60 1 July 2024 Success Stories
EIC Survive & Thrive 2024
EIC Survive & Thrive 2024
Success Stories July 20247
Story type #transformation (main category) #culture, #scale up
Airswift
Benefits
Operating as a harmonious entity primed for rapid growth Janette Marx CEO
How is Airswift thriving? After consolidating as Airswift in 2016, what could have been a disparate group of siloed teams came together to form a global company with a unified vision and purpose. More acquisitions have followed since due to the integration process being seamless thanks to the foundations which were laid by the firm’s new executive leadership team. Today, Airswift is on an upward trajectory as it passes the US$1.5b revenue milestone. The challenge - Workforce solutions provider Airswift has spent much of the last decade in a state of transformative change. Forming out of a merger of Air and Swift in 2016, the company was eager to build a platform for even more rapid growth to tap into opportunities emanating out of the energy sector on a truly global and sizable scale. However, such growth needed to be sustainable. As more countries were added to its roster, Airswift was in danger of becoming too fragmented and decentralised and, therefore, not drawing on the strength of the broader organisation. The solution - To address this challenge, a new C-suite team came together during the merger process to lead the integration of the two entities. This has unfolded in numerous stages over the ensuing years, with the major focus being to build a winning culture from the outset. Here, the company brought its top performers together with the executive leadership to become ambassadors of the newly merged team. After key systems in HR, finance and IT were aligned in 2017, attention turned to how the merged entity could drive growth. This led to the establishment of three delivery centre hubs across key regions (UK, Brazil and Malaysia) – operating as market-facing groups. The idea is that recruiters can work locally and internationally as part of one transparent, global system. This laid the groundwork for acquisition-based growth. In 2021, Airswift acquired Compe-
▸ Staff engagement highlights that 93% of Airswift’s employees feel valued by their organisation. ▸ Airswift’s promising financial performance achieved its 2025 targets two years early.
Key findings tentia and integrated it into the business in the space of just six months. Two years later, in 2023, the company acquired Energy Resourcing to further build out its capabilities and reach. Another crucial development has been the creation of the Global Leadership Team (GLT). Formed in 2020 and rotating in personnel annually, its aim is to harness the collective expertise of the senior leaders across the business to innovate, collaborate and drive positive change throughout the organisation. One of GLT’s most significant impacts came in its first year of existence. During a highly volatile period for the oil market, the #DV8 initiative emerged – a concentrated effort to diversify Airswift’s STEM and non-oil and gas portfolios. This led to the formation of a dedicated STEM division, its remit being to strategically focus on critical skill sets in sectors such as process, infrastructure, and technology. Such has been its impact, it now commands a quarter of the company’s overall gross profit. Airswift also recognised the importance of achieving employee buy-in from the very outset of the change process. To this end, the company conducts regular employee engagement surveys, including pulse checks bi-annually, in addition to a comprehensive survey annually. In 2023, 93% of its colleagues said they felt valued within the business, which seeks to increase this to 94% by the end of 2024. Meanwhile, learning and development satisfaction was rated an impressive 4.72 out of five in 2023, the aim being to boost this to 4.8 by year-end. Over time, Airswift has become a much more cohesive entity. Its workforce is unified and engaged, and that is feeding into a promising financial performance which has seen the business achieve its 2025 targets two years early. Now, as a US$1.5b enterprise, the sky is the limit for Airswift and its highly ambitious team.
For industry ▸ Be open and adaptable. When things happen in a company, accept it, understand it, be part of the change, own it and lead from the front with your actions. ▸ Build a culture of innovation: hear the great ideas from all in your organisation and foster the ability to have real conversations across organisation. For government ▸ Work with both sides of the aisle, to help us have better outcomes. We need all types of energy, now and in the future.
Airswift at a glance: Key products and services: recruiting, service provider. Main industries served: ▸ Energy - 75% ▸ Infrastructure, process, technology accounting - 25% ▸ Others (non-energy) - loss prevention, risk management, maritime sector - 35% Headquarters: Houston, US Year established: 1979 Number of employees: +1,000 Revenue: £1.2bn Revenue from exports: N/A