1. People and employee engagement
Previously Air New Zealand’s thinking was that their most valuable assets were their planes, however a huge mind-shift has resulted in them recognising the value of ‘people,’ i.e. both the external and internal customer.
CEO Rob Fyfe says “The airline industry is volatile and we believe the agility of our people to adapt and adjust our business to changing customer expectations, new competitors and uncertain economic conditions has enabled Air New Zealand to outperform most of our peers both financially and in terms of the genuine service we deliver.”
All this makes perfect sense considering the results of a survey conducted by American Express in 2011.
American Express’ Global Customer Service Barometer found that business are failing to satisfy their customers and in an economic climate where consumers have less disposable income but more purchasing power than ever it’s time for brands realize there’s gold in them thar customer relationships.
In a classic cart before the horse scenario, a brand can’t deliver a fantastic customer relationship experience if the staff are not fully engaged and happy in their jobs.
So this is a job for the internal brand team and it seems they’ve been working over time to understand their employees and making connections between personal values and behaviours and brand delivery expectations. It appears Air New Zealand have bought 100% into the old truism; if employees are engaged and happy, so too are customers.