About Gatwick Airport Ltd

In 2012, Gatwick set out to improve the quality and quantity of development conversations. Gatwick did this through the ‘My Development’ roll out with a focus on personal and career development. This involved developing a brand, ‘[email protected]’ and designing a guide for all employees. The guide consisted of introducing employees to a 70/20/10 approach to development - 70% is ‘on the job’, 20% learning with others and 10% is formal learning. The guide sets out expectations for the individual around preparing for a development review and the structure of the conversation itself. This was then rolled out through specific briefings, underpinned by a marketing campaign. The HR system, ‘MyView’, was updated to support the personal development conversation structure with the Personal Development Plan (PDP), which enables both line manager and individual to interact and continually update the PDP. They then added the career development aspect supported by a range of resources. One of the biggest impacts came from four in-house Careers Fairs that were offered to all individuals across the business. The fairs enabled individuals to find out more about other functions, typical roles that are recruited for and the skills required as well as getting advice on career development. Reports are regularly run from ‘MyView’ to ascertain development trends and needs so they can best support individuals. The most recent People Leader survey results showed that 83% agree or strongly agree that their line manager has ‘regular conversations with them about their personal development’.

Their best example would be Gatwick’s ‘Turn it Up’ programme. It was run by a team of facilitators who then trained up each team leader to co-facilitate. The programme then got the whole team working together on how they could make the experience at Gatwick even better for their passengers. They worked on a series of interactive parts that gave each group their own description of ‘what good looks like’ so that they can own this and take it forward with their line manager. They went on to produce their ‘team pledge’, which they now use everyday and as a key part of performance discussions. They then went on to use 'turn it up' to engage and train up their people as volunteers during times of disruption. Over 350 people went through the programme and now understand what passengers need during these difficult times and how they can help them. They gave them a pack of information, tours of the airport and training on how to assist colleagues in security. During a recent disruption they had a fantastic turn out from willing volunteers, known as 'foxes' and are supported by 'Snow leopards' and 'yeti's'. One volunteer said 'before the session I was too scared to go out in amongst our passengers in case I gave wrong information. After turn it up I now feel much more confident and I loved helping the passengers. I went home that night with a real buzz'.

They have the Gatwick Excellence Awards. Every quarter individuals who have shown how they ‘live’ their values are nominated by their line manager for a reward. The nominations are then discussed by senior operational managers and representatives from across the business. The winner receives a £30 voucher and a thank you letter signed from their executive or senior manager. They are also entered into a prize draw for the chance to receive a £5k cash prize plus five days’ annual leave and free flights with Virgin Altantic, which is drawn in three times a year. This is an extremely generous reward that is highly valued by their employees.