GCA Liaison Officers from the GCA world over will be meeting this February for their first annual conference. Aligning strategy, assessing training needs, and sharing best practices for serving the GAC world will all be on the table as the 50+ members of the GLO community share insights and expertise in three different venues this January.

Details of the conference are currently being planned in consultation with GAC and the GLO community. Future developments and optimized training opportunities will be coming soon to a GAC World near you.

He started as a deck boy and moved his way up - His last position, prior joining GAC, was as Process Excellence Manager, and now, as Business Process Manager - Shipping Services, Joachim Holst is a Six Sigma Blackbelt and Subject Matter Expert for the Process Analysis and Design course at GCA.

My background is within few a shipping companies, such as NOSAC, Contship and last 10 years with Maersk Line. I have gained experience from working as a deck boy, water clerk/boarding officer, accounts & finance, pricing & sales, customer services.

My last position, prior joining GAC, was as Process Excellence Manager for Maersk Line Middle East with responsibility to improve standardized global process on local level, as well as acting as coordinating manager for several improvement projects (Green and Black Belt) based on Six Sigma and LEAN. I'm trained Six Sigma Black Belt, LEAN and DeBono's Parallel & Lateral thinking.

Now I am 'Business Process Manager - Shipping Services' here at GAC, with responsibility for continuous development and implementation of best practice shipping agency processes. This includes support of the enabling applications to meet and exceed the strategic objectives.

The function also entails to enhance the business integration between the shipping agency function and to provide training in the use of shipping applications as well as to improve the current processes in all GAC group companies. In my work ethic I've always had a tendency to 'do it once and do it right' instead of doing tasks over and over. Therefore I do believe analysing the process and finding ways to improve is part of my nature and personality.

In my view we all have two jobs; one is the current position and the other is to improve our working environment, and the PAD course is a unique approach for driving excellence and improving the way we think and work. It brings together best practice from world industry leaders with proven methods and management principles, including tools used in Lean and Six Sigma.

Improving processes is a journey that begins today by asking three basic questions in your everyday business interactions:

1. What are we trying to accomplish?
2. How will we know that a change is an improvement?
3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

Combined, these three questions will create a powerful dialog intended to minimize changes for the 'sake of change' and reactionary changes 'gut-feel' that we have no way of knowing whether they will result in improvement. Working with the right MEASURES and taking the right OPPORTUNITIES with taking the right DECISIONS, will lead to improved PROCESSES and RESULTS.

The PAD course will provide a systematic methodology for working with process improvement. We need to ensure the tools provided are used in guidance on analyzing processes; and it can be easily applied in our daily work. This must involve everyone in the entire organization and make it difficult for anyone in the industry to mirror our skills and mindset... this will create competitive advantage. We need to establish 'as-is' and link this to the objectives for future development of 'to-be' processes and enabling applications. An improved process will create excellence; efficiency as well effectiveness, generating more satisfaction and create fewer errors.

We need to ensure we are not just doing things right (efficiency) but also doing the right things (effectiveness). In combining the two, we are saying - we want to be efficient in the way we work, by doing the right things in providing the customer the best possible service and product.

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Australian education expert Melinda Mawson-Ryan is a GCA facilitator the Customer Service Excellence course, and brings over 30 years of teaching experience across various sectors of education to her role in GCA. She shares her insights on Customer Service Excellence, education, and how far GAC can go with both.

I am thrilled to be facilitating CSE. It is rewarding to engage with a collaborative community of learners to promote skill development. This course supports GAC Spirit, and delivers relevant content in a format that aligns with best practice in adult learning.

In addition to the content being engaging and practical, the material taught in CSE is of immediate importance to the work environment, as well as relevance beyond the GAC context. Many of the topics are relevant to personal development, such as communication skills and problem solving.

Customer Service Excellence is clearly sequenced, goal oriented and user friendly, and there are many benefits including more successful customer service, which lead to reduced stress in the workplace, which in turn promotes individual and team wellbeing. This then generates a more effective workforce. The benefits go beyond the work environment.

CSE is a quality learning experience with content and delivery that match the characteristics of adult learners with sound pedagogical practice that utilise the benefits of online delivery. The participants engage with meaningful, situated learning in a supportive eLearning environment. Features of CSE include aural and visual texts that support speakers of languages other than English, and I am thrilled to be facilitating this course. I am looking forward to facilitating more of these quality courses.

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Suzanne Reid (right) IGW and BCI Air Export Clerk GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd.		Ty Harris (right) IGW and SSL Air Export Clerk GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd.

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