Iglu implement StaffCircle to move from admin-heavy appraisals to skills-based talent management
Iglu is the UK's largest independent specialist cruise and ski travel agency, operating the Iglu Cruise, Iglu Ski and Planet Cruise brands. Founded in 1998 as the UK's first specialist ski online travel agent and now part of the Flight Centre Travel Group, Iglu employs more than 400 people across a fast-growing, multi-brand business.
We spoke to Alex Head, Head of Talent and Development at Iglu, to find out how a specialist travel business moved from static, HR-run appraisals to self-led, skills-based talent management with StaffCircle.
Where they startedMoving beyond static, generic talent models
Iglu operates the Iglu Cruise, Iglu Ski and Planet Cruise brands. Founded in 1998 and now part of the Flight Centre Travel Group, Iglu needed a way to manage talent that could keep pace with a fast-growing, multi-brand business — without adding to HR's workload.
Skills gaps only visible after the fact
Talent frameworks were static and generic, so Iglu had no real-time way to see where skills gaps were opening up — or to plan bespoke development ahead of time.
Objective-setting managed piecemeal by HR
Progression depended on HR driving the process case-by-case, rather than a consistent structure employees could own from the moment they joined.
No shared “language of expectation”
Without a common framework from day one, what “good performance” looked like varied by team and manager, making fairness harder across a growing business.
Off-the-shelf frameworks didn’t fit
Enterprise talent suites were either too generic for a specialist travel business or too niche to flex across Iglu’s brands, and none were cost-effective at its scale.
The performance layer in a deliberately integrated stack
Rather than searching for a single enterprise-wide platform, Iglu chose to build a best-of-breed HR stack and picked StaffCircle specifically as its performance management layer — sitting alongside BambooHR for core records and Team Tailor as the ATS. StaffCircle’s integrations mean it slots into the existing stack without switching cost on core HR or the applicant tracking system.
What’s changedFrom an HR-run process to an employee-led one
Since going live in January 2025 — starting with probation and now across all 400+ employees — Iglu has shifted much of day-to-day talent management from HR onto employees, without losing consistency or oversight.
- ✓Employees self-identify readiness to progress, reducing HR’s workload
- ✓The behavioural competency framework becomes tangible and measurable
- ✓Objective completion creates a trackable demand signal for L&D
- ✓Employees feed back on how they’re being managed every six months
Continual performance management
Objectives are set as often as needed, so performance management happens continuously rather than once a year — and objective completion feeds a trackable demand signal for L&D, layered on a skills bank mapped to current and future need.
What Alex Head told us about the journey so far
“Off-the-shelf frameworks were either too generic or too niche for a travel business the size of Iglu, so StaffCircle was chosen as the performance management layer of a deliberately integrated stack.”
“Self-assigned structured objectives is the standout — it acts as continual performance management and reduces HR’s load by letting employees self-identify instead.”
“We’ve introduced bi-annual reviews on the platform, giving employees a skills snapshot every six months alongside continuous performance management.”
“It’s a good solution if you’re looking to move into skills-based talent management, although it can be admin-heavy to set up. Once it’s up and running, though, the benefits in terms of analytics and data are excellent — it builds a robust case for staff training and development, and gives you immediate talent mapping alongside snapshots of areas of concern.”
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