Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is building a better customer experience inside the terminal by constructing a proactive approach to employee recognition.
The airport banded all its employee recognition programs under the MSP Nice initiative to build a professional customer service culture for all employees with incentives given on the spot for making a real impact during their workday.
Any manager at MSP can recognize any employee on the spot with a voucher for free goods. Unsolicited compliments from customers are awarded with a $25 gift card and an invitation to the annual MSP Nice Celebration.
There is also a yearly Customer Service Hero award, open to all individuals working in the airport who display outstanding customer service, that comes with a trophy and $1,000.
“It's wonderful to be able to approach an employee and not just say thank you for going above and beyond, but to explain to them that out of the 21,000 employees we have at MSP, it's really the top 1 percent that get these compliments,” said Isabella Rhawie, assistant director, Concessions and Business Development for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). “It's a lot easier to send in a complaint than it is to send in a compliment. You must really have to touch someone and impact them in order for them to go out of their way to write a compliment.”
Build to Build Better Culture
The MSP Customer Service Action Council (CSAC) is the driving force for all customer service initiatives at the airport. CSAC brings together all campus stakeholders, such as the airport, TSA, airlines, concessionaires, and other service providers, to analyze MSP’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) results, review initiatives and create impactful employee recognition programs to deliver customer service excellence.
Each of MSP’s initiatives focuses on developing the customer service culture, improving airport services, recognizing and motivating frontline service personnel, soliciting customer feedback, and measuring perceptions. They include:
- Employee motivation and recognition programs like the MSP Nice Awards and Airport Customer Service Hero
- Participation in the Airports Council International’s ASQ Survey Program
- Maintenance and resolution of the Compliments & Complaints Databases as a means for customers to provide direct feedback
CSAC monitors and distributes all consumer feedback received and maintains a 99% responsiveness rate to all comments. Through CSAC and tenant meetings, the airport discusses customer service results with stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and continually track progress. Resulting initiatives are developed in one of six committees dedicated to customer service at MSP.
The unique engagement element of the program is the focus on personalization and one-on-one recognition. MSP Nice Awards are distributed while an employee is working to create a special moment with fanfare. MSP Nice Cards are used to motivate and appreciate employees, knowing it will add a positive element to the workday.
“It becomes this competition and it's amazing because they want to get the most MSP Nice awards because at the MSP Nice celebration at the end of the year, we recognize the top three employees with the most MSP Nice awards and they get a prize,” Rhawie said. “It's a monetary prize, so there is direct a desire and it's bragging rights. Everybody knows about the program and they want to be invited to this big celebration at this party that happens at a hotel.”
By providing an elevated passenger experience, MSP not only can increase concessions revenues, but make to also attract more travelers to the airport.
“There's a benefit to the airport to make sure people are having those great experiences. We want people to make this an airport of choice,” said Eric Johnson, Director, Commercial Management & Airline Affairs for MAC. “A large portion of our passenger bases are connecting passengers coming through this airport. We want people to make the selection of this airport versus going through Chicago or Detroit or wherever.”
Giving employees recognition on the spot makes the honor more special for them. Staff work with managers and understand the honoree’s schedule to find the best time in their shift to give them the honor.
“It really helps to make that connection between the airport and the employers,” Johnson said. “We're bringing both of those groups together to really drive home the connection between you doing your job not only benefits your employer, but it also benefits the airport. We're all one community. We're all striving to make customer service the best thing at the airport.”
The program is designed to fosters a community of appreciation and gratitude. The continuous feedback loop and ongoing award cycles allows the airport to have an employee recognition program that runs throughout the entire year.
New initiatives, celebrations and wins are communicated through monthly meetings with various groups and on the airport’s employee-focused website. Both these offer a centralized location for employees to be recognized and offer a hub of motivation and recognition.
“We also want to make this a place of choice when someone is looking for career or opportunity. We know that these days it's an employee's market and there's more they’re looking for than just minimum wage,” Rhawie said. “That's going to get people to work here. We need to offer something else and ensuring that our employers here at the airport value hard work and know of the differences that everybody brings to the table is really critical. And in that, these programs help our recruitment and retainment efforts.”
A Recognition Made Personal
The annual MSP Nice Celebration is exclusive to employees who received unsolicited compliments. Only 300 employees are invited, representing the top 1% of all workers at the airport.The airport recently held its first MSP Nice Celebration since 2020 and included all winners in the past two years. The event included live music, refreshments, photo booth, magician and raffle prizes, such as AirPods, a Mall of America experience pack, TVs and a $1,000 Icelandair travel voucher.
Each award winner received a crystal keepsake and enjoyed a program packed with gratitude from all facets of the airport community.
MSP is looking to bring back its secret shopper program, which as suspended when the pandemic started. Secret shoppers grade employees on roughly 25 different criteria. Employees with perfect scores get a $100 gift card are invited to a free lunch at the end of the month, where they could win an additional $100 in a raffle.
“There are multiple tiers of what we try to do to really help engage the employees, to make them understand the benefits of providing good customer service and really wanting them to do their very best when they're out and engaged with the traveling public,” Johnson said.
The MSP Nice Program gives the airport an opportunity to celebrate and honor employee success each year via strong communications efforts between all airport stakeholders. But Johnson says building a successful program takes buy-in from more than employees.
“I think it's really starts from the top down. Our CEO and our senior staff are directly engaged in this program, strongly supporting it and our commissioners are all involved in it,” he said. “They participate in some of the awards. They participate in the celebration events that we have with the employees. I think that's really the start of it.”
