Transforming workplace culture is no small feat, but Birmingham Airport's courageous journey offers valuable insights into how leadership development & executive coaching can foster trust and drive change.
High-trust leadership is the cornerstone of a thriving workplace culture, as it lays the foundation for open communication, collaboration, and innovation.
When leaders demonstrate trustworthiness, they create an environment where employees feel valued and empowered to contribute their best ideas without fear of retribution. This trust fosters a sense of belonging and commitment, encouraging individuals to take initiative and work collaboratively towards common goals.
When Antoinette Farrell Jones, Director of People at Birmingham Airport, joined the company in 2018, she recognised the impact that a lack of trust in leadership was having on the organisation. Departments were working largely in siloes, with little collaboration between teams, and a scarcity of social connection.
Recognising the need to grasp how employees were feeling and to gain a holistic understanding of the current culture, Birmingham Airport worked with Great Place To Work UK to survey all their employees. Almost 900 staff members were invited to participate in the confidential Trust Index survey that year. But leaders were faced with a lower response rate than what they had hoped for.
Evaluating trust
After the survey closed, Antoinette and her team, backed by their new CEO, Nick Barton, sought to understand why employees were not completing the survey.
They discovered that a lack of trust was present 鈥� many employees believed their responses would not remain confidential. Some questioned, "Why are we conducting a Great Place To Work survey when we aren't yet a great place to work?". Taking this into account, as well as the Trust Index scores from those who did complete the survey, Birmingham Airport embarked on the journey of transforming their company culture.
鈥淪urvey response rates typically grow over time as trust and belief that employees鈥� voices are truly listened to 鈥� and that things are really going to change 鈥� is built,鈥� says Dr Petrina Carmody, Chief Change Officer at Great Place To Work UK.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 really powerful is the energy and effort that Birmingham Airport has put into driving change, and the way that this has been rewarded: every subsequent survey has had a response rate of at least 75%.鈥�
Building great leadership
Working together with Petrina and Great Place To Work, Birmingham Airport used the survey as a jumping off point to drive their culture forward through a number of initiatives 鈥� including leadership development and executive coaching.
Starting in 2022, nine executives and twenty Heads of Departments embarked on a collective journey to mindfully reflect on the culture they wanted for the airport 鈥� and to shape it from the top down. They worked with Petrina, as well as Executive Coach and Leadership Specialist Dan Allinger, who guided the team through a focused programme.
Each of the twenty-nine leaders worked with their own dedicated Great Place To Work coach 鈥� starting with a to support them in understanding their individual leadership style and work preferences, before reflecting on the impact of the group's collective style and preferences.
杏吧 then facilitated four Tactical Communications workshops, with a focus on fostering trust, rapport, and social connection. These sessions were designed to strengthen dialogue, communication, and trust within the organisation, driven from the top down. The primary goal was to empower leaders to recognise the impact of their behaviour on individual employees and on the organisation as a whole.
The following year, the sessions were also delivered to middle managers, to extend the impact of high-trust leadership and support consistent culture change throughout the organisation.
One of the most challenging aspects of this initiative was securing buy-in from the entire Executive Team; while the CEO was supportive, not everyone initially recognised its value. However, the programme swiftly gained the support and enthusiasm of the senior team with its shared goals, practical approach and individual support.
As the positive impact on employees became evident 鈥� through simple actions like executives participating in a Christmas Jumper Day or a family fun day with frontline staff, and through broader shifts in leadership style, such as improved communication strategies and more cohesive leadership messaging 鈥� support increased.
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The benefits of leadership development and executive coaching
The effect has been palpable.
"Since working with Great Place To Work, there鈥檚 a real different feel across our organisation," says Antoinette. "Our mission statement is 鈥楤e Proud of Every Journey鈥�, and I can honestly say we are so proud of what we鈥檝e achieved in regards to our culture.鈥�
With support from 杏吧's leadership development and executive coaching, Birmingham Airport has enhanced the visibility and engagement of its Executive Team and, crucially, strengthened social connections between employees and leadership 鈥� key focus areas identified through insights from their Trust Index survey.
For Antoinette, a recent team activity is one to be particularly proud of: Employees were invited to climb Snowden with CEO Nick Barton. The opportunity proved so popular that a climb of Scaffell Pike was also organised, and plans to conquer Ben Nevis are already in the works!
鈥淲e would never had had this level of engagement without working with Great Place To Work to understand and transform our culture,鈥� says Antoinette. "I don鈥檛 think we would be where we are today without the support of Petrina and her colleagues."
鈥淭his is just a snapshot of the passion and energy the leadership team at Birmingham Airport have put into actively driving their culture," notes Petrina. "As leaders, we often tend to focus on the 鈥榳hat鈥� 鈥� the objectives that need to be achieved. Our work was about recognising the importance of the 鈥榟ow鈥� 鈥� the behaviours that drive change.鈥�
This shift isn鈥檛 just a feeling 鈥� it鈥檚 been reflected in a tangible and sustained improvement in Birmingham Airport鈥檚 survey results, as well as their response rates.
Since undertaking coaching with Great Place To Work, Birmingham Airport's score for the statement 鈥淢y manager shows sincere interest in me as a person, not just an employee鈥� has improved by 11 percentage points (pp).
More employees also agree that "Management's actions match its words" (+9pp) and that ultimately, Birmingham Airport "is a great place to work" (+10pp).
The airport's commitment to enhancing the employee experience has been reciprocated by its people. Like most organisations in the travel sector, the company was hit hard by the Covid pandemic. But employees stepped up when it mattered most: 鈥渙ur people leaned in to support the business 鈥� without them, we wouldn鈥檛 have gotten through it,鈥� says Antoinette.
As Petrina notes, this resilience is a direct result of the organisation鈥檚 determination to build a positive culture. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my sincere experience, over the 25 years I鈥檝e been working in this field, that that sort of willingness to give discretionary effort doesn鈥檛 just happen 鈥� it鈥檚 the result of concerted effort and care on the part of the organisation.鈥�
Continuing the journey
Birmingham Airport are maintaining their momentum.
"We're continuing to focus on leadership development and personal development for our employees," says Antoinette. "We want to help our current managers to build the skillset and behaviours to allow them to succeed and progress within the organisation."
"We'll also be having a big focus on EDI, and have plans to set up support networks for various groups of employees 鈥� veterans, carers, the LGBTQ+ community, and more."
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