I read some years ago in Air Transport World that at Southwest Airlines in the states, all senior management staff from Herb Khellar are expected to be able to check in pax, load aircraft, refuel aircraft, perform almost any Customer Service Role etc, and they frequently come out of their offices to help the frontline staff when the chips are down.
Any wonder why they are best performing airline in the world, since their startup some 30 years ago their only loss was in the 1st quarter of their first year, like in 1974. Currently they are (I think) just about the only airline in the US thats making a profit.