Design the future: An interview with Annette Reiffenstein, Head of Employee Experience at Lufthansa Group

Annette Reiffenstein, Head of Employee Experience at Lufthansa Group, joins Anna Milani, Senior Service Designer & Researcher at Designit, to discuss the evolving significance of the employee experience, the integration of human-centric principles, and the impact of digitalisation and emerging technologies on the workforce in the aviation industry.

Employee experience is only becoming more and more important. As the Head of Employee Experience at Lufthansa Group, what does your role entail? Can you tell us a bit about the role and how it came to be?

I have been with Lufthansa Group for eleven years, during which my role has evolved significantly. I began by managing 70 employees across 10 Lufthansa Worldshop Stores in Germany and Switzerland, overseeing everything from HR to sales, marketing, negotiations with airports, and project management for new store infrastructure.

My next role marked a deeper dive into sales and commercial topics as I took on the position of (Strategic) Key Account Manager at Miles & More, managing partnerships with various external partners including airports, duty-free retailers, mobility services, hospitality, and online retailers. While I gained valuable insights into different business lines from these partnerships and could achieve many success stories together with my colleagues in the analytics and marketing departments, I felt there was more I could contribute. This led me to apply for the internal ‘Impact Week’ programme from Lufthansa Groups Help Alliance, where I participated in a social project in Ghana and became a design thinking coach.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I also helped organise Lufthansa Group’s virtual Impact Weeks, which further deepened my passion for design thinking and digital collaboration. Using my knowledge in my day-to-day work, this experience led to a pivotal moment in my career when I was nominated for the internal talent initiative ‘Mindsetters’, which included mentorship that guided me toward a group-wide customer experience project. Although it was challenging to balance 50% of my time in my previous role and 50% on a board-level project, the exposure provided me with valuable insights across Lufthansa Group.

While presenting our project results at a leadership conference, I casually mentioned how crucial employee experience is as a foundation for delivering great customer experiences. My ideas sparked interest, and I was encouraged to apply for the newly created position of Head of Employee Experience for the Lufthansa Group.

Upon taking on this role, it became clear that previous efforts in similar fields were primarily focused on HR processes. My approach has been to adopt a more human-centred perspective, translating the principles of customer experience into the realm of employee experience. One of my first initiatives was to establish a community of Employee Experience SPOCs (single points of contact) across all business units. In this community, we have created a heatmap of action fields along the employee lifecycle and are now continuously sharing ideas and best practices. We meet monthly to discuss relevant topics, analyse potential changes, and initiate joint projects as needed. Given Lufthansa’s vast structure, with 150 business units and over 100,000 employees, this initiative is both challenging and rewarding.

My goal is to create added value for all colleagues within Lufthansa Group by working closely with the respective HR teams to enhance unified standards while still respecting the unique identities of individual business units. Although this is an ongoing process, I still firmly believe that a great employee experience, especially with our high number of customer-facing staff, is the foundation for an exceptional customer experience.

As the Head of Employee Experience, would you call yourself a mediator between different business units and cultures within?

I would like to provide further context to explain the complexity of the situation. We are currently undertaking a significant initiative focused on our cultural journey. My colleagues within the group who are managing this act primarily as mediators, as most business units have initiated their own culture programmes.

While they address soft factors such as psychological safety and active listening, I am responsible for the more tangible touchpoints and specific experiences within the employee lifecycle.

For instance, we are currently revamping our onboarding experience to encompass physical, digital, and human aspects across Lufthansa Group. This project occupies approximately 50% of my time, but it is essential for ensuring the retention of newly hired colleagues and introduction to our group culture, values, and overarching networks. This is a team effort, and I rely on collaboration between our business units to achieve our mutual objectives.

Additionally, I view myself as an advocate for employees by ensuring that the experiences we design are implemented as intended and that the diversity of our workforce is considered across all job profiles. For example, I collaborate closely with the team managing our annual employee survey to address all feedback points.

We operate as one group, one team. Although different business units have their own projects, cultures, and identities, our collective strength lies in our unity.

The aviation industry has changed significantly since the pandemic, and so has the workforce. What matters most to your employees today? Have you seen any shifts in their priorities since the pandemic?

Honestly, most of us at Lufthansa Group stay because we love aviation. We often joke that we don't have blood in our veins but kerosene. It's more than a job for us – it's a passion.

During the pandemic, Lufthansa Group did an incredible job of providing security through short-time work, financial safety, and open communication, as it was a very uncertain time for everyone.

Now, with business growing again, we've hired thousands of new employees in the past two years, which is incredible. As we continue to expand our teams, one of my next goals is to ensure that our loyal employees from the crisis are not forgotten. Without our employees, we wouldn't be where we are today.

What moments in the employee journey have proven to be particularly important?

Onboarding is one key touchpoint, but moments that matter along the employee lifecycle can be much smaller and more personal – for example, when a team lead remembers an employee's birthday or work anniversary, or when they provide opportunities to contribute, learn, and grow.

During several workshops, we asked our employees about memorable experiences. Every person had different answers. In the employee experience, just like in the customer experience, touchpoints are important, but the moments that matter vary for everyone.

One example in terms of customer experience is when a pilot introduces themselves and shares details about the flight. It’s a small gesture, but for some people, it creates a magic moment. For employees, these moments are just as unique. Some might value a leader acknowledging their birthday, while others might prefer their birthday to be unmentioned. Understanding and respecting these preferences is what makes these moments special.

Leaders should ask their team members what’s important to them and try to meet those needs. It’s not about grand gestures or fancy equipment. Often, it's the small, intentional actions that can have the greatest impact in creating meaningful experiences for employees. I think individuality and flexibility are key in creating meaningful moments for employees.

How do you capture these subjective, human-driven aspects in terms of data?

Measuring inherently subjective qualities like employee sentiment can be challenging, but it is achievable. By collecting the employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and conducting our annual survey, we gather significant feedback on how employees feel. Additionally, we track various KPIs, implement targeted surveys for specific touchpoints, and continually seek more effective ways to dive deeper from a group-wide perspective, identifying key pain points for leaders, who then have the responsibility of working on them together with their teams.

Our cultural journey team is also working on ways to measure organisational culture. Coming from a sales background, I have a strong appreciation for tracking KPIs while maintaining a focus on human-centric elements. This balance fuels my enthusiasm for integrating data-driven insights with a people-first approach.

How are you incorporating digitalisation into the employee experience, and are you leveraging AI or other emerging technologies?

From my perspective, digital employee experience is just as crucial as the human aspect.
We are focussing on software solutions, automation, and collaboration platforms, leveraging data analytics to make informed decisions. In fact, we are beginning to explore the use of various tools, AI chatbots, and virtual reality spaces, which represent some of the most exciting advancements in our digital employee experience strategy. AI is a key part of our future, but it’s equally important that employees feel comfortable using these technologies, viewing them as tools to enhance their work rather than a threat. To support this, our learning department has launched several initiatives focused on AI literacy and its application in the workplace.

Overall, we are excited about the future of digitalisation within aviation. Our goal is to create a more efficient, engaging, and supportive work environment for all employees as we continue to innovate and adapt to the exciting future of aviation.