Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2023

he says. “It enables and empowers our team members to deliver it, measures our success, and rewards and recognizes those team members who go above and beyond in delivering on our service promise of ‘creating special experiences, one guest at a time.’” Tastes on the Fly conducts specialized hospitality training for its front-line teams that covers certain circumstances that may arise, including how to handle guest complaints and how to proactively identify guest-specific needs, such as for people with disabilities. “We also provide team and morale building activities and effective problem solving and communication workshops and programs, with the goal of creating an exceptional workplace culture and a sense of community within our own team,” Ames says. At SSP America, the goal is to create an environment where team members are engaged and committed to an overarching philosophy of care for one another and for the passengers we serve,” says Svagdis. “We know that an engaged workforce drives hospitality and service; in other words, if we take care of the team members, the team members will take care of the passengers. We then train and onboard team members using a program we call ‘Expert Pathways,’ which covers all aspects of our culture, job responsibilities, background about the brand and of course, our customer service methodology.” To measure these efforts, SSP America solicits input from team members annually

using the research firm Gallup , which conducts its long-standing survey globally so that companies can conduct comparative analysis. Management Involvement Svagdis adds that one of the most significant ways the company ensures it has an engaged team that delivers meaningful service is by ensuring it has an active and present leadership team that regularly spends time with team members. “These leaders include our COO Amanda Busby, regional vice presidents, and me as well as countless other leaders who are thoroughly engaged with the operations teams,” he says. “We also place tremendous emphasis on internal promotions, which ensure continuity of messaging and customer service training.” Gregg Paradies, president and CEO of Paradies Lagardère, is front and center in his company’s team recognition efforts, highlighting front-line associates in the company’s bi-monthly CEO company video. This employee recognition effort is coupled with other initiatives, including gift cards and company-wide recognitions for exceptional service. Tinsley Harland says the public acknowledgement of excellence makes sense. “Since most of our business is face-to-face interaction with travelers,” she says, “we fully understand the importance and value of applauding our associates for the great work they do.”

Above: SSP America’s approach to hospitality and customer service is focused on building a “culture of case” within the company to ultimately create an environment where team members care for one another as well as passengers.

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AX NEWS CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUE 2023