Family Village Tribe: The Story of Flight Centre Limited

by Mandy Johnson

Flight Centre Limited is an anomaly in the business world—a modern-day organization with an underlying corporate structure that comes from the Stone Age. This updated edition of Family Village Tribe is essential reading for anyone interested in the machinations of starting a successful business from the ground up and staying there . "I didn't realize my life had been hijacked until a year after it happened." That's Mandy Johnson's take on her introduction into the world of Flight Centre Limited—the travel company that divides its workforce into "families," "villages," and "tribes," and rewards them with autonomy and incentives. From its origins in 1973 as a UK tour company with a single bus called "Bollocks," FCL revolutionized the travel industry and morphed into a global giant. It faced challenges including the War on Terror and SARS that wreaked havoc on business. It battled the encroachment of the internet; a disastrous internal restructure; and a US acquisition that delivered a profit wipe-out, just months before the global financial crisis. And yet each time FCL has come back stronger than before, almost doubling in size every five years, relying on its Stone Age tribal structure as its platform for success. Its founders were two 23-year-old veterinarians from Queensland, Australia. Neither had any business experience and the idea for the company was hatched while celebrating in a Munich beer hall . . . . So how did they make it work? Mandy Johnson and Katrina Beikoff have enjoyed full access to all the major players in FCL to bring us the full story in this updated edition.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I am an accidental HR revolutionary.

As a former UK Director and Australian HR Leader of global travel retailer Flight Centre Limited, I once believed that everyone thought about people and business the way that I did. It wasn’t until my Bond University executive education seminar Winning The War for Talent became the most popular course of its year that I realized that the whole discipline of HR had atrophied and that many conventional HR practices were actively damaging to both employee’s wellbeing and corporate results.

I now write, speak and advise organisations on innovative HR and business techniques that solve recruitment and retention problems, increase profitability and achieve business goals.

I've been interviewed and/or featured in The Australian Financial Review, The Courier Mail, BRW, BOSS Magazine, Sky Business News, ABC Radio’s Conversation Hour and Jon Faine Morning Programme, Qantas In-Flight Radio, German Eins Magazine and a host of other publications.

I now challenge conventional HR thinking at every opportunity to spread the word that great people management is the heart, soul and balance sheet of every organization.

Reviews

[Joshua Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Shoe Dog is a top seller, then in my opinion the story of Flight Centre cannot be too far behind. Business principles, real life (war) stories. This was a captivating read from start to finish. If the figures detailed in the book are even close to accurate, it makes it that much more fun of a read. Cheers Joshua

[Salil Acharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this frank perspective on risk taking and developing the best of the breed ideas quite refreshing. As an IT professional, the history of new ways of working is an eye opener.

[Cecil Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that gives you a clear insight into the culture of Flight Centre and the history of the company and a good listen / read for anyone working in the company.

The book is NOT directed at business successes or direction but merely an insight into the mind of Skroo Turner and how the company built itself into what it is today.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of the start of such a well known business. It did drag at the end.

[Shanon · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Start with a lucky break. Then have a clear dream…. and stay focussed and passionate about achieving your dream. Accept that is mainly about having the right attitude and working with the right people; the business or field is unimportant.”

“If our business model is right, external factors play only a minor part. The most impactful issues are the internal ones, such as not recruiting the right people or support costs getting out of control.”

Scroo Turner

[Joel Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

DECISION MAKING PERFORMANCE FALLS OFF RAPIDLY AS THE GROUP SIZE GROWS BEYOND 7.

The company values common sense over conventional wisdom, hence sees opportunities when others see none.

Give people responsibility and accountability for their own actions, and a share of the profits, and you are guaranteed success.

The devotion that many FLT consultants exhibit towards the company is almost cult-like.

The highest commission that a consultant gets is 3% of the travel commission.

As a manager they get 10-13% of the profits of the shop, as well as their share of the commission they write. They can also buy another 20% profit interest in the shop if they wish through a debenture system called BOS. The shops in which a BOS arrangement is in place average 50% more profitability.

An average store manager would earn $72k and a high performance manager $170k pa.

Each consultant sees what every other consultant at FLT earns monthly.

Families - teams of 3 to 7 people. Villages - 3 to 5 geographical teams supporting each other. Tribes - a max of 25 teams that come together for celebration and interaction.

[Sares Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working for the company for nearly 7 years, everything about staff culture and philosophies are true. Can see why FCL is successful and will implement some of these ideas into my husbands business. A definite read if you want to be a successful business owner

[John Ahern · Rating 5 out of 5]

great business read. We should all adopt this concept to make businesses more successful

[Sasha]

great to know where we came from and what makes us tick