Editors’ Note

Prior to her role at NetJets, Mindy Drummond led various HR teams for Omnicare, a CVS Health Company, and also served as Vice President of Talent at Luxottica Retail. She held a variety of human resources roles at L Brands and Motorola and was named a “2016 Top 15 Women in Business in Ohio” by the National Diversity Council. Drummond received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Bowling Green State University.

Company Brief

NetJets (netjets.com), a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the worldwide leader in private aviation with the largest and most diverse private jet fleet in the world. NetJets provides shared (fractional) aircraft ownership, a lease program and card services which allows individuals and companies to fly privately on a business jet at a fraction of the cost of whole-aircraft ownership and guarantees availability 365 days a year with just 4-10 hours notice. The NetJets programs worldwide offer the largest and most diversified fleet (more than 750 aircraft) in private aviation, which includes a variety of aircraft types across four cabin classes. NetJets has been serving owners for more than fifty years, with headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

Will you highlight NetJets’ focus on the employee and owner experience?

We have a vision and mission that we live by, which is our 20/20 Flight Plan. Part of that plan is how we bring together employees and deliver an exceptional experience for them so that we can ultimately deliver an exceptional experience for our Owners. Even if you may not be in Owner Services or another group that’s directly involved with the Owner, everyone at NetJets still has an impact on our Owners and the experience that they receive.

What do you attribute to the strength and industry leadership of NetJets?

It’s interesting. I actually left NetJets for another opportunity and returned because of the people. What we do is not simple. It’s a very complex business, and our people not only have a passion for service but are problem-solvers. There’s a lot of camaraderie and collaboration that just naturally happens here. When we look for talent, we know that if the passion, curiosity and heart are there, we can train the rest. When I returned to the NetJets culture, I realized how much I missed that attitude of just getting it done, and getting it done safely and exceptionally for our customers. Ultimately, that is what we all are working toward.

How important is collaboration within the NetJets culture?

It’s imperative. We have more than 3,000 crew members who are on the road each and every day. The flight center is the hub of the operations, and where we get flights scheduled, managed and then safely into the air. The collaboration among those flight center groups ultimately leads to communication and collaboration with our crew members which is critical. That collaboration is part of who we are on a day-to-day basis. You could not do this job well without collaboration, curiosity and communication.

Will you elaborate on NetJets’ focus on the owner experience?

We spend a lot of time focusing on the owner experience and ensuring that we are delivering an experience that our owners deserve. We are constantly evaluating it based on the relationships that we’ve built and cultivated here within the flight center. Owner Services specifically focuses on delivering service through quality reservation management while developing and maintaining those relationships. We also look to serve the customized needs of our owners, which is critical. We look, from our owners’ point of view, at what’s on the plane for them. We spend a lot of time concentrating on the five senses of the aircraft and extend that from the moment you are greeted to the time that you are actually on the plane to the time you reach your destination. This helps us craft the amenities that are on our aircraft and we pay attention to Owner feedback and constantly utilize it to improve the experience. Just looking at the experience through our lens doesn’t necessarily make it what they want. We want to make sure that we’re hearing from them and understanding what they need in order to ensure that their experience is nothing less than exceptional.

How important is it for NetJets to build a diverse workforce?

We focus on diversity of experience and diversity of thought, but also on ensuring that the people we’re bringing in truly have the great talent that I described to lead us into those competencies. We bring a lot of different experiences into the company. We have employees who come from aviation as well as from hospitality, and when we mix those two, they are able to provide what our Owners want. It actually allows us to combine understanding the Owner with the ability to serve them through not only our aviation expertise, but also the hospitality experience that we want to deliver. When we talk about diversity, it’s really about inclusion and typically around making sure that we understand that we are collaborative and curious with one another in order to deliver an exceptional experience.

What do you tell young people about the opportunities that the industry offers?

The private aviation industry is so great because of its complexity and how it differs from general aviation. Within this space, we have clearly focused on our internship programs and have been looking at other opportunities as well. Most recently, we have focused on how we bring aviation to future talent, addressing this industry with them early on in their discovery of possible career paths. We can show them what this industry is since many people don’t necessarily know what we do. Once they have the opportunity to get an inside look, they find it intriguing and exciting.

NetJets was just recognized as a top 100 internship program in the U.S. because we worked with universities to provide experiences that truly show the uniqueness of what we do. A career path here can span across multiple different functions and skill sets. We also have many pilots who come in and share their experiences with our interns as well. This is a very special place.