Monday 16 December 2019

Training and development: the backbone of our success

Safari Destinations has grown from a simple idea in 2006 to a highly successful DMC. And while we sell exceptional safaris to see beautiful landscapes and breathtaking animals, the real backbone of the company is ensuring all staff receive in-depth training and continuous development, about our systems, products, destinations, suppliers, agents and source markets.

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Day 1 at Safari Destinations …

We don’t believe in throwing staff in the deep end and leaving it up to them whether they sink or swim. That helps no-one: not us, not their team members, not our agents and definitely not our new staff member. We invest a lot of time and energy attracting quality people to Safari Destinations and we like to get return on that investment.

All administrators in the Reservations department work in an ‘apprenticeship’ arrangement with a more senior consultant or team leader, with ongoing feedback. Performance reviews are held every three months for the first six months of learning the ropes, and admins are coached in every aspect their role. These regular, formal check-ins every three months are company-wide for all new staff members, ensuring that everyone is reaching their potential as much as possible.

We keep our promises

Our business hinges on us being experts on all aspects of travelling to Botswana and Zimbabwe and creating inspiring travel experiences. We promise our agents that we are experts, and our in-depth training and development helps ensure we keep our promise. All staff regularly attend external supplier training about their products, brand and offerings. We have an in-house trainer specifically for destinations and further in-house supplier training plus lessons on sales, product and itineraries. These sessions are facilitated by in-house specialists, providing an opportunity for our seniors to hone their training and development skills through support from the HR department.

A chain of success

Once a senior administrator, who has successfully handled all behind-the-scenes aspects of complicated bookings, is ready to move onto becoming an associate consultant, she (or he!) will join a consultant-in-training programme. This equips them with the ability to understand and communicate with agents of different markets; create inspiring itineraries; and write persuasive and factual motivations. Once again, team leaders and senior consultants are on hand to guide, correct, educate and mentor.

We live it

A big part of our promise to be experts is to have first-hand knowledge of all sorts of safaris, from five stars, to mobiles, to self-drives. As many staff go out as much as possible on educationals – this is a vital part of developing a critical eye (when a lodge is due a soft refurb, for example); learning how to compare products (which will deliver better value even if it costs more?); and how to assess which product suits which type of traveller and market best.

Onward and upward

Everyone likes to grow and feel like their careers are moving forward. Because of this, we’ve created defined steps on the career ladder in the Reservations Department:

1. Safari Assistant
2. Administrator
3. Senior Administrator
4. Relief Administrator
5. Associate Consultant
6. Intermediate Consultant
7. Senior Consultant
8. Team Leader

This is carefully staggered to ensure that everyone who is promoted can cope with an increased workload, heightened responsibility and an increased need to supervise other staff, helping them in turn with their growth and development. We make sure no-one feels overwhelmed by their new role but rather excited and motivated!

In this way, Safari Destinations builds supervisory and management capacity, preparing those staff with potential, talent and the interest for promotion.

IT is it!

We’ve come a long way from manually creating booking packs. Today, all staff are fully computer literate and up-to-date with major industry programs like TourPlan and WETU. We also track our tasks, diaries and bulletins through Bitrix, and actively use Skype to keep in touch with our staff and agents around the world.

Our success stories

Obviously, since starting in 2006, we had many, many success stories and plenty of proud moments where our wobbly impala newbies are now super-fast adults outrunning all manner of deadlines, requests and crises! These are three recent success stories:

Roxanne After a number of years in camp management and running her own business with her husband, Roxanne joined Safari Destinations in May 2013 as an Intermediate Consultant. She was then promoted to Senior Consultant while also expanding her family with two of the most delightful little boys. Roxanne was promoted to Team Leader in September 2019, having participated in management training and being mentored by Storm Keen, previously a Team Leader. In just over six years, she has risen to the leadership cadre of SD!

Keba In February 2016, Keba started as our receptionist as this was the position open at the time. We soon realised that she had lots of potential and, with her degree in Tourism, she was moved into Reservations as an Administrator. She steadily advanced up the ranks and was soon appointed as an Associate Consultant. Keba worked closely with Storm in terms of her development. Once Keba reached the level of Relief Administrator, she has started to be involved in our consultant-in-training programme, which exposes admins to putting itineraries together as well as sales training. We have loved watching her growth and development as a professional and value the passion she brings to her work.

Resego Resego started off at SD in December 2015. She swiftly advanced through the Administrator ranks and was appointed as Associate Consultant in 2018. By 2019 she was an Intermediate Relief Consultant. Relief Consultants are vital as they support those consultants on maternity leave (we have a lot of SD babies, being a team that comprises 80% women), or who are sick or on annual leave. This position is an excellent development opportunity, giving Resego exposure to working with different agents and different markets. She is also our top scorer in our destination training exams, having scored no less than 90% on all her assessments!

Because of our carefully calibrated training and development programme we can not only deliver exemplary service to our agents but we also ensure that our team are empowered, challenged, rewarded and inspired to be the very best they can be.

Sunday 10 June 2018

Flying High

It is pretty special when you take your first aeroplane flight. But when your first flight is in a caravan, flying over the Okavango Delta, on your way to Khwai, there is something extra special about it although it can be something of a scary, bumpy ride. For Resego, she was excited at the thought of flying. “I was looking forward to seeing the earth from a bird’s eye view”. Resego received lots of advice: “Kay told me to remember my pressure points if I felt air-sick. I did but it didn’t work! Helmie advised that I should get some ginger ale but with the excitement and nervousness, I forgot. Lisa told me to drink water before the flight but I was worried about having to use the bathroom once we took off, so I ignored that advice. Amandine’s advice: keep swallowing to unblock your ears, that worked. I was super excited when we took off”. And the actual experience? “Ten minutes into the flight I wanted to jump off! My tummy was in knots, I was nauseous and my ears kept blocking. The flight being bumpy didn’t help either. It was the longest thirty minutes of my life. I kept telling myself that I was on a bus to Gaborone and the bumps were the potholes. This seemed to work for a while but as soon as I looked outside, that illusion disappeared. As I felt the Mack air caravan getting ready to land, I breathed a sigh of relief. After getting off, a bottle of water helped ease my nerves and I was good as new again.  I am thankful my first flight experience was with people I consider my SD family, as they helped me through it.”

This trip was also Resego’s first educational ever.  With nights at Little Machaba and Khwai Tented Camp plus site inspections to Kwai Guest House, Sango, Khwai River Lodge and Machaba, complete with all the activities on offer, Resego was immersed in the Khwai experience. Visiting together with a more senior consultant, meant that Resego was able to learn from Gen’s experienced eye and put the properties into perspective.  Resego commented: “I got to see first-hand how busy Khwai really is and experience the importance of starting an itinerary with a lower end property and ending with a high end one. The personal highlight was the mokoro as I have always wanted to do that”.  

 

These first-time experiences are because Resego has recently been promoted to Associate Consultant. For the first time, she will be allocated her very own agents, creating her own itineraries and experiencing the pleasure of a confirmed booking.  Fresh from the University of Botswana, with her Honours in Tourism Management degree in hand, Resego joined the Safari Destinations’ team two and half years ago. In this time, Resego has teamed together with other consultants, working directly with suppliers learning about their camps, rates, activities as well as about Botswana as a tourist destination.  Resego is just one of many such Motswana graduates being trained as part of SD’s staff development programme.

As a new consultant, Resego will continue to be supported and guided by her team leader, Karen Reed, who has over 20 years of experience in the travel business.  Key to the training of our consultants, is the visiting of numerous properties that Safari Destinations sells to our agents. These educationals with a night at certain lodges and site inspections to others, ensures that our consultants get to feel the vibe of the camp, interact with the staff, taste the food, ride in the mokoro, experience the guiding: the stuff that the travel brochure does not tell you, giving our consultants unique insight into the camp and what it has to offer. All this translates into better product knowledge to be shared with our agents. 

The SD family is very proud of Resego’s achievements. Kay, our Reservations Manager, has been working closely with Resego for the past year. She had this to say about Resego and her going off on her first educational and flight: “To be honest I feel like a mum, watching her kid go off on her first day at school, very proud … I am sure that Resego will take the confidence we have placed in her and run with it …” Or is it a case, of flying to new heights?

 

Tuesday 24 May 2016

The Women behind our Women

Here at Safari Destination, the sheer number of women in the workplace means that women’s issues receive attention. Our two Managing Directors, Carina and Lorraine, are fantastic role models of what women working together can achieve. And they are both working mothers, having to cope with the reality of work-life balance. In response to this reality, the company provides a kiddies’ house on the company premises. Mums are responsible for hiring their own caregivers who then look after the children in a safe and secure environment. These caregivers are very special women.  In the month of May, Safari Destinations celebrated the contribution of these ” women behind our women”.  Each working mother shared a few words. These words were printed in our bi-monthly newsletter and each caregiver was also given a copy of the photos with the words below. It was a special moment.

Roxanne, Boineelo and Kyle: I am quite an over protective mom, so I truly appreciate that there is someone watching Kyle throughout the day. I know that Boi really cares about him and always takes good care of him. She can be both gentle and stern with Kyle. He has someone caring and gentle when he feels sad or scared.  We make a good team as we raise Kyle together.  I think of Boi as Kyle’s office mummy. 

Karen, Komotso, Nikita and Courtney: I am so lucky that Komotso cares for my children and so I trust her with them. Komotso to me is a life saver. Without her, I would not be able to achieve what I do at work. I’m grateful that I am in a position to provide Komotso with a job, which helps her support her family.  Having 6 children of her own, Komotso treats both Courtney and Kita as her own.  She loves my little girls and looks after them well.

Kim, Lillian and Tate: I would not be able to cope without Lillian.  Tate absolutely adores her and when we go on holiday, he misses her so much he sometimes cries for her!! Lillian has been with Tate since he was 2 weeks old.  She is also teaching Tate to speak Setswana, as he is a Motswana.

Lorraine, Bea, Megan and Taylor: Bea is an extension of my family and I could not manage without her support. I trust Bea with the lives of my children – her honesty, loyalty and patience is invaluable. I would not be where I am today without her support. I often envy the time that she spends with the kids but I am also grateful that they have a second mum in their life to look out for them and meet their needs.

Ramona, Otshephe and Isabella: I am really glad I found Otshephe.  I can go to work and have little Bella close to me. It is a great relief to know that my daughter is in good hands while I am at the office. I am looking forward to a long working relationship.

Thelma and Thuto, and her twins, Kgotla and Kgosi: Thuto has become so close to my kids they ask for her when we are home. Kgotla goes to the loo and calls out “Mommy where is aunty? I have pooped.” J  I am happy to have found her.

Verena, Evelyn and Leila: Evelyn has only been with us and looking after Leila for 4 months, but it’s amazing how quickly she has become pretty much a part of the family. She is so much more than Leila’s Nanny. She is just my life supporter in every way!! It is great to have her helping me!

Ashley, Helen and Bella: Helen is a great help so that now I can go to work and relax with peace of mind that she is taking good care of my daughter. Bella is always happy to see her and I know that she is in safe hands.

 

Thursday 12 May 2016

Happiness at Safari Destinations

 

Our philosophy at Safari Destinations is that having fun at work is critical to our success.

Fun cannot be had without laughter and laughter is the stuff that binds us together. It is what the academics call “building social capital”. Simply put, having fun together creates shared memories, helps us get along better, thereby facilitating co-operation and co-ordination amongst staff.  Engaging in fun activities can also lead to staff being more creative and productive. The researchers also say fun at work can result in lower absenteeism, less sick days and greater satisfaction. A recent survey amongst our staff about the happiest moments at work included staff relating their involvement in fun activities organized.

So what do we get up to? The latest fun activity was an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt, with clues leading to various locations until at last, the easter egg bounty was found.

Besides running staff only activities, the company’s social agenda includes plugging into what is happening within the community and sponsoring staff involvement in these activities. A fabulous win-win for the company and the community! The latest example, was staff participation in a Masked Ball run by a local school to raise funds. May the fun times continue!

Friday 15 January 2016

Developing of Staff

We are sure that our readers are also interested in our in-house training and how we develop our staff:

While many companies claim that their staff are their best asset and that the development of talent is a key strategic priority, it is rare to find a company where this philosophy is lived out on a daily basis. All too often the development of staff is a task undertaken when “we have time”.  In my experience, things are different at Safari Destinations (SD). Staff development at this small but dynamic company goes beyond being a necessity for survival in a developing country with a small population and limited skills.

It is a matter of success and a source of pride.  As the new HR Manager at SD responsible for driving the staff development agenda, I have often heard the following from Lorraine Potter, one of the Managing Directors of SD: “This is a learning opportunity. This needs to be shared with staff. How can we do this?” I arrived to find weekly training sessions an ongoing practice. Talk of developing the product and destination knowledge amongst the reservation’s team is foremost in the minds of management as this is key to the company positioning itself as an expert on Botswana and the experiences available to travellers. Material resources had already developed to support the reservation’s staff in acquiring this knowledge and learning about the organisation’s processes.

One to one mentoring by a senior takes place with all new staff in this team and has been the practice since the early days of the company.  Informal feedback on performance is inherent in these roles with more formal feedback taking place every 3 months in the first year and thereafter, every 6 months.  A recent development is that staff themselves (and not only management) are responsible for the training of new staff.  This is in keeping with the philosophy that we never stop learning and that while we teach, we learn.  With the rapid expansion of the company and inevitable stretching of staff resources, the company restructured and appointed team leaders in the reservation’s team in late 2014. But the values and practices, on which the company was first built, have held strong and are fiercely protected by the two Managing Directors, Lorraine Potter and Carina Grüninger. One such value is the commitment “To constantly strive to learn more about our country, agents, suppliers, our jobs, ourselves and each other”.  Transforming this commitment into action requires leaders who themselves actively demonstrate their own openness to learning, are excited to learn from others and make the time to learn as well as create the space and opportunity for others to develop and grow.  This is what I have found working at SD. It is the foundation on which the company has grown and been successful and provides fertile ground for the future for as management guru, Peter Senge says: “The only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition”.