It’s been a turbulent few years for the airline industry. Since the pandemic began, workers’ priorities have shifted. This led to a huge exodus of experienced staff who retrained and moved into other industries.
Now, as schedules are slowly returning to normal, airlines are focused on recruiting the next generation of talent. The majority of airline jobs are highly skilled, and every aviation professional who leaves represents a significant investment of time and resources needed to train a replacement.
Even pre-pandemic, staff turnover in the industry was high. It ran at around 20% in ground operations and 18% in customer services and cabin crew. So it’s no surprise, staff retention has become the main priority for HR departments:
Speaking to the National Business Aviation Association, Sheryl Barden, President and CEO, Aviation Personnel International, said, “Retention is an aviation director’s most critical job today, and it’s getting harder and harder.”
A central retention strategy across a variety of industries is investing in the continuous professional development (CPD) of employees. So, what does this look like when it comes to the airline industry? Investing in staff’s communication skills, especially their English language skills, is a priority for many airlines.
Continuous professional development is a core pillar of a company culture which encourages staff to fulfill their potential. Engaged, fulfilled employees keep your turnover rates low. But, just as importantly, they also contribute to a positive company culture overall.
CPD strategy can take many forms. Some organizations encourage peer coaching, mentorship schemes, goal-setting, self-directed learning or external training. Yet, however CPD in aviation is managed, making time for staff to learn new skills and develop their professional knowledge is crucial.
Not only do aviation training programs boost staff morale, they also keep the talent in-house, helping your team grow in efficiency. In the long run, this helps your company be more competitive in a crowded field.
Let’s take a more detailed look at four main benefits of CPD for the airline industry.
It is dangerous to underestimate the importance of creating a clear career pathway for aviation professionals. When your workers don’t see a way of progressing in their roles, they will quickly get bored and start looking around for opportunities.
So, to keep the high flyers engaged in your company, you need to check in with your employees regularly. The aim is to make sure that they have lots of opportunities to develop and apply new skills and knowledge.
That way, your employees will be able to see a career progression and will be able to set goals to work towards. As they move upwards through the ranks, they will bring with them a detailed knowledge of how your organization works at every level as their careers take off.
All-in-all they’ll be building a type of profound, company-specific expertise that is difficult to find in an external hire.
Building a career in the aviation industry is demanding. It’s a high pressure environment with challenging shift patterns. And, for some roles, it involves lots of time away from home.
In this type of working environment, employees who don’t feel valued can quickly become jaded. So, how can you build staff loyalty?
In order for your workers to be committed to your airline, you need to show that this commitment goes in both directions. Prioritizing training and skills development for your workforce is an important way to demonstrate that you value the talents and hard work of your team.
In fact, one study showed that 94% of employees say they would stay at a company that invested in their career progression for longer. Putting time and resources into aviation training programs is a clear statement of your commitment to your staff.
As well as demonstrating your commitment to your staff, CPD will also increase their confidence and build the skills they need to be effective in their roles. More highly skilled employees will communicate better, boosting the overall efficiency of your team.
What’s more, continuous CPD allows for the sharing of best practice and the diffusion of skills and knowledge throughout the company. This improves communication and collaboration amongst your team. And when you have a team working efficiently together, your company benefits more from every hour of their time.
The airline industry is an increasingly competitive and internationally-facing environment. Highly knowledgeable aviation professionals who are continually updating their skills and building on their expertise can help your company to stand out from a crowded field. In turn, this will maximize your opportunities for growth.
English language skills are an important pillar of CPD when it comes to international growth. A workforce which has a high level of English is essential for expanding into new markets, especially in aviation.
So it’s not surprising that English language skills are an increasingly important part of continuous professional development for airline staff. Let’s take a look at exactly why English is so crucial for your workforce.
In the airline industry, lots of organizations have scripts for staff to follow. It makes sense. After all, it’s important to give passengers clear directions and accurate information, and following a script can be the easiest way of communicating common instructions to passengers.
However, the best customer service happens when airline staff are able to go off-script and respond in the moment to passengers. In this scenario, good language skills are an essential tool for communicating with passengers, responding to their needs and making them feel heard.
English was first chosen as the language of the skies in 1944, when industry professionals realized it was essential that pilots and air traffic controllers could communicate clearly, quickly and accurately when operating aircraft. For anyone considering a career in the aviation industry, English is essential. Since 2008, pilots and air traffic controllers must pass an English language proficiency test in order to be fully qualified for their roles.
A proficient level of English is also important for cabin crew. If a passenger is ill, or an emergency landing is required, cabin crew must have the language skills to communicate in high pressure situations. Being able to communicate clearly with passengers - and, indeed, with one another - will minimize risk and improve safety.
Strong communication skills aren’t just important in high pressure situations. Aviation professionals in customer-facing roles will need a strong command of English for their everyday interactions with passengers. Whether they are offering assistance, receiving positive feedback or resolving an issue, being able to communicate clearly, with empathy and understanding, is crucial.
Strong English skills will also make each interaction less stressful for your employees. And as their language skills develop, their confidence in communicating proficiently with passengers will soar.
Good English skills will provide your staff with a solid grounding for other aviation training programs. In the last few years, there has been a massive increase in online learning and training. Like most online content, there is an enormous number of courses available in English. So, once your staff have a good command of English, they will be able to develop their skills in other areas by accessing online training in English.
What’s more, if your airline needs to do some organization-wide training, for example in diversity, equity and inclusion, knowing that your entire workforce has a good command of English will simplify the process of sourcing an external training provider. You’ll be able to roll out one course, delivered by one trainer, in the confidence that your staff have the language skills to learn in English.
English has become increasingly important as a baseline skill for most international organizations over the last twenty years. What can we learn from looking at other companies, and how they supported their staff to learn English?
Rakuten is one of the most famous examples. In 2010, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani announced to his 10,000 employees that from then on, English would be the language of the company, with everything from meeting minutes to canteen menus in English. He believed that this linguistic switch was essential for Rakuten’s international expansion, and gave employees two years to get their language skills up to scratch, or face demotion.
Eighteen months later, Rakuten checked staff progress – and it wasn’t good news. Employees were struggling to learn English on their own.
The company reassessed its expectations, and provided staff with online and in-person English classes, as well as access to English learning apps and individual support. Within five years of the original announcement, the vast majority of staff were confident in their English skills.
So, what is the lesson in this example? If you want to get your workforce on board with improving their English skills, they need support. It’s just not realistic to expect drastic improvements in language ability unless it’s part of a structured English curriculum.
If you want to reap all the benefits of an English-speaking workforce, it’s important to invest in English language training which addresses staff needs.
ELSA is an AI-powered English training program which helps your employees to build their confidence in English and boost their speaking skills in just three months. It is flexible and tailored to each employee’s needs – and ELSA even offers learning content which is specifically designed for aviation staff.
Find out more about partnering with ELSA, and boosting employees’ skills and retention with English language training.