From Guesswork to Ground Truth: The Case for Job Benchmarking in Airports

Job Benchmarking is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools airport leaders can use to make smarter workforce decisions. Because having well defined job specifications not only provides clarity to managers and employees alike, it sets you up for successful growth and resilience.

What exactly is job benchmarking?

In simple terms, job benchmarking is the process of comparing your organization’s roles such as responsibilities, assigned tasks, and required competencies, against industry standards and peer organizations.

It helps you answer questions like:

• Are our job descriptions aligned with what’s happening across the wider industry?

• Are we over- or under-qualifying roles?

• Do our job levels make sense compared to similar airports?

In other words, it’s a data-driven way to make sure your jobs make sense, both inside your organisation and in the context of the broader airport industry.

Why it matters more than ever for airports

With a global shortage of skilled professionals, many HR and operations leaders are finding that the problem isn’t just attracting talent, it’s keeping people engaged and capable.

Here’s how benchmarking helps:

1. It creates clarity and consistency
   When job structures are inconsistent, confusion spreads fast. Teams end up with mismatched expectations, and compliance risks creep in. Benchmarking helps you bring structure to the chaos by aligning job titles, requirements, and competencies across departments.
   
   
2.  It strengthens recruitment and retention
   Attracting the right people starts with defining the right roles. By benchmarking against industry data, airports can create clear, attractive job profiles that reflect the real work being done — and the value it delivers.
   
   
3. It supports fair and transparent pay decisions
   Airports operate in a competitive labour market. Benchmarking helps ensure your roles and associated remuneration aligns with industry standards, improving retention and fairness while reducing turnover risk.
   
   
4. It builds confidence with regulators and auditors
   Having job data that aligns with national and international standards makes audits smoother and compliance more defensible, something every airport HR and training team can appreciate.

Introducing Klayo Intelligence

Klayo Intelligence is a new analytics capability built into Klayo that helps airports benchmark their jobs with data sourced directly from across the aviation industry.

With Klayo Intelligence, you can:

• Instantly see how your job roles compare to industry benchmarks.

• Identify skills and training gaps across specific positions.

• Make evidence-based decisions around job design and workforce planning.

• Strengthen alignment between your job specifications and training programs.

It’s benchmarking made practical and designed specifically for airports.

The payoff

When airports start using benchmarking as part of their workforce planning, something shifts:

• Job descriptions become clearer.
• Training plans align more naturally.
• People understand their roles better.
• Leaders can make decisions based on data rather than gut feel.

In an industry built on precision, that just makes sense.

Explore how Klayo Intelligence makes job benchmarking simple, accurate, and tailored for aviation.