Ryanair’s CPO explains the business’ ‘no bullshit’ approach to communication

Mastering internal communication is essential for any thriving business, to ensure alignment, trust, and efficiency among employees.

But for European airline Ryanair, 97% of its 27,000 staff are frontline workers – meaning delivering one message to everyone at the same time is virtually impossible.

To overcome this, the airline – which has become known for its tongue and cheek approach to communication – has adopted a number of tactics to boost employee engagement, enhance retention, and build trust across the business.

By maintaining openness and addressing challenges head-on, Ryanair says it ensures its workforce remains connected and motivated, even in the face of logistical challenges.

To find out more about how this was achieved, UNLEASH spoke exclusively with Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Darrell Hughes.

Mastering internal communication for the “ultimate remote workforce”

When asked how to describe Ryanair’s approach to internal communication, Hughes used two words: Open and direct. 

Darrell Hughes, CPO, Ryanair

Traditionally, the business used what the company described as jokey newspaper advertisements and bold statements by its Chief Executive to attract attention. Overtime, this evolved into its social media platforms, so now, Ryanair has developed a “cheeky” voice, which sometimes “claps back at people”. 

This translates to how leaders communicate internally, with Hughes explaining that they try to distill fun in their day-to-day functions. 

“We’re a low-cost airline, the vast majority of our staff – 97% – are frontline workers, so pilots, cabin group, engineers, and ground handling staff, for example,” Hughes explains. “This presents a particular challenge when communicating. 

“A knowledge-based organization has everyone sitting behind a desk. They can do an ‘All Hands’ meeting in one call or room. Even in a lot of factory or manufacturing environments, you can get everyone together in one place. 

“We will never have that luxury, so we’ve had to get creative about how we do our internal communications. We have the ultimate remote workforce.”

One way in which Hughes cultivates this, is by giving employees direct access to senior management, while delivering bad news as soon as possible. 

People expect a ‘no bullshit’ attitude from us,” Hughes adds. “So that’s really what our approach is – being open and direct, leveraging the culture, and being consistent with our brand. 

“I think that this openness is a real driver of engagement. It’s embedded in our culture. It’s how we do things, and it’s what people expect.”

A way in which the company sets to achieve this, is by giving employees direct access to the CEO. 

“People sometimes suspect that it’s not actually Eddie that answers the questions, but he always does for two simple reasons. Firstly, he likes to be able to give those messages out directly himself, and secondly, it allows him to keep his ear to the ground in terms of what’s going on on the front line,” Hughes shares.

Questions can vary, from commercial updates and base information, to tough questions, such as why the airline doesn’t offer certain benefits, for example. But for Hughes, it’s all about being honest.

“We’ve never deleted a question without answering it and we never say we’re keeping something under consideration if we’re not,” he admits. “You can’t shy away from the tough questions. 

“Before we had a social tool, these conversations were going on between colleagues without us knowing – in WhatsApp groups, or by the proverbial water cooler. Now there’s a forum where people can put questions in and get a direct answer and other colleagues can comment or contribute too.”

Utilizing metrics and pushing boundaries

To measure the effectiveness of internal communications, Ryanair considers employee account activation rates, the number of active users, and engagement with content – all of which is reviewed weekly.   

A mistake some leaders make with new social media type tools, like Workvivo, is they look at the content engagement statistics, say views for a video, and compare that to classic internal communications mechanisms, such as a memo, and think that the social tool isn’t reaching people the way a memo would. 

“The flaw in that logic is to assume that everyone who received a memo read it and took it in. It’s much better to think of social tools as an avenue to use rich content to engage people through a medium that is much more like how people consume content outside of work.

“We have about a 97% activation rate on Workvivo accounts, with a 50% weekly active user rate. Some people might look at that and say, well, 50% isn’t very good, but we look at these metrics in the context of what they are – which is interaction with a social platform and very different from your classic corporate communications. 

“It’s about boosting the culture and reinforcing messaging, rather than cataloging written instructions.”

Hughes identifies that the implementation of a social tool like Workvivo can be challenging for businesses, causing leaders to grapple with the classic tension between a desire for openness and engagement, and the willingness to let go of control. 

“We were probably a bit more open than most organizations would be, but we still had to go on that journey,” he adds. “Over time, we got more comfortable and we gradually opened it out to let people see more and interact more.”

I would advise other HR leaders looking to use the platform to be willing to push the boundaries in terms of their own comfort with openness.

“People get very uncomfortable, particularly in HR circles, with the idea that people can be communicating across different functions or communicating with each other without direct management involved. 

“I understand that thinking but you get the best value out of a social tool by letting people be social on it and contribute and interact with each other rather than everything being top down.”

“We don’t force people to get involved – there’s nothing worse than enforced corporate fun! But we do try to offer a variety of engaging content that generates organic engagement.”

Inspiring employees through storytelling

Like many organizations, Ryanair sees the value of promoting from within and of growing its own talent, rather than seeking talent elsewhere. 

For Hughes, he wants employees to see their peers advancing – because for him, that’s when they will believe it can happen for them, too. This, he says, is “hugely powerful” in terms of understanding career progression. 

To achieve this, Hughes and his team make a point of telling success stories of people who’ve been promoted and have grown their careers in Ryanair.  

One initiative that aids this, is called ‘Meet the Z’. 

The executive teams and my peers are called the Z level managers because we’re the least important people in Ryanair,” he expands.

“Meet the Z was a series where we all explained our career paths and how we’ve progressed through Ryanair. 

“For example, our Chief Financial Officer started learning accounting at night. Our Chief Marketing Officer started in the call center – so we’ve loads of good stories like that. For me, it’s about emphasis on stories, rather than just posting up job ads and expecting people to apply.”

To continue the inspiration, the airline also set up careers days where executives can talk people through particular lateral moves that aren’t necessarily obvious to them. 

This is important for the airline’s culture, as the business believes that understanding the business is of critical importance. 

“We’re a growing company and it’s generally easier to upskill someone who is in Ryanair and get the business than it is to hire someone experienced externally with the right cultural fit,” Hughes highlights.

Developing understanding, trust and authenticity for the future

As Hughes has been with Ryanair for more than 23 years, he’s certainly well positioned to offer tips and tricks to other HR leaders. And when asked, he had three key pieces of advice for others.

“Number one for me is always understanding the business first,” he begins. “I think in HR, sometimes there can be a tendency to be detached from the core of the business or to think of ourselves as employee advocates, but that’s the wrong way to think about things.” 

Although he believes that it’s fine to be up to date on the latest HR initiatives, he urges leaders to develop a deep knowledge of the business, by asking: What makes it tick? What are the margins? What are the drivers? What are the cost drivers?  

Secondly, he reiterates how people value consistency and authenticity.

Our culture isn’t about being perfect with every single message, but it’s about being consistent,” he says. “Although we use humor, this isn’t for every business, but it works for us because we’re consistent with it. 

“Businesses need to leverage what they’re good at, and be authentic with it, rather than chopping and changing. People are more likely to trust you if you’re being authentic, even if you’re delivering bad news.”

Finally, Hughes warns HR leaders to get bad news out early. 

“We’ve always done that, and sometimes I’ve been in hard conversations before where the recipient says they don’t like the outcome, but they respect being told upfront,” he concludes.

To support this, he uses the example of tech companies which promise employees positive news of growth and lavishing on benefits, only to then do substantial and, in many cases, issue sudden job losses. 

“From talking to people in those organizations, one of the most difficult things for people to understand was how it changed from being uber-positive and ‘we’re all one big family’ to sorry, we don’t need you anymore,” Hughes empathizes. 

“It’s not a family, it’s a job and companies should be prepared to say that. I think the lesson for all of us is that trust and authenticity are about being open with the bad news as well as the good and not sugar coating harsh realities.”