The chocolate has been eaten (except for that Easter egg you hid in that spot you’ve since forgotten) and it’s back to regular programming for work. But for many travel agents, this long weekend was like any other: they worked.
Long weekends for non-travel industry folk usually mean not having to choose between catching up on life admin and a little fun. They mean that you can not only get to the bottom of the ironing pile you’ve been cultivating since the last long weekend, you can see your friends too. They also inevitably have us contemplating the viability of a four-day workweek.
But, is a four-day workweek a possibility for Aussie travel agents? You’re understaffed, in high demand and on call. Can you realistically detach from work for three whole days?
Agents be busy
…and this long weekend was the same as usual. The increased demand for travel has meant that agents were likely on the job before the Easter Bunny had even gotten up. Now factor in an extra day off of work each week and you’re looking at an immense backlog of work that needs to be handled as soon as possible. Surely the idea of a four-day workweek is a pipe dream.
So how can it be done?
It’s not impossible to have a four-day workweek. But how can you make the move without compromising customer service?
With the right combination of operational processes and tech-enabled solutions, a four-day workweek can become a reality.
Here are a few tips to help you get started.
1. Automate your workload: Get ahead of the game by automating tedious tasks like client onboarding, data entry and document filing. This will free up time that can be spent doing more value-adding work related to client relations or growth activities.
2. Think outside the box: Use technology as an enabler to move away from traditional methods of working and embrace new ways of doing things that make your job easier and don’t require your presence in the office every day.
3. Invest in training: Train staff with tech skills so they can better handle their administrative duties.
4. Prioritise: Identify which tasks are essential for the business to function and set aside those that can be handled later. This will help you focus on the important tasks without getting sidetracked by the smaller ones.
5. Utilise resources: Look into leveraging external services such as virtual assistants to take some of the workload off your plate and give you more time for other activities.
Who’s already doing it?
Althams Travel Group in the UK has already taken the plunge and implemented the four-day workweek. And despite some teething problems, the company is now “reaping the benefits”.
“We were concerned about maintaining productivity with the four-day week,” managing director Sandra McAllister told local UK media.
“[But] when it’s all work and no play, people go to work praying for the weekends. Now the attitude of the staff has changed completely. They love working four days and having three days with their families. Staff are buzzing and happy to be here.”
And then of course there are home-based agents. Home-based agents can pick and choose when they work and how many days out of seven. Agents don’t have to be chained to their desks for five straight days anymore.
Sekha Walsh from itravel with Sekha, like most travel advisors, was working seven days a week for the first half of 2022.
“I was working long hours as everyone wanted to travel,” he told Karryon. But he was burning out.
“Since then I have cut back my hours. No after hours or weekends. I have now hired two virtual assistants to help me with my workload and I can now work fewer hours whenever I want to.
“I love being a home based agent as I can choose my own hours.”
While you might not be able to shift to a home-based model or implement a four-day workweek just yet, with the right strategies in place, you can at least aim to achieve more of a balance between work/life commitments. It’s food for thought anyway. If you have time to eat, of course.
