Mark Duffy, Director of Talent at Ryanair Discusses the Impact of Workvivo
Workvivo has become the “digital heart” of Ryanair, aligning with its unique, open culture and supporting its growth ambitions.
A keynote client case study for Workvivo is Ryanair.
Speaking at the CIPD Festival of Work their Director of Talent Mark Duffy sat down with Workvivo’s Eva Barker to explore how they are leveraging a Digital Workplace platform to meet their internal HR needs.
You can also read the case study here. The two announced a new partnership in 2023, for 19,000 Ryanair employees to use the Workvivo employee app as their central hub for communications.
Transforming Employee Engagement
Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline, carrying half a million passengers on 3,000 flights every single day, and is on course to become the largest airline in the world.
But with 24,000 employees distributed across cockpits, cabins, and support offices, and with ambitious plans to hire an additional 10,000 people each year, the company was on the market for a platform that would transform its approach to recruitment, talent management, and internal comms.
That’s why it chose Workvivo. In this video Mark Duffy discusses the impact Workvivo has had at Ryanair. He believes that it has had a transformative impact on the airline’s enterprise, particularly in enhancing employee communication, engagement, and overall organizational connectivity.
He views Workvivo as a “gamechanging internal comms tool” that has enabled Ryanair to effectively connect its 24,000+ employees across diverse roles and locations, from cockpit to cabin and support offices. Duffy highlights the platform’s ability to provide direct access to management and foster two-way communication, moving away from traditional top-down methods, which has significantly boosted engagement.
Adoption and ROI
He notes that 90% of Ryanair’s employees (approximately 21,500) have registered on the platform, with over 13,000 active weekly users, a metric he considers a strong return on investment. This high adoption rate, particularly among cabin crew who constitute about 90% of active users, allows management to see real-time engagement and sentiment, such as through posts of onboard photos or sunrises.
Duffy emphasizes the necessity of clear and effective communication for a workforce where most employees—especially the 20,000 crew members—operate outside traditional office settings, with aircraft as their primary workplace. Workvivo addresses this challenge by offering a mobile-first solution accessible anytime, anywhere, ensuring staff stay informed about rosters, network news, or operational updates.
He also values the platform’s analytics, which provide insights into engagement levels across different bases (e.g., London Stansted vs. Birmingham), helping management tailor communication and address specific needs, such as through targeted, anonymous surveys to gauge sentiment in particular locations like Birmingham’s pilot group. Duffy sees this as a strategic tool for talent management and reducing attrition, describing it as “fantastic” for its ability to deliver actionable feedback from employees to senior leadership.
Overall, he believes Workvivo has become the “digital heart” of Ryanair, aligning with its unique, open culture and supporting its growth ambitions, such as increasing passenger numbers from 168 million to 225 million by 2026 while keeping staff connected and engaged.
