What Your Flight Department Dashboard Isn’t Telling You

Just recently, something happened on our own team that reminded me why the work we put into our culture matters.One employee wasn't sure how to interpret something a colleague had said. Instead of assuming the worst or letting it bother them, they went directly to their colleague to explain how the comment had landed.Their colleague was relieved they approached them directly, because the impact was never intended. They talked it through, understood one another's perspective and cleared up what could have become an unnecessary source of frustration or tension.But how do we capture wins like that? How do we know whether the time and resources we're investing in our people and culture are making a difference?That got me thinking about the dashboards our flight department clients already use. They routinely track aircraft availability, maintenance events, recurrent training, safety and budget. Could some of that same discipline be applied to what's happening with our employees?The way I see it, if people are our most important asset, they deserve a place on a leader's dashboard, too.What's Happening with Your People? Flight departments come in all sizes, but nearly 80% of them, according to NBAA, are small teams. That means every person plays an important role.If you have five people and lose one to another department, you haven't simply lost 20% of your headcount. You may also lose years of institutional knowledge, a key relationship with the principal or a mentor to a newer employee.In the meantime, the team turns to finding a replacement and covering the schedule. Those are necessary tasks, but I'm also interested in what was happening before the employee resigned.Maybe a professional development opportunity never materialized, or workload had become a problem. Perhaps the team's compensation had fallen below the 50th percentile. Or maybe the signs were less obvious: a normally engaged employee had become quieter, or an issue was raised but never really addressed.People don't come with warning lights, and one change in behavior doesn't mean someone is disengaged or planning to leave. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Still, when you know your team, you notice when something is different. And that's worth a conversation.But I wouldn't just look for problems. If you're investing in your people and your culture, you also want to know what's working. I'd want to know who's thriving, who has stepped up and who might be ready for more responsibility. I'd also pay attention to whether people are still willing to raise concerns and disagree with me, even if I'm their boss.Much of the people information that reaches leadership tells us what's already happened: open positions, turnover, an annual engagement survey or performance review. But we shouldn't have to wait until someone leaves to understand how our people are doing.Give People a Place on the DashboardIf we're going to give people a place on the dashboard, we need to be intentional about what we're paying attention to and how we're investing in them.So I'd look at more than whether every position was filled. I'd want to know how the team is doing, where people are growing, where the department may be vulnerable and what's changed since the last review.Some of that is relatively easy to track. I'd look at professional development and training, how compensation compares with the market, workload, schedule stability and staffing coverage. And if someone is nearing retirement, I'd want to know whether anyone is gaining the experience to take on more responsibility.Of course, not everything can be measured in a spreadsheet or PowerPoint deck. Some things may need to be documented instead. What matters is to go back to it regularly and see what's changed.So let's think back to the interaction I mentioned earlier. I'd consider that a culture win. But where do you capture something like that so it doesn't simply happen and disappear?The same goes for professional development. If an employee says during a performance review that they want to earn their CAM or become more involved in the industry, is there a way to keep track of that? Or is the idea buried in last year's review?One-on-ones and staff meetings can surface useful information, too. That's why it's important to make time on the agenda for employees to talk about what they're learning, where they've stepped up, what they'd like to do next and where they may need support. Maybe you give team members the opportunity to brag on each other. Just be sure to make room for the wins. Those smaller signs of progress can tell you whether your investments in the team are making a difference.Finally, I'd want to pay attention to whether development opportunities are being shared fairly. People notice these things, especially when they work closely together.What belongs on the dashboard will vary by department. The important thing is having a consistent way to keep what you're learning about your people from falling off the radar while everyone is busy running the operation.Invest Before You Need to ReplaceAs an industry, we understand the importance of recurrent training. We'd never send someone to training once and assume the learning would carry them through the rest of their career. Yet we sometimes take that approach with communication, leadership and other people skills.The same is true of coaching, emotional intelligence, mentoring and executive communication. Developing the skills that help people communicate, lead and work well together deserves an ongoing investment.And development doesn't necessarily mean a promotion. That can be especially important in a small flight department where there may not be another title available. An employee might lead a project, want to earn their CAM certification, participate in an industry committee, attend a conference or receive coaching.From where I sit, filling an open position is only the beginning.A new pilot, technician or scheduler still must learn the aircraft, the operation, the principal's preferences and all the unwritten knowledge the previous employee carried. Meanwhile, the team may be covering the vacancy with contract support, overtime or additional schedule pressure.Aviation is a small community, too. People know which departments have stable teams and which seem to be continually hiring. A reputation as a place where good people want to work helps when it's time to recruit.Now consider what it might have taken to retain a valued employee: a compensation adjustment, a more sustainable schedule, additional staffing, a development opportunity or a conversation about where that person's career was going.Sometimes the investment required to keep a great employee is small compared with the expense and disruption of replacing that person.Of course, you won't retain everyone, and sometimes a departure is the best outcome for both sides. But losing a good employee because no one was paying attention is an expensive way to discover there was a problem.Knowing Your People Is Part of the JobAs a leader, it's important to get to know the individuals on your team, but employees have responsibility here, too. This includes communicating what they need to succeed and taking ownership of their own development. If they want that to get their CAM, they should be leading that conversation.What keeps one employee engaged may mean very little to the person sitting next to them. One may value industry involvement, and another may value more predictable time off. Someone else may want a new challenge or a better understanding of why a decision is being made.The conversations behind a people dashboard matter as much as anything that ultimately appears on it. A tool like this can help keep people front and center, but leaders still need to pay attention to what's changing.I keep thinking back to that interaction on our own team. It was a small moment, but to me, it was evidence that some of the work we've put into our culture is making a difference. That's the kind of progress I'd want to capture and keep on my radar.And if there was an issue they couldn't resolve on their own, I'd want them to come to me. My role is to know where the team may need support and whether the people on it feel valued and see a future within the organization.If people really are our most important asset, we should know how they're doing long before a resignation tells us we should have asked.Jennifer E. Pickerel is President of Aviation Personnel International, the longest-running business aviation recruitment and HR consulting firm. A recognized industry thought leader, she excels in talent development, workforce strategy and cultural transformation. Active in aviation leadership groups, she frequently speaks and writes on hiring trends, culture, inclusion and employee retention.