It can be ever so daunting to take that first step into the workforce as an intern. In a new weekly series we will follow intern Melissa Belec reporting directly from Reho Travel.
Melissa Belec is a twenty two year old Canadian who will be interning for Reho Travel for the next six weeks. She recently graduated from McGill University, Montreal in Industrial Relations and travelled to Melbourne for an international business work experience. As part of her role as an intern, she will observe and write about the travel industry.
On my first day of work, I woke up at 4am and arrived at the office an hour too early. I also recall a dangerous morning commute dodging trams, cars, and cyclists surging from the wrong direction. In my first meeting I attempted to simultaneously battle jetlag and decipher the Australian language (bevvies and budgee smugglers?). Needless to say, my first week at Reho Travel was quite a blur.
Luckily I work for a cool company. Reho Travel is a very unique workplace and this is obvious through its fittings, business practices, and results.
When entering a new culture the first thing one encounters are the artefacts or the superficial aspects that can be detected visually. At Reho the first thing you notice is the trendy office design. Every single piece of furniture has been purchased for meaningful purpose. For example, the ‘Nkhata Bay’ conference room is themed after a city in Malawi where the company sponsors a young man’s education and career.
The room is decorated with African art, bamboo light fixtures, and tasteful leather chairs. Another noticeable cultural difference is the casual dress code where employees are encouraged to dress in whichever way is most comfortable to them. To add to this casual lifestyle, Reho employees enjoy music in the office and some even sing out loud. I’ve noticed that Reho’s office fittings are a direct representation of their business practices.
In my opinion, the business practices are very much instilled by the Managing Director, Karsten Horne who passionately leads by example. Karsten has a unique leadership style that is somewhat uncommon in Canada. For example, he does not have a closed office; rather he sits in the open area with all other employees.
Similarly, he does not dictate the meetings; the employees take turns being in leading roles. For these reasons, the company hierarchy appears to be almost completely flat. Karsten is an affiliative leader because he values relationships and mutual trust; this equally applies to employees and clients. As an intern, this environment allows for infinite opportunities for creativity and growth.
As a result, my first impression of Reho Travel is that it is a cool place to work. The company fosters an innovative environment, offers quality deliverables, and in turn produces happy employees and customers. I am worried I will never want to leave this place!
