Uniform approach

But such longevity with the company is not actually that unusual, and as Zacher explains to me, Flight Centre prefers to promote from within. It puts a big emphasis on training and development, and bases many of its strategies around what is best for staff.

One such development was the roll-out of new uniforms for all Flight Centre agents last month, for the first time in 10 years.

There are more style options available now for both men and women, from chinos without a tie, through to a full suit.

“It’s important for our consultants, a lot of whom have just got back from their travels or just finished university, that we pay for their uniforms,” Zacher explains.

“Egalitarianism is one of our philosophies – the same opportunities are available to all, so I wear the same uniform as a consultant who’s been in the job for two weeks.

“The way people dress and feel about themselves makes a difference to how they perform in their jobs and we want people to feel good about themselves.”

Zacher explains that the previous uniform was “a bit out-dated” and much more formal.

“We’re a fun company and we wanted our uniform to reflect a more relaxed, modern approach to holidays,” she adds.

Nurturing from within

This focus on existing staff is evident from Flight Centre’s Fast Track “identification, retention and development programme for high-potential and ambitious individuals”, which runs alongside other “tracks”.

“We really try and target people when they first join,” Zacher tells me.

“When the company was a lot smaller, it was really easy to know everyone and you could identify people very early on. But now we’ve become so much larger, it’s more difficult to know everyone.
“We were concerned we could end up losing these great quality people because we hadn’t properly nurtured them.”

Zacher continues: “Another philosophy is to promote from within – to be able to say ‘I’ve been there, I know that shop’.

“Our ultimate goal is for this pool of [Fast Track] people to be the senior managers of the future.”

The individuals are offered leadership mentoring, career management and are invited to regular development networking events.

And recently, Zacher took it upon herself, along with one of the other senior female leaders, to mentor more of the new female members in the programme.

“It was interesting getting some of their feedback, that it was easier for me to relate to the challenges they [females] were going to have in their career, than it would necessarily be for some of the senior men on our teams,” Zacher explains.

“It’s important for us to be proactive in developing females, because there is a difference between male and female confidence.

“Generally speaking, in my experience, males are more likely to put themselves forward for a promotion, almost regardless of their experience.

“I find females are more likely to assess the experience, knowledge and skills required and therefore not go for it. They tend to see it as a barrier.”

Just over half of Flight Centre’s “Fast Trackers” are female, and the male to female ratio of entry-level staff is 50:50; the company wants to ensure its management team “adequately reflects the make-up of the business”.

At the most senior levels of management, the proportion of women drops to somewhere between a third and a quarter.

Zacher admits: “It’s only until you start looking at those sorts of statistics do you realise that you could have a problem. We want to change things before we get a problem.

“One of the reasons we’ve identified is the career break that women often take for maternity leave. Females make up 62% of our Flight Centre workforce in the UK.

So we’ve been really proactive in making sure we mentor women in the early stages of their career.

“We want to accelerate their experience so they can reach a more senior level before starting a family.

“It makes it much easier to return to the workplace if you’re already in a job which is well-paid, strategic, and which you’re passionate about.”

The company is also creating more flexibility in working hours for its senior positions.

Positive change

“We are starting to see a positive change with the Fast Track programme,” Zacher continues.

“By pairing up some of the females with myself I can give more guidance when they are making career moves.

“It’s my job to manage their career so it’s in my best interests to make sure I am pushing them forward and helping them excel in an environment that’s supportive of them.”

The 12 Fast Track mentors are all in senior management positions across the corporate, retail and support divisions of the business, including the chief financial officer.

And while there is a particular emphasis on nurturing existing talent at Flight Centre, Zacher says she is “confident” the business’s recruitment drive will continue.

“We are more interested in the raw ingredients when it comes to hiring, because we have such a fantastic development programme and strong philosophy,” she says.

Last month, publications in Australia reported that Flight Centre could be launching an unlimited annual leave initiative, after its subsidiary Student Flights launched a similar scheme for its own staff.

Under the youth travel company’s programme, consultants who meet an agreed commission average over the previous six months qualify for unlimited annual leave days per year.

Asked whether Flight Centre agents in the UK could expect a similar initiative, Zacher is forthcoming.

“We are keeping a close eye on it,” she says.

“People young or old, they really want to maximise their living time – if it’s successful then we’d happily jump on the bandwagon.”

If Flight Centre’s apparent commitment to its people is as strong as it appears to be, perhaps “unlimited annual leave” is not as far-fetched a possibility as it initially may appear.