2 0 22 FI D I C ONFER ENCE HOW TO PREPARE YOUR TEAM AND BUSINESS FOR CHANGE Appropriately, FIDIs first conference business session after three difficult years dealt with the subject of managing change, with a wide and challenging perspective from panelists Yann Blandy, Santa Fe Relocation; Mark Burchell, Suddath; Isabelle Dumortier, EY Design & Engineering; Laura Ganon, Fink Mobility; and Joleen Lauffer, Aires. Setting the scene for the discussion, moderator and FIDI Secretary General Jesse van Sas said the pandemic, ensuing supply chain crises, and the war in Ukraine, had added to already substantial challenges faced by the moving industry, including consolidation and disruptive new business models. How then should movers traditionally uncomfortable with change lead their companies against this background of an increasingly volatile market? Lauffer said rather than be driven by clients response to crises present and future movers should seize opportunities to steer the process. Change management is here to stay, she said. There are always going to be challenges that we need to navigate, and it would be great if our industry is sometimes in the drivers seat. Shifts in consumer actions were key to understanding the response needed, said Burchell. Transformation isnt a group of students in a dorm thinking of a new algorithm and disrupting the digital DSP market, its consumer behaviour and how consumers are going to be making their choices, he said. Its going to be a constant state of rethinking what we do, how we do it and motivating our teams to adapt to those new conditions. Staff are critical to good change management, said Ganon, but with many businesses struggling to recruit, it is also imperative to fully engage your workforce. In our days, we felt like companies were doing us a favour to have us but now its the opposite, she said. When you empower them and make them part of your strategic decisions, they feel they belong. And then you start building longlasting relationships to keep your talent. She added that it is crucial to expose potential employees to the sexy part of our industry, particularly its international network and opportunities to travel. Blandy also emphasised the importance of mapping different possible scenarios and incorporating flexibility when setting company goals. I have no idea whats going to come our way down the road, but we will be disrupted, he said. Burchell stressed the importance of adaptability, agility and communicating to employees that this is the kind of company you want. The more you communicate, the clearer you get, and the better it works, said Dumortier. This is important when managing change, and particularly so when handling sensitive issues such as negotiating shorter payment terms with clients. 48 FF306 June-August 22 pp44-59 Conference.indd 48 HOW TO NAVIGATE DIVERSITY AND PARITY IN A GLOBAL INDUSTRY Panel moderator Simone Percy, of Oman Beverly Smyth, kicked off the second business session with a challenging statistic. In 2015, there were seven women holding the top job in FTSE 100 companies however, there were 14 Davids. And 17 Johns. A brief look at FIDI businesses reveals a healthier diversity, with a 25:75 female to male split of CEOs, which Percy said was certainly more than when I started in the industry, but not enough. The panel consisting of Derek Duffy, Armstrong Moving; Ben Ivory, Graebel; Natasha Tavoukjian, Orbit Moving & Storage; Linda Rovekamp, De Haan; and Juan Guillermo Daz, Intramar Shipping looked at how to foster more diverse workplaces and the benefits this can bring. Ivory said there was still work to be done to define the notion of diversity. It is hard to get consensus on definitions... and people are just starting to get comfortable with the terms, so I think its going to take a long time, he said. It means different things to different people in different countries and cultures. So there needs to be dialogue like this to get a better common understanding, he said. Tavoukjian added that the differences in understanding of diversity issues for businesses to tackle in different locations could be wide. Diversity can mean a lot of different things, particularly in less progressive countries, she said. Daz said: Diversity means being represented and to have a space in the community where you belong, where you can talk about your differences and understand them... and the skills of people WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 07/06/2022 10:17