How did SOTC deal with the tough times? What were the measures followed to keep the staff motivated and reassured?
Read on to see what SOTC MD Vishal Suri tells us about it.
What, in your opinion, were the challenges that you faced in the past year and what measures did you take to meet them?
The COVID pandemic threw multiple challenges at us last year. It was an unprecedented global situation where a healthcare crisis quickly turned into an economic crisis. Due to the severe lockdown across all major cities and countries worldwide, most commercial/business activities were badly affected. All business sectors took the brunt of this, but Hospitality, Aviation, Travel & Tourism were the hardest and most severely hit. Our business operations almost came to a complete standstill.
The most important step that we took first, was to set up a Remote Nerve-Centre where the entire Senior Leadership of Thomas Cook and SOTC came together to discuss and address all issues pertaining to the company, and so we could relate to this crisis on a daily basis. We pooled our individual expertise to take the best decisions for our Organization in these unprecedented times. The next step was to start transparent and open communication with all our other colleagues on a periodic basis, to keep them informed about what we were doing, and to ensure that the organization stayed calm and focused.
We took the following measures to deal with this crisis:
- Our first and primary responsibility was to ensure Employee Safety, and compliance with the safety guidelines.
- The second area that we focused on was Business Continuity, and Customer & Employee Support.
- The third important area was Cash Conservation and Cost Reduction to sustain ourselves.
- We used the downtime to keep our engagement levels high, focused on re-skilling and up-skilling our employees through training and knowledge sharing interventions.
- Our Leaders worked within their respective businesses and functions to Reimagine, Restructure and Build our company for the future.
List five words to describe your team.
Resilient, dependable, flexible, united and compassionate.
What message would you like to share with your team today?
First and foremost, I would like to thank you for what you have already done to weather this crisis, and to get our company prepared for the future, and also to cope with the current situation. Your commitment made all the difference! My advice to everyone is to stay focused and positive. Stay safe by following a COVID appropriate lifestyle. Start preparing for the time when the world opens its arms to welcome tourists again. I visualise a good successful future for us. This too shall pass, and our business wil bounce-back.
In the meantime, try to use this time gainfully, by lending a helping hand to the community around you, and stay safe.