Eight principles keep aerospace company on right course

06:57 PM CDT on Sunday, September 2, 2007

Jerry King-Echevarria is an unconventional entrepreneur - and we mean that in a good way.

The founder, chief executive and chairman of Addison-based King Aerospace Inc. and King Aerospace Commercial Corp. relies on a 200-employee workforce to do everything from supporting spy planes in Iraq, Colombia, and North and South Korea to installing

Jacuzzis in private aircraft for heads of state.

King Aerospace has created a bed that will stay level in flight (may this be everyone's biggest worry), installed Mecca indicators and mounted gold walls and even gold toilets in private aircraft.

At the same time, the company has doubled the mission-ready status of military aircraft. It's working on a 10-year, $224 million contract with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command to modify the Dash 7 low reconnaissance aircraft (i.e., spy plane).

When asked about his corporate philosophy, Mr. King is passionate about two fundamentals: taking care of the customer and taking care of those who take care of the customer. He assumes that everything else will fall into place.

King Aerospace's culture is defined by what Mr. King calls the eight Cornerstone Principles:

1. Mutual respect.
2. Honesty and trust.
3. Nonpolitical environment.
4. Team-oriented.
5. Demonstrated performance.
6. Proactive/problem-solving attitudes.
7. Quality in everything (no excuses).
8. Earn a fair profit.

Note that profit-making appears at the bottom - where Mr. King thinks it should be. These principles hang in every employee's office, and they are reiterated weekly at company meetings.

Mr. King considers commitment to these principles to be sacrosanct: by employees, vendors, suppliers and even customers.

Wing ceremony

The most distinctive aspect of King Aerospace is the Wing Ceremony. Every new employee must earn the right to wear the company's gold wings. To earn their wings, new employees must demonstrate adherence to the eight cornerstones and take a public pledge to uphold them.

After 90 days on the job, three peers assess whether the new employee has lived up to the cornerstones. If this peer evaluation is negative, the employee is either dismissed or given another 90-day review period. If positive, an elaborate wing ceremony is held.

During the ceremony, the employee stands in front of his peers and customers, pledging to abide by each of the cornerstone principles. Thereafter, if an employee breaches a cornerstone, Mr. King counsels and advises. If there's not marked improvement, the employee is fired.

Mr. King believes in hiring the best people and eliminating deadweight. "Deadweight tends to demotivate good employees," he says. If an employee wants to perform at a minimum industry standard, he should go work for a company where that's acceptable, Mr. King says. He finds that achievers are attracted to an environment where standards and expectations are sky high.

Employees earn above-industry wages, and there's a performance award bonus program in which 100 percent of any contract premium for beating deadlines or other standards goes directly to the employees working on the project. This costs King Aerospace money, as it must pay taxes on the premium without taking any part of it. But Mr. King says he's delighted to pay those taxes.

Mr. King frequently breaks bread with employees in Colombia, Korea and even Oklahoma. When traveling to dangerous sites, he flies on a C-17 and stays in the same quarters with his employees. He always asks them what they need. If he can get it - a laptop, air-conditioned break room, covered smoking area, whatever - they get it without waiting for next year's budget.

Personal letters

When he can't be with them, Mr. King sends personal letters to his employees. And every employee carries a company 1-800 help number. If a worker in Iraq has a clogged toilet back home, has a child who needs to be transported or needs a trip to visit his dying grandmother, King Aerospace solves the problem.

King Aerospace prides itself on creating extraordinary customer value. For instance, the company provides customer training, long-range customer plans and spotless facilities - at no charge to the customer. If employees have to work overtime to stay on schedule, King

Aerospace eats the extra cost.

Mr. King's employees are trained to use words such as "It's done." "No problem." "What would you like?" "What can we do to make our job better?" and perhaps the two greatest words in the English language: "No charge."

King Aerospace employees are also encouraged to look for and solve problems before they occur.

To learn more about customer satisfaction, years ago Mr. King and his top associate visited Southwest Airlines to see how it operates at such a high level. Even today, when facing a difficult business challenge, Mr. King often asks: "What would Herb [Kelleher] and Colleen [Barrett] do?"

He hopes that the leadership, passion and compassion he projects will inspire his employees to someday ask, "What would Jerry do?"

Pauline Graivier is president of Dallas-based Verbal Communications Inc. Rob Hoffman is a partner with Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.