For long-time Randstad client Dutch airline KLM, focusing on its people is the path forward, and since the pandemic the company has made vast improvements to its talent experience.
While the travel shutdown during Covid-19 affected most of KLM’s business, talent leaders spotted an opportunity to enhance its processes in the post-pandemic era, specifically how it was engaging with talent at its Amsterdam Schiphol hub.
The airline recognized that it needed to change the way it attracted, hired and onboarded people, especially once air travel soared post lockdown. By then, many KLM employees had found new jobs. They were reluctant to return to a business that some viewed as having grown less dependable and not particularly competitive in their talent offerings.
“We knew we had to do better by our talent. Just like the way we designed a seamless and outstanding experience for our customers, we needed to replicate that for our people. Talent scarcity is especially acute in the Netherlands, so if we don’t provide a powerful value proposition for talent, we won’t be able to compete. It’s as simple as that,” said Mathieu Essenberg, EVP Ground Operations at KLM.
Training became a cornerstone of KLM’s employee value proposition.
To supercharge its recruitment effectiveness, KLM in collaboration with Randstad focused on a data-driven approach. By assessing insights about the local labor market and the applicant funnel, the airline identified exactly where in the recruitment journey candidates abandoned their application.
“We started a conversation with KLM with these insights and identified 18 touchpoints where we could improve the conversion. This resulted in a greatly improved talent journey with ultimately the right employees,” said Edward Norg, operational director at Randstad Netherlands.
These measures ranged from simplifying the job application process to streamlining onboarding to offering greater flexibility and control over work schedules. Reassessing pay competitiveness, working conditions and skilling opportunities also made jobs at KLM’s Schiphol operations more attractive.
Training became a cornerstone of KLM’s employee value proposition. For instance, Randstad worked with a third-party driving school to train 100 employees to acquire their commercial license so they could operate vehicles on the tarmac. They also lobbied for regulatory change that allowed workers with a passenger car license to operate pushback vehicles for smaller aircrafts, which helped fill roles more quickly and create new career paths. Previously, these roles required a truck driver license.
We can now offer a much better workplace journey to help us attract and retain workers, which ultimately means the achievement made on the ground will lead to a better experience in the air for our customers and our people.
Randstad also supported KLM in recruiting and training highly skilled refugees as aircraft mechanics. Many are not fluent Dutch speakers and have required special care and support in their training. As a result of KLM’s efforts, they have been well integrated into the airline’s workforce and have benefited from learning additional skills that will accelerate their careers and contributions to the Dutch economy. A more flexible scheduling process has also enabled empowered talent to decide their own schedules and swap shifts with co-workers through the Randstad App.
All these innovations significantly improved the talent experience at KLM. Worker satisfaction among temp workers averaged only 4.8 before the pandemic but has since rocketed to 8.1 – a testament to the importance of adopting a talent-centric approach to hiring and workforce management. The number of sick days declined as did the frequency of no-shows, driving up productivity and better airport services.
“These huge improvements with Randstad’s support will have a long-lasting impact in our talent strategy at Schiphol Airport. We can now offer a much better workplace journey to help us attract and retain workers, which ultimately means the achievement made on the ground will lead to a better experience in the air for our customers and our people,” said Daan Nijssen, VP KLM’s HR Center of Expertise for Resourcing and Health.