AIRPORT INDUSTRY CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE SURVEY RESULTS
Insights into Post-Pandemic Plans for Rebuilding and Achieving Organizational Success
CXE surveyed airport industry professionals to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on the industry and to gauge recovery priorities and plans specifically for both customer (CX) and employee experience (EX) programs.
KEY THEMES & INSIGHTS Discover underlying optimism as data shows respondents expect a high percentage of employees to return to work in 2020, and also plan on reopening many airport business locations that were closed due to COVID-19. Uncover airports’ top priority focus areas for training as they begin to re-board employees. According to our findings, providing employees with training, safety, and confidence is paramount during these unprecedented times. Read on to discover more key training topics!
Learn what your peers are planning to do to ensure that the Employee Experience (EX) is successful and essential staff are appreciated and comfortable in their ever-changing work environment.
Gain insight into airport employees’ top concerns for returning to work so that you can formulate a plan to address them fully.
Determine which performance measurement tools airport professionals are planning to use to ensure that their Customer Experience (CX) programs stay on track.
SURVEY PROCESS In order to compile this report, CXE surveyed over 150 airport industry professionals. The final data and findings represent the completed survey information from respondents representing airports, concessions management, terminal operators, customer experience managers, developers, retailers, and food and beverage professionals. The survey results were finalized on July 14, 2020. We hope that the findings are relevant and helpful in your CX & EX recovery efforts.
CXE inspires organizations to innovate and transform their service culture, and 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-PANDEMIC EMPLOYEE RE-BOARDING PROJECTIONS
Despite prevalent uncertainty, data shows that airport industry professionals have maintained a positive outlook when it comes to re-boarding in the post-pandemic work environment. At CXE, it is important for us to understand and quantify how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected airport industry employment thus far and to capture industry rehiring projections for the remainder of 2020. Equally as important is to understand when organizations plan to welcome back their workforce. In benchmarking pre-pandemic workforce numbers and collecting projections for re-boarding employees, we have found an underlying optimism exists among respondents as airports expect to welcome back a large percentage of the workforce that was laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19 within 2020.
What percentage of previously employed employees do you expect to bring back to work in 2020?
62
%
0-10%
of participants expect to bring back 40% or more of their pre-pandemic workforce in 2020.
11-25%
26-40%
40% or more
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
When do you anticipate the return of additional employees to begin? It’s already begun
42
%
By the end of June
of respondents noted that the re-boarding of employees has already begun within their organization, with most others expecting to welcome back employees by the end of the year.
By the end of July By the end of 3rd quarter By the end of the year Varies based on location Other
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
EMPLOYEE CONCERNS
Training, Communication and Employee Appreciation are a top priority as organizations address key employee concerns, develop recovery strategies and prepare their employees for continued success. Results show that COVID-19, PPE, and Health & Safety procedures and awareness are of utmost importance as the airport industry rebuilds. Other strategic initiatives reported reveal a focus on employee appreciation and wellbeing, as well as additional soft skills training.
What will be your employee's concerns when returning to work? (check all that apply)
Contracting COVID-19
90
Adjusting to the “new normal�
%
of participants expect that contracting COVID-19 will be the biggest fear of returning employees.
Safety of family members Safety of others How to deliver exceptional customer service while wearing facial coverings and social distancing
Customer escalated situations due to safety regulations Concerns for job security 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
RE-BOARDING STRATEGY & PLANNING As airport leaders gear up to re-open and welcome back flyers, they are also taking vital steps to welcome back their employees. The top three priorities for re-boarding their team members are: TRAINING on COVID-19, safety and customer service that will help SPARK customer delight COMMUNICATION about operational changes and safety procedures that will DRIVE organizational success APPRECIATION & RECOGNITION initiatives to BOOST employee engagement
What is your plan for re-boarding employees? (check all that apply) COVID-19 awareness training PPE awareness & education Safety and health training Communication about changes in operations, safety, etc. Customer service training Appreciation/recognition opportunities
TOP THREE
“Welcome back� campaign
RE-BOARDING PRIORITIES
Employee wellness training
Training
Web-based training solutions Appreciation campaigns
Communication
Resources & support
Appreciation
Security badging office changes/updates Social media recognition Mental health assistance 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
What tools do you plan to utilize to measure and evaluate the Employee Experience (EX) as your employee population returns to work? (check all that apply)
One-on-one touch bases Employee engagement/ satisfaction surveys Virtual performance coaching Virtual round table discussions Virctual focus groups Focus groups
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
Thank You! CXE would like to thank all of our industry partners who took the time to complete this survey. We hope that you find these insights helpful as you work diligently to welcome back employees and flyers alike.
CXEinc.com
2901 Riva Trace Parkway | Suite 100 Annapolis, MD 21401 888.770.7625
CXE KNOWS AIRPORTS ABOUT CXE CXE (formerly Customer Service Experts) is the leading customer experience consulting firm providing customer experience optimization solutions to the airport industry, including airport-wide customer service culture initiatives, employee and leadership training, mystery shopping, consulting, and recognition and appreciation programs. CXE has partnered with more than 100 airport entities throughout its 25 years in operation. OUR VISION CXE inspires organizations to innovate and transform their service culture, ultimately delivering employee and customer experiences that boost employee engagement, spark customer delight and drive organizational success.
EVERY.CONNECTION.COUNTS. At CXE, we partner with our clients to craft and sustain a unified and thriving service culture that sets them apart. By creating engaging experiences for employees, and memorable, differentiated experiences for customers, we help clients chart a course towards new heights of excellence.
AIRPORT CX PROGRAM COMPONENTS CONSULTING & STRATEGY
• Customer experience (CX) strategy • Communication campaigns • Performance coaching and consulting • Executive summaries & action plans • CX leadership facilitation • Recognition & appreciation programs • Focus groups
CUSTOMIZED FRONTLINE AND MANAGER TRAINING • • • • • • •
Customer service Communication skills Performance coaching Service recovery Leadership Web-Based training (WBT) Learning management system (LMS)
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT • • • • •
Service standards development Mystery shopping Customer satisfaction surveys Social media monitoring Employee & tenant surveys
AFFILIATIONS & CERTIFICATIONS
Minority Business Enterprise certified in the state of Maryland & other cities & states
WE SPECIALIZE IN SERVING • • • •
Airport authorities Airport concessions Individual brands Terminal operations
CXEinc.com
• • • •
Multi-unit operations Safety and security Transportation Volunteer programs
2901 Riva Trace Parkway | Suite 100 Annapolis, MD 21401 888.770.7625