CASE STUDY
Energising global travel change management
When a global energy company implemented FCM Travel, it was their first change of travel management company in 15+ years. Discover how teamwork and support from FCM Consulting supercharged its change management strategy.
Key Highlights
Key Takeaways
- Collaboration between the client, FCM and FCM Consulting was key to the successful introduction of FCM.
- Different personas were targeted with different message, for the most impact.
- A mix of virtual and in-person demos of FCM Platform ensured everyone know how to use the platform.
Why this energy giant chose FCM
An energy company has a travel programme that spans 57 countries. Its travel pattern is hugely varied, with approximately 47,000 travellers, from executive travellers to offshore workers.
When FCM was introduced as the global travel partner, it was the first change of TMC in over 15 years. A key driver to fostering a true partnership at all levels.
Building on FCM’s renowned onboarding process, FCM Consulting supported with an additional layer of change management and communications support to make sure the team knew everything about their new TMC, the team and its technology.
Initiating the project
As part of the implementation project, a dedicated Change & Engage (C&E) workstream was established. A natural team consisting of the client’s employees and FCM was formed, working closely with FCM Consulting.
The objectives of the C&E team is to take on change initiatives across the organisation to ensure smooth implementation.
FCM Consulting played an integral role by collaborating with the client to discover and immersing itself in existing ways of working. These would become the project foundations:
- A strong culture of change management; ‘Change and Engage’ is an established concept.
- A set process for travel bookers and PAs.
- The client wanted to work with a travel partner that puts innovation and agility at the heart of its technology.
Powering a new communication strategy
Having chosen FCM as its global TMC, the client knew they had a partner that was flexible, agile, was a good culture fit and could move with the times. Tick! Communication needed to reflect an alignment on values of:
- Traveller experience
- Simplicity and flexibility
- Care for people and sustainability
- Market value
…while addressing some specific challenges and objectives:
- Unifying the travel technology experience through FCM Platform as their access point for all their travel tasks, including travel bookings.
- A sense of partnership with FCM travel consultants worldwide.
- Ability to contact consultants based in their region via email and phone.
- Additional support for bookers and PAs.
Supercharged training and communications
The Change & Engage workstream recommended training targeted at different personas in both the FCM and client’s teams. Throughout the implementation and change roll-out, regional account managers were ‘agents of change’ for their region. This allowed a consistent global set-up that understood local market requirements, meaning there was a good understanding of the partnership from the start.
Specific training and gifts were provided to FCM travel consultants to ensure they understood the client’s culture of safety and security. For travellers and travel arrangers, in-person roadshows were run in key locations with three key aims:
- Familiarise travellers with FCM and the partnership.
- Communicate the changeover date and Concur down time dates.
- Demo the FCM Platform and answer any questions from travellers.
Virtual demo sessions were also held around the world to showcase FCM Platform to travellers. Yammer was identified as the most unifying communications platform, and thus was implemented to communicate both the upcoming changes to the programme and the roadshows.
Throughout the go-live period, the project team regularly reported on feedback and figures such as transaction levels so the travel manager could share them with senior management and encourage a strong feedback loop.
Results
The roadshows were a success and formed a central part of the overall Change & Engage programme. Even though an in-person event wasn’t held in every country; the higher attendance in the virtual pre-sessions demonstrated they’d had the desired ripple effect of spreading the message across travellers.
Cross-company, cross-country and cross-function. Over six months, all markets were successfully rolled out, with highlights including:
- More than 3,000 travellers watched a demo of FCM Platform.
- Joint hosting created opportunities for formal and informal discussions ahead of go-live.
- FCM consultants found it valuable to meet travellers they would be communicating with.
The Change & Engage workstream continued to work alongside FCM Consulting, to ensure that the travel programme and ever-changing travel industry is well understood across both the business and the travel community. The natural FCM and client team ran like a welloiled machine, and continues to leverage the strengths of everyone who contributed to this massive project.
Yammer remains a high-engaged community for travel, and became the backbone of very successful communication on global and country level – both for changes to the programme and the roadshow
Read the full story
“The FCM launch has gone very well, well done to all involved”
Regional Travel Manager