VIA Travel takes off after consultant contribution
Fast expansion, a new accounting system and several travel agency acquisitions have put a lot of pressure on the business activities at VIA Travel in Gothenburg. Amadeus business consultants were brought in a few months ago to conduct an analysis of the organisation with suggestions for improvement measures.
“It has been very valuable for us to receive an external perspective on our organisation and how we work,” says Annica Björnefeldt at VIA Travel.
VIA Travel is one of the largest business travel agency chains in the Nordic region, with offices in all of the Nordic countries. The office in Gothenburg with about 70 employees has experienced rapid growth, both organic and through acquisitions, which has also changed the prerequisites for running the business.
As a consequence management decided to reorganise in order to refine the work in the various units. For example, invoicing was moved from sales to a joint support department and a new accounting system was introduced simultaneously. However, the reorganisation did not produce the results hoped for.
Uneven workload
Some of the problems struggled with were uneven workloads between the sales teams and a lack of common working methods. Specific skills were also tied to specific employees, which caused problems if someone became ill. Another problem area was that many work duties were handled manually, which was very time consuming.
“For example, the support department had a hard time keeping up, but we understood that the solution was not to recruit more employees. We needed to turn all of our routines and ingrained working methods upside down and start over to create one VIA. We were able to pin-point some of the problems ourselves, but we didn’t have the tools to solve them,” says Annica Björnefeldt, Project Manager for the change project at VIA Travel.
Mapping on several levels
Amadeus’ business consultants restricted their efforts to the five sales teams in business travel, the marina department and to the support department – units where the need for action was the greatest. Business activities were mapped out on several levels and comprised organisation structure, processes, systems, tools and products. Some of the questions asked were: How can processes, workflow and communication be improved? What are the competence needs? What systems are used and in what ways?
Amadeus’ consultants worked onsite at VIA. They studied and measured how employees worked within the different units and emphasised the consequences certain elements of the work created for colleagues later on in the process.
“The answers always come from those who work in an organisation, which is why it’s important to talk to the employees and involve them in the process of change. People, processes, tools and systems go hand in hand and discovering the solutions requires an overall perspective,” says Marianne Hosk, who is a business consultant at Amadeus and shares joint responsibility with Hillevi Ting for the project at VIA Travel.
New IT tools
Marianne Hosk recently presented her report with suggestions for further changes. Among other things, this report deals with ensuring that all members of the support team are able to carry out the various tasks, and with minimising time-demanding elements through new routines, new IT tools and more automation.
“Other areas for improvement are to develop methods for increased sales and to raise the competence level in several areas. Strengthening team leaders as a group and in groups, as well as clarifying their roles and areas of responsibility, is another recommendation,” says Marianne Hosk.
“Middle management is often very important when it comes to change, and that is the case here as well. Those in middle management must feel secure in their roles, understand their areas of responsibility and feel that they are backed up by upper management.”
Already seen results
“Many of the bottlenecks and problems revealed during the analysis were rectified along the way. For example, several training sessions have been held and many routines have been changed to streamline the work. The fact that the company demonstrates a desire to better the organisation, paired with the presence of the Amadeus consultants, has in itself had a positive effect on the working climate,” says Annica Björnefeldt.
“We will continue implementing changes for the next few months, but we have seen a lot of improvements already. Things are not as stressful, despite the fact that we’re selling more. I have only received positive reactions from the staff and many say that they have become more motivated. I believe that all companies would benefit from put their organisations under the magnifying glass at regular intervals – it’s been a valuable investment for us,” Annica Björnefeldt concludes.
Facts about Amadeus services for VIA Travel
Service areas: Business Analysis Services
-Amadeus Business Process Analysis – entails business consulting with a focus on organisation, processes and change management with the aim of increasing efficiency.
-Amadeus General Business Consulting – services to support organisations in implementing changes through training, workshops, etc.
-Amadeus Solution Process Analysis – a mapping of the IT-systems, programs and tools the business uses and how the processes and workflow interact with the technology.
