Alexandra Novak, group category manager, travel and meeting, at engineering firm Alfa Laval talks to Alex Blyth about her role
In a decade as head of travel management at Swedish engineering firm Alfa Laval, Alexandra Novak has overseen a great deal of change. The company’s headcount has risen from 9,200 to 15,400, a new generation has entered the workforce, she has introduced a host of new technologies and, during one particularly dramatic two-month period in 2009, Alfa Laval slashed its travel costs by 40 per cent. Here, she talks about her career, what excites and challenges her, and where she thinks the industry is heading.
How did you get into travel management?
Completely by accident. When I was younger I planned to work in finance, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t for me, and so in 1987, when Sabre Travel Information started recruiting for its European entry, I became one of the fortunate ones who were selected. Eventually, I became country manager for Denmark. After nine fantastic years with Sabre, I decided to try my luck with setting up my own business – together with a colleague, we launched Dolphin Dynamics, one of the industry’s first mid-office solutions for travel management companies. It was a great idea and a good company – which continues to thrive – but we soon discovered that at that time there were not enough programmers available at a reasonable cost. We needed to be in the UK.
So did you move the company to the UK?
We did, but for personal reasons I wasn’t able to go with it. In 1998 I sold my shares and took a new job setting up Travel Market, the first internet travel portal in Sweden. My role there was to manage the start-up phase, and once that was complete it was time for a fresh challenge. I worked for a year at Kilroy Travels but was then lured into digital media to take on the role as Nordics sales manager for Jupiter Communications. Finally, in 2002, I landed the freshly-created role [group category manager, travel and meeting] at Alfa Laval, and I’ve been here since.
What does your role at Alfa Laval involve?
I manage an annual travel spend of €50 million. This involves sourcing and managing suppliers, developing our departmental key performance indicators, and automating processes.
What is the greatest challenge in your role?
Resources. I am the only person in the travel management department, where there used to be three of us. The good news is we’ve been working on a number of lean Six Sigma projects which are improving our internal processes, so I am confident there is light at the end of the tunnel.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
When I took on the role I thought I would do it for five years, but looking back I realise how naïve I was to think I could change anything in such a short space of time. This company has changed over the ten years I have been here. It is 130 years old, and when I began there were many people who had been with the company for three or four decades. Managing change is a big task that has to be done in steps. I’ve been able to make good use of my entrepreneurial background and been able to introduce many new concepts, but I still have many ideas that I would like to implement. Also, working in a multicultural environment and cross-functional teams, coupled with offices in more than 100 countries, is a great opportunity to grow both professionally and personally
What motivates and inspires you?
People. Whenever I meet my peers in the travel management business I am inspired to discover just how much they are willing to share their experiences and fresh ideas. On a personal level I am motivated by the memory of my grandmother. She moved from Croatia to Sweden as a result of the Second World War – she lost everything overnight, and yet still managed to be a positive influence on everyone around her. She proved to me that nothing is impossible, and so when I find my work challenging I think of her and feel inspired.
How has the role of travel manager changed since you entered the industry?
It has become much more professional. It’s increasingly part of procurement and I expect it to become ever more closely aligned to corporate social responsibility, human resources and risk management. Also, technology will allow us to automate an increasing number of tasks.
What do you think to the unmanaged travel concept?
I like it, and I think it’s the future. I think ‘unmanaged’ is the wrong name for it – it’s just managing it at a different point in the process and requires a different set of rules.
What plans do you have for the future?
I don’t expect to see any improvement in budgets for next year, but there will still be much for us to work on. Sustainability is becoming more and more important, and I will be looking more closely into the personalisation of traveller data.
Tell us more about that personalisation
If we could show travellers their individual data and present it, for example, as sales achieved-versus-amount spent on travel then I think that would really encourage people to think about their spending.
What about you personally? What does the future hold for you?
I’m very excited about travel right now. New technologies are changing so much that I think in two to three years we’ll be in a very different place to now, and it’s a future I personally am looking forward to. For example, when travellers are able to manage everything from their smartphones and tablets, it will save so much time. I also believe we are most effective at work when we have external interests that we enjoy. So, during 2013, I plan to run at least one marathon. Running is fantastic for clearing the mind.
Do you have any advice for those starting a career in travel management?
It is important to have your own personal goals. These need to relate to both the short and long term, and you need to be continually assessing what skills, experiences, contacts, qualifications and attitudes you need in order to achieve those goals. Crucially, those goals need to be based on something you enjoy doing. What’s interesting is that we’re not always best at knowing ourselves what we enjoy doing. So I always make a point of discussing my goals with friends and colleagues – they always add a different perspective. Above all else, remember that it should be fun. For me, work is not solely about the result – it is also about how I feel and who I become.