If your flight department has more than one employee, sooner or later you will face the challenges of hiring and managing a generationally and culturally diverse team. While that can seem daunting, with a bit of care and foresight, you may find that diversity is the best thing to happen to your flight department since PTO.
AIN’s 2023 CALS attendees identified four critical areas that flight department leaders should concentrate on to ease their transition to a multigenerational workforce: understanding generational differences, identifying company culture, communicating effectively, and creating a healthy environment.
The Goldilocks Paradox
For many reasons, managing diversity is the key to creating a solid foundation for a “today’s generation” flight department. At the very least, successful flight department managers must have a working knowledge of each group’s pluses and minuses.
Gen X, 1965-1980. Their strength is that they are often the knowledge keepers in an organization. Companies must take advantage of that knowledge and ensure that the transfer of knowledge continues. Their weakness is that they tend to resist change.
Millennials, 1981-1996. Their strength is that they often make good managers because they are old enough to relate to the Boomers/GenXers, yet young enough to understand the Gen Zs.
Their weakness is that they often have the dual responsibility of raising children while caring for aging parents. Flexibility is key.
Gen Z, 1997-2012. Their strength is that they often work well remotely and are comfortable using the web and other technological sources to fill their knowledge gaps. Their weakness is that they work to live, rather than live to work. Companies must continually mentor, train, and reward to keep them long-term.
Of course, these are all gross generalizations. If there’s one constant with generational attributes, it’s that no two people are alike. That’s why managers need to take the time to find employees who fit into their company culture.
You Can’t Change Who You Are
No matter how much an applicant’s skills, background, or enthusiasm seem to make him or her the perfect solution for your need, if the person doesn’t match your company’s culture, he or she is a bad fit.
As one director of aviation put it, “If you have a culture and if somebody is going to be way outside the norm of that culture, they’re probably not going to fit in with their colleagues. It’s kind of a self-selecting thing.”
And while company cultures may be more fluid today than in the past, the accepted dos and don’ts still have to be your baselines.
“There are some boundaries, but you just have to have some reasonable policies, too,” a director of maintenance said. “Dress codes and no-drug policies are non-negotiable. But some things, like colorfully dyed hair, may be within flexible boundaries. You know, just welcome the blue and wonder if it will be purple or pink tomorrow.
“The problem is when these things collide with your customer base,” the maintenance director continued. “You have to be aware of that. Like in our company, pilots can have facial hair as long as it’s trimmed and short.”
One thing that the CALS attendees agreed on is that no matter what your company's cultural guidelines are, managers must take steps to ensure that new hires will be comfortable with the team and that the current employees will be comfortable with them.
“The best practice today is to hire slow and look for the best overall fit,” a senior director of flight operations said. “Today, it’s hard to pass on any qualified applicant, but you need to put a lot of effort into hiring the right people.”
Keeping Tribal Knowledge Alive
While no one can argue the benefits of new ideas and processes for any flight department, the need to mentor and educate new employees on the way you do things is crucial to maintaining a company’s operational well-being.
“Nothing replaces the experience that is lost when our senior people leave,” a flight department director explained. “You’ve got to be intentional in gathering and conveying as much of that tribal knowledge as you can while you can.”
One of the best ways to do that is through a proactive and structured mentorship program. And it’s not just to share company dos and don’ts; it’s a way to engage the younger workers and keep them focused on building their career paths. As mentioned earlier, Gen Zs, in particular, need constant guidance and involvement if you want to keep them long-term.
Of course, mentoring isn’t a one-way street today. Many flight departments are relying on younger workers to mentor the older folks in working with new technologies.
“You get some people who just aren’t comfortable with technology or systems,” a senior DOM said. “Our younger people grew up with it and know this like the back of their hands. Our super-users take the stress out of learning to use the new digital and online tools. Good training goes both ways.”
Flexibility Is Fundamental
Yes, following the operational guidelines of a flight department or company is critical to an employee’s longevity. But, still, in today’s world, you must tender tribal knowledge with a soupçon of flexibility regarding location, scheduling, and the like.
“Covid has brought a different dynamic with hybrid working in the office and home,” a chief pilot said. “The GenXers want flexibility in their working environment because, in a growing number of instances, they’re not only taking care of their children but also aging parents.
“People who aren’t in these situations have no idea of the added pressures these people are under to do that and their jobs,” the pilot continued. “Oftentimes, other employees become frustrated by what these people ask the company to do to meet their needs. We have to educate them.”
Addressing these varying needs has required flight department managers to adopt greater flexibility when scheduling and assigning tasks.
“Flexibility is key today,” a DOM said. “But it works out because we know these workers will do more than give back. People want to show up and go home at the end of the day and feel good about what they did. Very few people of any generation want to be below average.”
The bottom line is that when hiring pilots, maintainers, or support personnel, leaders need to be more open to new ideas, personalities, and possibilities than in the past. The good news is that it's pretty easy to do if we continue working together to share information and experiences.