Our People - Shelley Poten
Who: Shelley Poten
Role: Regional General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions QLD/NT
Location: FCM head office in South Brisbane
A 1st-degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, Shelley Poten has combined discipline and equilibrium with her love of helping people to go from strength to strength within Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) over the past 14 years.
Joining FCM’s sister brand Corporate Traveller in 2004, Shelley progressed from Travel Manager in the Sydney, Gold Coast and Chicago offices to Team Leader and General Manager in NSW, before moving into her current role as Regional General Manager for FCM Travel Solutions Qld/NT.
Now overseeing 60 people in operations, sales, account management and implementation, Shelley’s leadership style is based on authenticity and a sincere care for and engagement with her team and customers. She also draws on attributes from her Taekwondo training, including discipline, autonomy, time management and a calm and measured approached, to support her leadership success.
This approach has seen Shelley’s team awarded for Outstanding Achievement in Customer Retention and achieve record-breaking employee engagement results among all FCTG corporate brands.
The hallmark of a stand-out Travel Manager
“The best Travel Managers in our business have an intrinsically positive drive to make a difference to the lives of others,” Shelley says.
“Our FCM customers are from industries including finance, services and resources, and it's important that we understand their business, challenges and goals so we can align our services and advice. When we truly understand a customer's holistic objectives we can add value in a more powerful way to support their overarching strategy, through their travel program. For example, we have shaped and executed the decentralisation of a travel program, based on a customer’s goal of empowering their people, and improved customer and personnel retention for their business.”
Customer-driven innovation
Shelley believes value is determined by the customer and the problems they are facing. “Being part of FCTG, we’re continually developing innovative solutions to solve problems shared by many corporate customers. FCM’s next-gen online booking tool, SAVI, is a great example of our commitment to, and investment in, creating value for our clients. This blend of human expertise and market-leading technology underpins our company’s unique value.”
Success supported by balance
As a member of FCTG’s Flexibility and Diversity Committee, Shelley is a strong advocate for flexibility in the workplace. She has achieved balance by being able to care for her ageing mother while leading a high performing operational team, studying for her degree, and more recently, being able to incorporate exercise into her busy schedule using FCTG’s HealthWise gym and classes.
Shelley is also an avid participant in FCTG’s WomenWise program and was a 2017 corporate finalist in the Women in Travel Awards. “I hope through these and other future initiatives, we will begin to see even more talented women finding the confidence to lead and contribute at a higher level,” she said.