Program Catalyst

The San Diego International Airport is often the first stop for tourists in this beautiful city by the bay, and taxi and shuttle drivers as well as other airport workers often provide visitors with their first impressions of the city.

Partners and Finance

During the summer of 2001, San Diego International Airport and the Port of San Diego partnered with the Employee Training Institute (ETi) to create a customer service initiative for taxi and shuttle drivers, along with workers who staff the airport pickup kiosks. ETi is the customized training and consulting division of the San Diego Community College Auxiliary Organization and works in partnership with the Centers for Education and Technology at City, Mesa, and Miramar Colleges to deliver specialized services to San Diego businesses and government organizations.

The primary goal of the initiative was to raise the awareness of the important role these workers play as San Diego's ambassadors. San Diego International Airport financed the program. Shuttle and cab companies, independent cab drivers, and the airport's parking lot contractor participated as advising partners in the initiative.

The Initiative was designed and delivered by ETi in collaboration with the Workplace Learning Resource Center (WpLRC) of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). The WpLRC is a program of Economic Development Network (EDNet) of the California State Chancellor's Office, and is co-housed with ETi.

Along with raising awareness of the important role these workers play, the essential aim of the program was to improve the customer service provided to visitors coming to San Diego via the airport. A slogan for the initiative was created: "The Spirit of San Diego: Expect the Best!" The program had the added intention of improving the economic bottom line for workers. By improving customer service to riders, drivers could earn more fares and more tips - a winning situation for all.

Implementation

In August 2001, the first phase of the initiative began. An extensive up-front needs-and-task analysis was conducted, with all stakeholders contributing time and ideas. People at all levels of the organizations were included in this phase, from the independent, one-car cabdrivers to top-level management officials at the airport.

The second phase of the initiative, piloted in November 2001, was the development of a training curriculum and certification exam. At the same time, an extensive marketing plan was developed and implemented to offer support and incentives and create buy-in from all the stakeholders. It was very clear that this phase of the program was critical to success. Incentives included awards and recognition in the form of gift certificates, driver-of-the-month contests based on customer-satisfaction reviews, free breakfasts, and information packets that drivers could give out to their customers for added-value service. A kick-off event for this phase was held in mid-November 2001, with stakeholders from all involved organizations attending.

The third phase of the program, which began in early December 2001, was the actual training and certification test implementation. Designed by ETi and WpLRC staff, the training curriculum focused on a number of issues. Team participation, issues of quality control, professionalism, and personal responsibility, and essential elements of quality service were the highlights of the curriculum. The trainer, a professional with more than 20 years' experience, participated in the up-front needs analysis as well as the curriculum development. Taught in groups of 20 to 25 drivers and airport workers, the classes were highly interactive and lively, with trainees sharing ideas while gaining critical information and skills. Many of the drivers came with 20 years' experience or more. Veterans shared their experiences with newer workers.

The audience was culturally diverse, with trainees from all over the world. Many were recent immigrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and other parts of Africa; the former Soviet Republics and Europe; or Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Middle Eastern countries. Some trainees were from Mexico and South America, the Philippines, or Southeast Asia, and many were native-born Americans. Trainees brought an eclectic set of skills to the table: there were former doctors, lawyers, architects, soldiers, engineers, and even a Russian muralist attending. This diversity made the training interesting and challenging, as the very basic assumptions and ideas about what customer service is are culturally based.

Ideas about what customer service means to different people and what it means here in America were all brought out into the open for discussion. The events of September 11 occurred just as the initiative began, presenting an array of problematic issues, including an unforeseen downturn in the tourism industry, along with a concomitant upsurge in anti-immigrant sentiment. These reactions to the tragedy dramatically affected the workers involved in the program. With morale temporarily low, the initiative needed to help people see and understand the benefits of improving customer service even in difficult times. Through it all, the seasoned trainer pulled the groups together and helped them understand the concepts of quality customer service and professionalism. At each session, both content and class delivery were evaluated, giving participants an avenue to express concerns while providing quality control.

Along with the core curriculum, a certification test based directly on the materials presented in the training was developed to measure the success of the event. Professional test administrators working for ETi proctored the test, and certificates of completion were created and presented to trainees, to be displayed in their vehicles or at work.

The sponsoring agency of the initiative, San Diego International Airport, was fully committed to improving customer service. Managing staff provided input into all phases of the development process as well as funding for all aspects of the work, training facilities, and ongoing support. Airport leadership worked closely with ETi staff to provide a seamless training and testing program within the spirit of the initiative. ETi and WpLRC personnel completed the needs analysis, training, test design, marketing plan, and program rollout, all in less than three months.

Results and Impact

By July 2002, the end of the first year of the project, close to 900 participants had been involved in more than 5,000 hours of training and certification. Measurable outcomes include a 90 percent passing rate for participants who had gone through the four-hour customer service training and taken a certification test. In addition, quality-control measures at the airport indicated an overall improvement in service.

Airport management was extremely pleased with the training and anticipates continuing to offer the training to all airport taxi and shuttle drivers over the next several years. The long-term goal of the initiative is to increase tourism in San Diego by providing visitors with an exceptional customer service experience from the airport to their destination points and beyond. The initiative has brought together the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CONVIS), the San Diego International Airport, and the San Diego Community College District in an effort to create a more attractive visitor destination, which will in turn bring increased revenues to San Diego.

This partnership was recently awarded the prestigious California Community Colleges Economic Development Business Partner Award, which was presented to Robin Carvajal at the 2002 EDNet Conference. Carvajal is the Director of ETi and the Workplace Learning Resource Center, as well as a Dean for the Centers for Education and Technology, SDCCD.