Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Building a company culture that fosters growth, collaboration, success and work/life balance is something that many travel organisations aspire to.
But how does a travel company build a strong culture when most of its team are scattered all over the country?
With Travel Counsellors working from home offices located all over Australia, building a winning company culture is a tough task. Thankfully, the company has managed to implement a few key strategies and initiatives to ensure that Travel Counsellors has cemented itself as an inclusive, forward-thinking company where travel agents can thrive while working from their own home offices.
Here are five things that Travel Counsellors does as a company to create a culture worth aspiring to:
Provides support
Feeling unsupported is one of the biggest reasons travel agents walk away from retail roles. Recognising this, Travel Counsellors provides unparalleled levels of support to agents working on their home businesses around Australia. Business development managers provide one-on-one guidance and support, and the head office team take care of everything from marketing to IT, finance and more. Other Travel Counsellors also provide support in a number of ways. Providing a listening ear on those challenging days, advice on a destination they’ve recently visited and expert knowledge on adventure tours or cruise liners they’re familiar with, Travel Counsellors are there for each other when they need it.
Prioritises connection
Many people mistakenly believe that working from home is an isolating experience. Thanks to technology, Travel Counsellors may be working from home, but they are never alone. Whether it’s using Skype to catch up with their business development manager, picking up the phone to chat to other Travel Counsellors, attending webinars for training or tuning into the in-house TV program for real-time updates on the company, Travel Counsellors are a part of a close-knit team no matter where they’re working from.
Celebrates success
When you’re running a travel business, it’s common to focus on the challenges of the role. While you’re busy dealing with mass flight cancellations thanks to a volcanic ash cloud, one of your customers has fallen ill while on holidays and needs emergency surgery, and a complicated group booking is demanding lots of your time.
Often, the day-to-day tasks of running a travel business can make you lose sight of the big picture. An organisation with a good workplace culture will celebrate success loudly, proudly and often in order to remind everyone of why they get up in the morning and dedicate their time to working in travel in the first place.
At Travel Counsellors, success is celebrated in many ways – both large and small. The annual conference provides everyone with the chance to get together for a few days of celebration and inspiration, while small wins are championed by head office, business development managers and the Travel Counsellors community on a daily basis.
Rewards high performance
A common gripe many travel agents have is feeling unrewarded for their hard work. It’s clear that if you feel unrewarded then you’re less likely to go the extra mile for your clients. That’s why Travel Counsellors rewards high performers with frequent rewards trips and Gold Status to work towards.
Combines all of the above to build a strong sense of community
How many people have worked at close quarters with others yet felt incredibly alone? Having everyone work in the same office, doesn’t automatically mean everyone works well together as a team.
Creating a community of empowered, supportive and collaborative agents is a priority for Travel Counsellors. As a global company with teams scattered across Australia (and the globe) Travel Counsellors has had to work hard to develop a community.
Providing support, prioritising connection, celebrating success and rewarding high performance enables Travel Counsellors to build a community of supportive, connected, successful people who work together to make the company what it is.
Sharing in the success of others is at the very heart of the Travel Counsellors business model and a factor that attracts agents who want more than a 9-5 job. At Travel Counsellors, it’s personal.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your travel career by joining an organisation with a strong company culture, contact us HERE.
