CXE 2021 CX & EX Survey Results Report

2021 AIRPORT INDUSTRY CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE SURVEY RESULTS Engaging, Adapting, and Elevating Experiences amid the COVID Era

TABLE OF CONTENTS Survey Background and Historical Overview

1

Survey Respondents

2

Industry Number of Employees

Survey Process

2

Key Themes and Insights

3

Covid-era Recognition & Appreciation A Shift in Training Methodologies Re-boarding and Communication Tools Surveying for EX and CX Benchmarking

Summary

5

Survey Responses

6

Employee Workforce Hiring Trends Elevating the Employee Experience through Training & Recognition CX & EX Measurement

About CXE

11

Appendix

13

CXEinc.com

SURVEY BACKGROUND & HISTORICAL OVERVIEW In August of 2020, CXE published the first Customer and Employee Experience survey results that measured the effects of COVID-19 in the airport industry. These insights provided an optimistic view of what large hub airports planned for their employees and customers at the height of the pandemic. Since this report's distribution, COVID-19 cases have steadily climbed – reaching an all-time high in January of this year (CDC COVID Data Tracker). In March 2021, the TSA screened the highest number of passengers on a single day since March 15, 2020 View the complete 2020 CX & EX Survey Results Report (CNBC). This milestone and the release of vaccinations have provided airports some minor relief. Unfortunately, despite receiving funding from Congress, most commercial airports will lose $40 billion for the two years between March 2020 and March 2022 (ACI-NA).

In lieu of these staggering figures, the resiliency and ingenuity of airports are to be admired.

Many airports have found unique ways to cut costs and generate new revenue streams, such as revenue sharing through partnerships and exploring new leasing alternatives (Skift). Many of these innovations are geared towards improving the experience for travelers. With so much uncertainty and lack of control, the customer experience is one area that the airport industry can actively influence.

One year into the pandemic, CXE felt it was essential to revisit the 2020 Customer and Employee Experience Survey Results by reissuing a new survey to provide a comparative view and share new insights gathered. We hope that the findings are relevant and helpful in your CX & EX recovery efforts.

As businesses seek to recover from the recent COVID-19 crisis, it’s clear that focusing on enhancing and strengthening both employee and customer experiences will be the key to rebuilding and achieving organizational success post-Covid.

CXEinc.com

1

SURVEY RESPONDENTS INDUSTRY Airport Multi-Airport System Food & Beverage Operator Retail Operator Airport Service Provider Developer CX (or other) 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 1-100 101-500 501-1000

1000+

0%

10%

20%

30%

SURVEY PROCESS In order to compile this report, CXE issued the survey to over 800 airport industry professionals.

The final data and findings represent the completed survey information from respondents representing the airports, concessions management, terminal operators, customer experience managers, developers, retailers, and food and beverage professionals. The survey results were finalized on April 13, 2021. CXE also conducted a comparative analysis of the survey conducted in July 2020 to review trends and changing patterns.

2

KEY THEMES & INSIGHTS Employees are coming back, and it’s time to recognize them.

OVER

50%

of those surveyed have already begun to bring back additional employees

76%

plan to use Employee Nominations as part of their Recognition & Appreciation Programs this year

The Customer Experience is paramount and will be an area of focus in post-pandemic training. Training methodologies have shifted from the classroom to eLearning training solutions.

100% agree that the Customer Experience is a priority in airport recovery (92% rated it a 5, 8% rated it a 4)

56% plan to use a combination of eLearning and Virtual classroom/webcast to conduct training. 84% of this training will focus on Customer Service.

3

Re-boarding will take some adjusting, so communication tools will be essential to inform parties of operational changes and safety protocols.

76%

indicated that they anticipate that “adjusting to

the ‘new normal’” will be employees' top concern when returning to work.

To address these concerns,

64%

plan to coordinate

‘communications about changes in operations, safety, etc.’

This figure has shifted drastically from the 2020 survey, where at the time,

90%

indicated that contracting

COVID-19 would be their employee's biggest concern.

4

Surveying will be crucial to gain insights from both Employees and Customers

56% plan to use Employee

Engagement/Satisfaction Surveys to measure the Employee Experience as employee populations return to work. While will use the same method (Satisfaction Surveys) to measure the Customer Experience

84%

SUMMARY After such a tumultuous year, customers and employees alike want to feel cared for, valued, and heard. To achieve this, employers must provide their teams with the proper tools and resources so that they, in turn, can create memorable and delightful customer experiences. Employers who invest in their employees will see a return on their investment (ROI) and achieve higher rankings in customer satisfaction. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the need to strengthen relationships with employees and customers by focusing on experiences. As we work with clients to redefine the service landscape in our ‘new normal,’ creating engaging experiences for employees and memorable, differentiated experiences for customers will be the road map towards excellence and robust recovery.

As our respondents have indicated, the use of Surveys will play a role in listening to the customer and employee to gauge their satisfaction. Respondents also plan to use Communication Campaigns to inform employees about operational changes and safety, which will be instrumental in listening to employees' concerns about adjusting to the ‘new normal.’ When it comes to training, the majority will use a blended approach. Self-paced eLearning and virtual classrooms will be the most popular modalities, and overwhelmingly (84%) will focus their training on Customer Service. Another key takeaway from the survey was the desire to look to other employees to obtain nominations for Recognition and Appreciation programming. By implementing these various solutions, the customer and employee experience will undoubtedly be enhanced.

5

EMPLOYEE WORKFORCE HIRING TRENDS

SURVEY RESPONSES EMPLOYEE WORKFORCE HIRING TRENDS

Employees are gradually being brought back to work in anticipation of increased travel numbers.

In response to these upward trends, TSA announced that they plan to hire over 6,000 airport security screening officers by the summer of this year (TSA.gov)

When do you anticipate the return of additional employees to begin?

What percentage of previously employed employees do you expect to bring back to work in 2021?

6

TRAINING, RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION ELEVATING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE THROUGH TRAINING & RECOGNITION

Investing in employees will play a major factor in ensuring that they deliver exceptional service to customers. Do you have the resources and training in place to help your employees adjust to the “new normal”? Relevant training, delivered electronically, and intensive communication campaigns will be crucial to bolstering the employee experience and providing your workforce with the confidence they need to continue to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

What type of employee appreciation and recognition programs are you planning this year?

76% indicated that they plan to capture

employee-to-employee nominations.

52% indicated that they plan to use

newsletters & communication campaigns.

36% indicated that they plan to capture customer nominations.

32% indicated that they are planning to host

award ceremonies and employee events.

How do you rate the importance of the airport customer experience in the COVID-era? Rate 1 – 5 (5 being of highest importance and 1 being of least importance)

92%

of respondents rated

COVID-era Customer Experience as a 5

1

5

(the highest importance).

7

TRAINING, RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION

What is your organization’s plan regarding training delivery

64%

plan to use a combination of eLearning and Virtual classroom/webcast and other online eLearning solutions to conduct training.

What training topics are you planning for employees?

Customer Service Training Operational Training Employee Health & Welness

Health & Safety Training

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

What activities and/or resources do you have planned for re-boarding employees as they return to work?

96%

52%

“Welcome Back” and Commuication Campaigns about Change

Recognition & Appreciation Opportunities

48%

Customer Service Training

8

CX & EX MEASUREMENT CX & EX MEASUREMENT

What tools do you plan to use to measure the Employee Experience (EX) as your employee population returns to work?

Employee Engagement/Satisfaction Surveys One-on-one Touch Bases No Current Plans

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

If you don’t have plans at this time to measure the Employee Experience (EX), when do you plan to start?

9

CX & EX MEASUREMENT

What tools do you plan to use to measure the Customer Experience (CX)

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Social Media Monitoring Service Evaluations (Mystery Shopping)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

If you don’t plan to measure CX just yet, when do you plan to start?

83.3

%

of respondents have already started or plan to start measuring CX by June 2021.

Do you feel it is important to measure customer satisfaction to improve the customer experience during the pandemic?

10

CXE AT A GLANCE

CUSTOMER SERVICE MEASUREMENT • Service standards developmen • Mystery shopping ABOUT US • Form to facilitation CXE is the leading customer experience consulting firm, specializing in inspiring organizations innovateservices and transform their service culture, ultimately delivering employee and customer experiences that boost • Customer satisfaction surveys employee engagement, spark customer delight and drive organizational success. CXE•designs and monitoring Social media implements organization-wide customer service culture initiatives, employee and leadership training, mystery shopping, consulting, and employee recognition and appreciation programs. By creating CONSULTING engaging experiences for employees, and memorable, differentiated experiences for customers, • CustomerCXE experience strategy helps clients chart a course to new heights of excellence. CXE has partnered with hundreds of prominent • Mystery shop consultations airport, retail, hospitality, sports and recreation clients for more than 25 years.

• Performance coaching and consulting • Executive summaries • Action plans • CX leadership facilitation • Custom reward and recognitio programs

CUSTOMIZED FRONTLINE EVERY.CONNECTION.COUNTS. ANDthem MANAGER At CXE, we partner with our clients to craft a unified and thriving service culture that sets apart. ByTRAINING • Customer service creating engaging experiences for employees, and memorable, differentiated experiences for customers, • Communication skills we help clients chart a course towards new heights of excellence.

• Performance coaching • Service recovery • Leadership CUSTOMIZED FRONTLINE & • Computer based training (CBT PERFORMANCE

AIRPORT CX PROGRAM COMPONENTS MEASUREMENT

STRATEGY

• • • • • • •

• • • • • •

Service standards development Mystery shopping Form facilitation services Customer satisfaction surveys Social media monitoring Employee & Tenant Surveys Crowd Sourcing

AND MANAGER TRAINING

Customer Experience strategy Communication campaigns Performance coaching Executive summaries & action plans CX leadership facilitation Recognition & Appreciation programs

• Self-paced eLearning WE SPECIALIZE IN SERVING • Learning Management System (LMS) • Airport authorities • • Airport concessions and • services • • Individual brands • • • Terminal operations • • Multi-unit operations

• Safety and security • Transportation • Volunteer programs

WE SPECIALIZE IN SERVING:

AFFILIATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS: Minority Business Enterprise certified in the state of Maryland & other cities & states

• • • •

Airports Airport Services Retail and Dining Sports and Recreation Venues

CXEinc.com

SERVICE CULTURE

CXE'S SERVICE CULTURE MODEL

Service Culture. Simplified. Every Connection Counts. eC2® is a model for defining service culture and improving customer service performance. To deliver an exceptional and consistent customer experience, an organization must have a healthy service culture with the following connections: • Engaged employees that connect with the customer and each other • Leadership that is engaged and trusted • Processes that are customer-centric and employee-focused • Ongoing and supportive learning and development • Communication—mass and interpersonal—that is honest, consistent and timely • Clear service principles

PROVEN SUCCESS

Our customized solutions have helped airports throughout the US develop their entire staff while improving efficiency and profitability.

LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS "This kind of improvement doesn't happen by chance; it happens with a strategic, programmatic and intentional approach, as well as airport-wide collaboration and you are all part of that team effort. [...] Together, we have charted our course to transform the airport with LAXceptional experiences including gold-standard facilities, processes and of course, people.

DEBORAH FLINT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

PORT OF SEATTLE

"CXE's ability to connect with the audience, add an element of fun and casual comfort, and challenge diverse individuals toward improvement are the critical ingredients that make CXE trainers effective in their role and our project. I would highly recommend CXE for customer service and sales training for all levels; frontline, management or executive leadership.

"[We] have been supported in our efforts on strategy with CXE (formerly Customer Service Experts) to build a new 2-hour training class for SEA (airport-wide) and help facilitate the enterprise wide launch.

While CX training is in my background, CXE has worked with many large hub airports and we felt that lent unique credibility to the training.

LEONOR FERNANDEZ GENERAL MANAGER

JAMIE CARTER DIRECTOR TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD - MIA

AWARDED: CXE’s service culture programming contributed to the awarding of the ACI-NA MARCOM 2018 Excellence in Airport Marketing, Communications, and Customer Service Award to LAX airport, for Overall Customer Service Program - Large Hub Airport.

CXEinc.com

APPENDIX

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/13/air-travel-tsa-records-highest-passenger-screenings-in-nearly-a-year.html https://skift.com/2021/04/21/u-s-airports-generate-revenue-after-losing-billions-during-the-pandemic/ https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput?page=0 https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/02/19/tsa-seeks-hire-over-6000-airport-security-screening-officers

CXEinc.com

13