In a changing marketplace, successful companies need a team willing to execute the necessary transformation to take them to the next stage of (r)evolution.
In the travel industry this reality is no different, even more so if we take into account the low customer loyalty and an online competition that leaves no respite.
Therefore, a strong group of people is the only solution to get on the right track.
Our entire organization must be well defined, selected, aligned, coordinated, trained, empowered and motivated to achieve a common goal.
And we need to lead it efficiently to achieve results. Good teamwork is the backbone that leads to business success.
All human beings want to be someone, who is part of something, who is going somewhere.
So, how should a team be configured to compete effectively in the travel industry? From BRAINTRUST we are going to reflect on five fundamental aspects to shed some light on this matter:
First, a sense of identity and commitment.
In the first instance, the personal qualities of the workers must be assessed. Previous experience and theoretical knowledge are important, but it is essential to explore attitudes such as willingness to collaborate, ethics in interpersonal relations or creativity, or even teamwork itself. A sincere belief in the company's possibilities and a spirit of self-improvement that faces all kinds of challenges must be encouraged. This action is valuable because every employee needs to feel that his or her identity is aligned with a collective identity.
The CEO of the company is the ideal actor to convey this message, since no one knows the essence of the organization better. And he or she must clearly communicate the company's vision (who it is and where it is going), mission (why it is in the market and what problem it solves for its customers), values (what tools it will equip its employees with along the way), and strategy (how it intends to travel this road and what alternatives exist if unforeseen events occur).
These pillars are essential to guarantee the effort and commitment of our employees, and will be the seed to create the organizational culture and lay the foundations on which we will work in the company. If the team that makes up the workforce actively trusts in the project, and is fully committed, it will offer better services based on advice, specialization and customization, and in the marketing of value-added services, people are the key and make the difference.
2. Analyzing professional competencies and aligning them with job requirements and business objectives.
In the different projects we have been working on for our clients, we have come across the fact that, on a regular basis, positions are created for people, when the reality is that it is the people who should occupy the positions that the business needs and not the other way around.
To do this, it is necessary to first define the position we need within the organization, what objectives we want it to fulfill, what are the main responsibilities of the position, and then describe what skills and knowledge are required for the position, and based on this profile, select the most suitable candidate.
This methodology is key if we want to be successful in our organization, and that people meet their objectives, achieve the expected results, thus optimizing our resources, and achieving greater staff motivation.
3. Training and empowering people.
Once we have selected the candidate, it will be time for him to start performing his function with an appropriate job description and clear and defined objectives in a "smart" format, so that he has established short, medium and long term goals, along which we must train him and enable him to fulfill the function we have entrusted him with.
The employee will sometimes walk along known paths on which he will know how to get by, and other times along unexplored routes on which he has never trodden, and for which we must train him in knowledge and skills, either at a theoretical level or at a more practical level, and in some cases with "on-the-job training". It is not a matter of offering training for the sake of providing it, but we must adjust the content of the training to the needs of his position, to help him achieve his business objectives, and with a view to his growth as a professional and as a person.
Employees are what make a positive Customer Experience a reality, and in the age of the Experience Economy, only people put a different stamp on it.
4. Measuring, reinforcing and accompanying our employees.
As a fourth phase of this process, once trained and qualified, employees must be measured in the performance of their functions through a periodic evaluation that analyzes what they have done and how, what achievements they have obtained and why, what areas of improvement lie ahead, and what new objectives will be defined, the leader must be available to travel this new path together.
Additionally and with this information, the staff, at least at the middle management level upwards, should have a process of accompaniment by a training expert or coach, to help them to get the best out of themselves, to better exploit all their skills, which, being many and very good, most of the time are covered by insecurities, lack of definition, lack of understanding, doubts and fears of failing in their tasks, the result of past experiences and/or anxieties about the future.
In short, to discover all the "artillery and ammunition" they have inside, a good coach always with an external angle and an objective and assertive approach, discovers and uncovers the best of each one and helps the employee to develop, to grow, and to better perform their tasks, to subsequently place the employee in a career development map.
5. Exercising a modern and participative leadership, all as one.
Having a good work environment is key... offering a team services such as gym, free food or health insurance are incentives that help to convey goodwill on the part of the company, which results in a better work environment, but it is only possible in large companies, and not in all of them. Routine in a pleasant environment helps people feel positive and motivated, although it is not always available.
But the key to retaining and developing talent is the leadership that is exercised over people. Statistics show that most people leave companies because of their bosses, so exercising modern and participative leadership is key to piloting companies in the 21st century. In this sense, in almost all the client companies we work for, a good part of the managers are basic employees who have worked their way up through the ranks, based on excellent work, but they have never been taught how to lead people, and they strive to do their best, in their own way, as best they can.
A good training with knowledge and methods in situational leadership, including a 360º analysis exercise, becomes essential to enable leaders to better carry out their mission, and thus transport all people to the next stage of transformation required by companies.
For Ángel García Butragueño, Co-Director of the BRAINTRUST Tourism Barometer, "Companies are still made up of people, human beings who add value to the business. That is why it is essential that our companies are made up of talented, skilled and motivated people, to walk the path of the future, not without challenges but full of opportunities, where all sectors are in the midst of a process of change. And we, the leaders, have to take the lead and pilot the adventure of transformation. Leadership is becoming modern and participative, within organizations that are less hierarchical, flatter but more coordinated and motivated. The task of a leader is to take his team as far as it has never gone before.
According to José Manuel Brell, Co-Director of the BRAINTRUST Tourism Barometer, "We are heading towards an economic paradigm where collaboration is going to be fundamental in all industries, and more specifically in the tourism sector, and this fact must start at the very heart of the company. Training processes are vital to foster better team activity that will lead to the achievement of results, a key aspect for the viability of a company in the short, medium and long term. And we are heading towards the agile organization era, where coordination will be fundamental.Talent must be attracted, retained, developed, managed and led.
At BRAINTRUST we can help you define your ideal organization, better configure your work teams and optimize their results. We have the best means to design the optimal organization, describe their roles and responsibilities, analyze skills, train, train and motivate.
