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Improving productivity and the employment market François BIDAUT - Member of the Board of Directors of the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France
Good morning ladies and gentlemen
How can we increase the productivity of SME's within the destination and improve salaries and working conditions ?
To answer this question, I will first present a preamble :
a statement
- There is no such thing as social progress without economic progress
and a problem
- Do we seek "more clients or a better class of client" and how can the productivity obligation of mountain lifts be met ?
1. In the first scenario, one might imagine that mountain lifts are merely receptive.
The destination of Chamonix is well known and recognised. The client is naturally attracted by the location. It is the place to ski, climb and walk. It is the fashionable place to go.
In this case, the destination is bought more than sold. The TO's list the destination because it simply can not be absent from their brochures.
The destination arranges its own promotion when others fail to do the organising for it (specialist publications - events etc.).
Finally, the client organises his own transhumance or turns to specialist agencies..The mountain lift intervenes little beforehand but welcomes and receives the client at his facilities. The services are basic: selling a ticket or a package, organising transportation around the site.
2. In a second scenario : The mountain lifts are prospective
The destination is well known but this is increasingly not enough. The client is volatile, he constantly "channel-hops".
He is demanding and expects packaged services. He requires life to be made simple for him.
The services must be high quality: an excellent welcome – information prior to and during the holiday – accompaniment – suitable transportation – parking close to the facilities – measures to make the areas feel more secure etc.
Other services are also expected: immediate issue of tickets – less or at least simpler checks – equipment hire etc.
In this case, it would be advisable to organise the marketing and in order to do this, get to know the markets and develop perfectly targeted products.
The lift is now no longer purely receptive, it will chase the client in increasingly large concentric circles: surrounding area – region – country – Far East … and organise its distribution channels.
3. But the canvassing effort and quality have a cost
In effect, the search for clients, the adaptation of products, the marketing analyses and the hosting services all have a cost which must be funded.
The mountain lifts alone can barely operate a commercial service, much less pay for transportation costs to external premises.
The pooling of resources, the creation of Economic Interest Group type organs and a central booking service and collaborations of all kinds are required.
The effort is then combined and even organised within a single structure.
4. Consequently, it is understandable that productivity is required of the mountain lifts
In all companies, the turnover less the outgoings = the profit
Beyond this classical equation, a ratio is essential in the field of mountain lifts : this concerns the self-financing capacity.
In other words, the margins released by the running of the company should enable the funding of investments: development investments and renovation investments.
In order to preserve the profits, three scenarios are possible :
- Mass usage with low margins
- Lesser usage with high added value
- "Reasonable" usage and a wider range of services
The first scenario is not without risk to the environment and goes against the preservations necessary for our fragile environment without in any way providing customer satisfaction.
The second only affects certain top-of-the-range resorts.
The third scenario takes us on the path to quality and productivity.
5. In order to achieve this excellence, the mountain lifts need to develop qualified employment
We will not achieve sufficient productivity :
- Without reinforcing certain positions in order to give them more added value
- Without doing away with positions with no added value.Without the creation of positions geared towards the customer or necessary to develop the company's skills and expertise.
I will finish by saying that not only are we able to, but we should, improve the productivity of our companies and that in order to achieve these economic objectives, we need strong skills and expertise.
We have already embarked upon this endeavour.
Our concern for safety is second to none, the 35-hour principle has been applied in all our mountain lift facilities and in addition to traditional remuneration, we have just implemented a profit sharing scheme for our employees.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank you
