calls "Our Airline, Our Business" (or OAOB for short). It is the brainchild of Delta Chairman Frederick Reid, who learned through town hall-type meetings with employees around the country, that "our employees really didn't have a complete grasp of the economics of our business," says Bonnie Stoufer, managing director of learning services. "They would ask [questions like], 'If you make so much money, why doesn't it increase our salary immediately?'" she says. Reid asked company leaders to develop a seminar to educate employees. "We were in the process of looking at some potential solutions when 9/11 hit," says Stoufer, "so everything went to the side."

But not for long. By December 2001 Reid asked the project team to continue. "After 9/11 and what happened to not only the industry, but to Delta, it became even more important that employees understand what's happening--why we make the decisions we do, what they can do to make a contribution themselves, how small things can add up to very large things. So it really was an investment in our people," says Stoufer.

Crossdepartmental team-building

Our Airline, Our Business is a board game, designed to teach all levels of employees the airline business. During the boisterous sessions, says Stoufer, employees form teams: "You might have a ticket agent, someone from the ramp, someone from management, someone from in-flight services, and a mechanic, all playing the game together as a team. They're making money, they're spending money, and then they're doing their balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow at the end of the 'year.' They play three more 'years,' and at the end, present their financial results to stockholders, which is the class."

"If you look at the way adults learn, it has to be relevant."

During the last round, or "year," in the game, teams have a "dice year, where all the money they make and all the money they spend is determined by rolling dice. This underscores the point that just like in real life, where it's nothing you do, it's just a roll of the dice," says Stoufer.

"Early on, there were some concerns about whether or not people would really grasp some of these concepts, but let me tell you, by twelve noon, they get it," Stoufer states.

Support from the top

As is true with any program of this magnitude (since May 2002 30,000 Delta employees have played OAOB, with thousands more waiting), support from the top is imperative. "We started with all the officers and directors, all the senior leaders," says Stoufer.

In fact, company spokesman Russell Cason says they were all summoned to Atlanta, in what he calls a "command performance," to launch the program. "That's the high level of support that we had for this," he reports.

"If you look at the way adults learn," says Stoufer, "it has to be relevant. People have to see why something is important for them to know and how they connect with it."

Stoufer recommends that other companies wanting to create a similar program keep that in mind. "It has to be interactive and fun," she says, adding that a simple lecture won't do the job. "People would be falling off their chairs in 30 minutes."

While this is not a benefit in the traditional sense, the company and the employees certainly benefit from it. For Delta, says Stoufer, "this was a business initiative, not a training initiative. [The business units] started it, they sponsored it, and we helped make it happen. "There is a compelling business reason, otherwise you could never get this many people through it," Stoufer says, adding that it is likely they will add the game to their employee orientations, "so that anyone coming in will learn our business model, how we make money, how we spend money, how you create wealth, how you destroy wealth. It's business acumen, and that's what we're trying to teach our entire workforce."