F IDI AC A D E MY MASTERS ARE MAKING A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE FIDI Masters in Moving (MIM2) diploma gives students the opportunity to learn and make a quantifiable difference in their businesses. Dominic Weaver speaks to Ashley Gorb, Director of International Commercial Operations at Atlas World Group, about the changes attending a MiM2 helped her implement in her company A We had operational goals, but transportation was separate and a little disjointed. We wanted to bring everything together to reach the targets we have as a company shley Gorb, Director of International Commercial Operations at Atlas World Group, says after 10 years in the industry she was ready to take part in a FIDI Masters in Moving diploma (MiM2) and had heard good reviews from industry colleagues. I went to my first FIDI conference, in Amsterdam, and a few people said youve got to do this training, its so great. So the idea of doing the course was planted in my head, she says. Although taking part in the programme virtually wasnt a part of her plan, Gorb says she enjoyed the online delivery having already studied for the majority of her Masters degree this way well before it became enforced by COVID. It was a great programme. As much as it sounded fun to go some place for a week and really get that immersive, condensed experience, I think more of it stuck because it was a bit more spread out, she says. And I was at home and able to join the classes without people coming into my office. It was a little daunting when you saw all the invites coming in beforehand, but it went really well, and I liked the virtual, global aspect to it. It was definitely a different way to do it, but I think that it would work for a lot of people too. Having previously managed a team at Atlas and working across different areas of the business, the management team at Atlas 66 FF303 Sept_Nov 21 pp66-67 Academy.indd 66 Ashley Gorb, Director of International Commercial Operations at Atlas World Group supported Gorb to develop her capabilities and broaden her view of the moving industry further with FIDIs MiM2. They were on board with me honing some of these skills, getting more experience and a different perspective, she says. A lot of other organisations for moving are very US-centric, and I think there is a lot of benefit from the fact FIDI is global. Developing a project to implement within your own company is a core part of the MiM2. After discussing four or five possibilities with the company, Gorb chose Operation Transportation, looking at how to integrate the transport department with the rest of the business to streamline activities. We have a separate transportation team, and the overall idea was bringing it together into operations within the company, she says, I had their buy-in very quickly because this idea was the one that lined up well with other things in progress. The idea was to have more control over pricing and profitability and making sure our goals were in line. We had all these operational goals, but transportation was separate and a little disjointed, WWW. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 14/09/2021 17:19