2. Agenda
• Virgin Atlantic
• Attracting Great People
• HR in a Regulated Industry
• Engaging People in Tough Times
• Managing the People aspect of Change
• HR to Drive Business Decisions
• Questions
3.
4. Virgin Atlantic
• Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 1984
• First flight from Gatwick to Newark, USA
• 38 Aircraft - Boeing 747 and Airbus A340
• 29 long haul destinations
• Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy
• Singapore Airlines own 49% stake
8. Power of the Brand
• No.1 most admired brand in the UK (HPI)
• No.1 brand to represent Britain in the future (Marketing Week)
• No.1 best company to work for, UK (Marketing Week)
• No.1 coolest travel brand in the UK (CoolBrands)
• No.5 best customer service provider in the UK (National Consumer Council)
• 4th best marketed brand in the world (Forbes)
• 11th most innovative company in the world (Boston Consulting Group)
9. Business Challenges
• Over capacity on core routes
• High and fluctuating fuel prices
• Global recession affecting customer confidence
• Being a player in future industry consolidation
• Long term sustainability of aviation
• Little or no growth
15. Attracting Great People
• Be clear about who you want
– Common sense before intellect
– People skills before technical skills
– Someone you’d want to work with
• Set the bar really high;
– Tell people about the real job
– And recruit for the next job
• Everyone is a Talent Spotter; let your people pick the team
17. …..and off to a Flying Start
• Start before they Start
• Importance of the brand
• Set the Bar High….again!
• Customer Service
• Brilliant Basics and Magic Touches
• The Big Welcome
23. “For us, our employees matter most. It just seems
common sense to me that, if you start off with a
happy, well-motivated workforce, you’re much
more likely to have happy customers. And in due
course the resulting profits will make your
shareholders happy.”
Sir Richard Branson
24. People, Service and Profit
Profit
Employee Customer Customer
Value &
Engagement Satisfaction Loyalty
Growth
People ….. and ….. and we’re
love to deliver able to grow
Work at Brilliant a profitable
the
…..People stick basics, Magic ….. So our airline
airline
around and touches customers
put in the love to fly
effort when it
Virgin
matters
Atlantic
25. Identify your drivers of engagement
“Our Manifesto is to grow a profitable airline where people
love to fly and where people love to work.”
Think Feel
Drivers Performance
Act
26. Opportunities to improve
BRILLIANT BASICS - keep working on service consistency
• Understand the problems you face in your work so we sort them together
• Provide you with the tools and training to do the job so you can shine
• Let you know what your customers are saying so you can respond
RESPECT – your ideas and talent
• Involve you in work decisions, listen to you ideas and act wherever possible
• Give you regular feedback on how you are doing and develop you to be the
best you can be
• Encourage career development and transparent & fair progression
WORK TOGETHER – to be more efficient and have fun!
• Strengthen the cooperation between departments and divisions
35. Change Enablement
•Change Enablement is the process for preparing an
organisation and its people for the implementation of
a new capability
• Change Enablement work typically addresses several
business issues
• Some of the project activities include
- Aligning roles, jobs and teams
- Developing & delivering training and performance
support
- Planning & developing communications
- Measuring and coaching the business in change
readiness, sponsorship, and governance activities
37. HR role in business planning
• Facilitate strategic and operational planning
• Identify capabilities to succeed
• Plan how to deliver capabilities
• Drive for efficiency & effectiveness
• Ensure business equipped to manage change
• Right policies and processes
• Past and future perspective
Editor's Notes
It’s been an amazing journey and climb from pretty humble beginnings One Aircraft, one route, 6 month anticipated life span, a bunch of BA retirees and a brace of pretty girls. 27 years on, 35 Wide Body Aircraft, 30 routes, 4m pax, 2bn t/o and 5000 pretty girls! How? No magic pill, 1000’s of things, no hope of covering all today
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
DRIVE THROUGH PHOTO We were already offering our customers a free limo pick up at either end of their journey. But we improved the experience by creating a drive through “check-in facility”, where a customer could be checked in and be relieved of their bags without leaving their vehicle.
CLUBHOUSE Customer told us that waiting in airports was pants. So we put in some serious thought as to what we’d like to do if we had an hour of free time. As a result we created Clubhouses rather than Airport Lounges : These clubhouses have shoeshine, hair cut, manicure, massage, spa pools, bars with cocktail bar men, games to play, demo technology for you to try, quiet zones for a nap, you can even top up your tan in our spray booths.
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Because customers told us that keeping themselves and their kids amused for up to thirteen hours was hard… So we were the first with personal in-flight entertainment for all passengers, the latest systems now offering full video on demand so you pause the movie and go to the loo.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Having a clear, consistent, communicated strategy is important Our Manifesto Loose/Tight management style
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Let’s talk about one of the big enablers Somewhere early in his business career Richard recognised that he needed like minded people to deliver excellent customer service. People to whom service …..our definition of service…..is an intrinsic part of their character or makeup. Over time we have made finding these people a bit of a black art.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
DRIVE THROUGH PHOTO We were already offering our customers a free limo pick up at either end of their journey. But we improved the experience by creating a drive through “check-in facility”, where a customer could be checked in and be relieved of their bags without leaving their vehicle.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
NAKED AIRCRAFT The ad is designed to stand out from the crowd … we want to get those young engineers saying “now that’s the type of company I want to work for” Don’t be lazy This approach is successful, each year we get over 90,000 enquiries and 35,000 applications and we take about 1500. Therefore it’s easy to be choosy. Being clear about whom you want and going to great lengths to attract the right types are only two parts of “people” element of a service culture. What we do with them once they are on board is just as important. Let me see a show of hands … . How many of you here today are seated next to your customers ??? OK….if you are not with your customers…. Who is? Hopefully, your people are - right ?? In any business, you can never fully pre-conceive all of the situations your people will face … in our business its even more difficult because these situations often occur at 39,000ft in far away places. These situations can be so diverse that it is impossible to imagine a rule book that would work. So we discovered early in our history that it wasn’t worth trying.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
RED GIRL IN TERMINAL Unfortunately, leaders like Richard can’t be everywhere at once. So having other “champions” or role models to provide service leadership when the boss isn’t there is really important too. Leadership at a particular moment can shown by anyone, at any level . So we want a culture that inspires people to step up. Celebrating and holding up people who display the right behaviour like Captain Burgess did in Gander does help set the standard for others to follow. This really helps keep the momentum going and takes the strain off the guys at the top.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
NAKED AIRCRAFT The ad is designed to stand out from the crowd … we want to get those young engineers saying “now that’s the type of company I want to work for” Don’t be lazy This approach is successful, each year we get over 90,000 enquiries and 35,000 applications and we take about 1500. Therefore it’s easy to be choosy. Being clear about whom you want and going to great lengths to attract the right types are only two parts of “people” element of a service culture. What we do with them once they are on board is just as important. Let me see a show of hands … . How many of you here today are seated next to your customers ??? OK….if you are not with your customers…. Who is? Hopefully, your people are - right ?? In any business, you can never fully pre-conceive all of the situations your people will face … in our business its even more difficult because these situations often occur at 39,000ft in far away places. These situations can be so diverse that it is impossible to imagine a rule book that would work. So we discovered early in our history that it wasn’t worth trying.
NAKED AIRCRAFT The ad is designed to stand out from the crowd … we want to get those young engineers saying “now that’s the type of company I want to work for” Don’t be lazy This approach is successful, each year we get over 90,000 enquiries and 35,000 applications and we take about 1500. Therefore it’s easy to be choosy. Being clear about whom you want and going to great lengths to attract the right types are only two parts of “people” element of a service culture. What we do with them once they are on board is just as important. Let me see a show of hands … . How many of you here today are seated next to your customers ??? OK….if you are not with your customers…. Who is? Hopefully, your people are - right ?? In any business, you can never fully pre-conceive all of the situations your people will face … in our business its even more difficult because these situations often occur at 39,000ft in far away places. These situations can be so diverse that it is impossible to imagine a rule book that would work. So we discovered early in our history that it wasn’t worth trying.
RED GIRL IN TERMINAL Unfortunately, leaders like Richard can’t be everywhere at once. So having other “champions” or role models to provide service leadership when the boss isn’t there is really important too. Leadership at a particular moment can shown by anyone, at any level . So we want a culture that inspires people to step up. Celebrating and holding up people who display the right behaviour like Captain Burgess did in Gander does help set the standard for others to follow. This really helps keep the momentum going and takes the strain off the guys at the top.
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
Frankly in 45 odd minutes we will only scratch the surface of what it really takes so I’m just going to concentrate on the four things I’ve seen at Virgin Atlantic that I think creates the right environment to win loyalty. A Clear Business Strategy Having the Right People Relentlessly Innovating Having the right leadership
It’s been an amazing journey and climb from pretty humble beginnings One Aircraft, one route, 6 month anticipated life span, a bunch of BA retirees and a brace of pretty girls. 27 years on, 35 Wide Body Aircraft, 30 routes, 4m pax, 2bn t/o and 5000 pretty girls! How? No magic pill, 1000’s of things, no hope of covering all today
