3 Strategies to Enhance Employee/Candidate Experience in Aviation

The challenges in aviation talent acquisition are well known, and seem to be here to stay for the foreseeable future.  Pilot shortages, shortfalls in maintenance technicians, rising costs and diminishing interest from younger generations, have all come together for the perfect storm in the industry.

There are over 700,000 jobs in the airline industry, and an additional 10 million jobs the airline industry supports, according to the AFA (Association of Flight Attendants).

“There have never been more great aviation career opportunities than today,” said Ethan Martin, CEO of Aviation Community Foundation. “Over 2 million jobs are forecast in the next 20 years. These include all aspects of aviation careers – from flying to maintenance.”

This has created an enormous and urgent need to recruit younger talent now, not only to fit today’s surge in talent demand, but the predicted ever-growing need in the years to come.  That will require companies to think differently, as these younger candidates have shown a significant change in what they are looking for in a career. To compete successfully within this younger talent pool, hiring organizations must focus on these new needs.

1. Create a better candidate experience

Candidates today, expect you to provide an easy-to-use, modern experience throughout your screening and onboarding process.  The background screening process will be one of the first impressions these candidates have of your brand, and will be provide the baseline for how they perceive future interactions. Make sure these candidates can fill out forms where, when, and how they want, when you send them.  Not only will this speed up your time-to-fill, but the candidates will be much happier.

Although screening is only one piece of the onboarding process, when examining your background screening and how you can optimize, look for a background screening company that has a framework for transition and dedicated management team to guide you through the process. They will be able to identify needs and challenges and assist with pre-planning, due diligence, program planning, IT integration, readiness and adoption, post-launch review and ongoing optimization and guidance. A company such as Vault Workforce Screening will help you in all these areas, and can ultimately optimize your screening program for faster, lower cost, candidate friendly screening you can rely on.  We’ll even review your program in detail to make recommendations where you can improve, regardless of whether you move forward with us (more info below).

2. Prioritize and market skills development

The “Great Resignation” largely stemmed from employees who felt stuck in jobs with no room for advancement or learning.  Work with your leaders to create a personal development program for all employees, and create career paths and tracks they can follow.  This will not only build confidence that the airline industry provides room for growth and learning, but will improve morale and retention, ultimately increasing productivity and general happiness across the board.

Once you’ve created the program and launched it, talk to your employees on a regular basis and use their input to continually evolve the program.  Don’t forget to have your recruitment marketing team use this program as a value prop showing your brand’s commitment to its’ employees from day 1.

3. Survey your employees regularly, right from the start

Create a program to survey your employees regularly from day one.  Make sure you provide a way for them to communicate want, needs, frustrations, etc., which you can remedy before it’s too late.

Once you’ve decided to hire a new candidate, make sure you interview them afterwards about the candidate experience.  Where could it have been better? Where did it shine?  By grabbing this info early on, when it’s still fresh on their mind, is crucial for you to continually optimize the experience for future candidates.  

Continue to survey employees throughout their tenure to demonstrate your commitment to improve their experience and opportunities for advancement.  These simple surveys often uncover problems long before its too late, and will give you an opportunity to stand out as a great employer.  Your candidates and employees will take notice and spread the word.

Vault is currently offering a free 30-minute screening program review with our aviation compliance experts. A clearly defined program and policy ensures consistency, accuracy, and efficiency in your process no matter what type of workers you’re hiring. There’s no better time than now to review your overall screening program and policy to ensure they’re providing the best experience possible, while mitigating risk.

‍