2 minute read
Opinion: Lance Hayward
OPINION / 69
New landscapes time to change
The pandemic has changed everything, says Lance Hayward, founder of The Hayward Partnership. Is it now time to reinvent what we do?
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Historically, the core attraction of our industry was its incessant, adrenalinefuelled nature and the sheer elation experienced when you got through another day against seemingly impossible odds, standing shoulder to shoulder with like-minded ‘warriors’. Colleagues became life-long friends, glued together in labourintensive, traditional organisations so prevalent in our sector.
Heroes in trouble
Now we are emerging from the biggest crisis the industry has ever faced and the landscape has fundamentally changed. Financially, organisations all along the value chain have come dangerously close to the abyss. To survive, most have had to cut deep into their experienced teams. Talent has been lost permanently to other sectors. Those who remain are exhausted holding it together with skeleton teams. Heroes, every single one of them, but now facing a daunting surge in passenger traffic. To compound the situation, there is a scarcity of critical resource. The workforce has had a taste of the work-life balance and flexibility of other sectors.
Drivers of change
We are faced with a choice. Ride it and try to rebuild as it was, or embrace the new drivers of change – primarily Sustainability, Digital Transformation and PostCovid People Strategies. Sustainability should lead us to address the duplication, low asset utilisation and wastage, and to identify opportunities for collaboration and diversification that are inherent in the current operating models.
Digital Transformation has redefined what is now possible. From the automation of repetitive tasks – from driverless vehicles to financial admin, data analysis to new digitallyenabled sources of revenue.
Post-Covid People Strategies provide an opportunity to move away from the current labour-intensive model. Labour resources could be focused on tasks that add value and provide competitive advantage. New competencies for remote working could be developed by organisations to manage, motivate and promote staff engagement, and create new environments for creativity and innovation to flourish. Our industry is ripe for re-invention. Is it time to rebuild on new foundations? Join an illustrious panel of leaders from across the sector at the Taste of Travel at WTCE on June 15 to learn more. • thehaywardpartnership.com
