Employee Engagement
An engaged workforce is a committed one, so we keep our staff informed of developments across MAG, as well as ensuring their voices are heard.
Innovation
Our workforce is an incredibly valuable resource, which we want to make the most of. Innovation is one of our six key values and the MAG Innovation Initiative has been introduced to capture the brilliant ideas of our people. Ideas gathered so far cover issues including the environment, security and customer service.
Airport Mystery Shopping
Sharon Bell from East Midlands Airport was an early user of our Innovation Initiative system. While discussing MAG's vision to be the World's Airports of Choice with colleagues, she had a light bulb moment. She knew that there were other airports that the company could learn from but that would require information about what those airports are really like. Her idea, which is now being put into practice, is a simple one: an online form that colleagues can use to record their experiences when they pass through other airports. As Sharon says, "After all, surely our own colleagues are our best mystery shoppers?"
Employee Opinion Survey
Our employees' opinions are highly valuable to us. Every year, we carry out a survey of our employees to gather their opinions on issues ranging from how much they enjoy their jobs and the approachability of their line managers to how change is handled and the quality of Group-wide communication. In 2009/10, we redesigned the survey to provide greater alignment with our employee strategy and to incorporate a greater focus on the business characteristics needed to achieve our goal of becoming a totally customer-centric organisation. Our January 2010 annual survey saw an increase in colleague engagement across the Group, from 52% to 60% against a downwards trend across all industries.
Colleague Engagement at MAG (a composite score from our Employee Opinion Survey)
| 2007 | 2008/9 | 2010 | 2013 target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49% | 52% | 60% | 80% |
Responding to Employee Concerns
We take the results of our Employee Opinion Survey seriously, along with any other feedback we receive from our staff. The main value of the survey is in the actions we take afterwards and a number of initiatives have been introduced in 2009/10 to address concerns raised through the previous survey. These include:
- Our instant recognition scheme (see Our Approach)
- A Back to the Floor programme that has been introduced in Manchester in response to employees' requests for increased visibility of senior staff. The Managing Director and senior managers spend half a day to a day on the airport floor participating in operations across all business areas. We plan to roll this out to all our airports.
- Our Fix the Basics programme, which is specifically about listening to employee concerns and improving their working environment.
- A change management project, including new procedures for implementing business change and training in change management for our managers. Through this, we intend to better support our employees when our airports go through change, for example as a result of falling demand for air travel.
60%
Our colleague engagement score increased from 52% to 60% in 2009/10