Following the example set by Affiliates and the moving sector overall, FIDI is driving cooperation to support shared industry innovation and progress. FIDI Secretary General Jesse van Sas tells us more.
If there is one thing that sets international movers and DSPs apart in the global mobility industry, it is that they are condemned to work together from time to time.
Not a single mover in the world can claim that all their global operations are under their own control. Even the biggest ones need local assistance, in whatever form or shape, to help them execute the full door-to-door move or deliver the whole relocation experience. On top of that, almost everyone is sometimes the booker of the business and sometimes the receiver of the business. We all scratch each other’s backs.
Cooperation in our business space is, therefore, second nature. We need each other and it is rare that movers or DSPs exclude cooperation. Even when there is a conflict – and that happens regularly in the complex world of relocation – all efforts go to restoring the relationship as soon as possible, because, before you know it, you need each other again.
Associations in the industry, such as FIDI, have behaved in the same way. Logical, of course, as FIDI is comprised of moving companies that are very much used to cooperating. FIDI has had, and still has, close ties with other associations, including EuRA, OMNI, WERC, IAM and FEDEMAC. We exchange information, meet regularly, attend each other’s conferences, and even share products, such as FIDI’s Professional Cooperation Guidelines.
At the same time, however, we keep some distance from each other. After all, there is an overlap of services, such as financial protection, training and even conferencing. These areas of potential competition add a cooler note to the relationship.
There is nothing wrong with a bit of competition, of course. It sharpens service delivery and triggers association leaders to continuously focus on value creation for the membership. It is good for the members and for the industry.
In the case of associations in our relocation industry, however, competition is not always good. It can result in duplication of effort, all at the cost of the respective members. Many of the companies active in this relocation space are members of two, three or four associations. As innovation and developments are often perceived as the same at every one, members are confronted, over time, with increasing costs for professional memberships. When margins are under pressure, this is hard to swallow.
FIDI, along with other associations, has recognised this and is working hard to get more sense into association cooperation. The Coalition for Associations in Global Mobility, of which FIDI is a founding member, is a great example of this.
The collaboration was driven by the need to tackle challenges that no single association can solve alone. By harnessing our collective power to address these challenges, providing a structured forum and delivering leadership, issues such as compliance, sustainability, ethics, advocacy and uniform processes become much more manageable and less costly.
Since our first meeting on this cooperation, during the FIDI Conference in Cannes in 2022, and subsequently at the EuRA conference in Seville the same year, I have felt a genuine desire among all the coalition partners to work closely together, beyond our own field of moving or DSP, or corporate housing.
That is a significant development in our association space, and one that we should continue to build on – and perhaps even extend. What started off as a pure sustainability initiative is growing into something bigger, all with the purpose of helping the industry with shared resources, expertise, influence and visibility.
The Coalition calls on other associations in the global mobility industry – whether small local ones, regional ones, or even global ones – to join forces with it. Each of us will still have our own unique purpose, tailored to the membership we serve, but for those challenges that transcend our individual remits, the Coalition may be the best answer.
Reach out, and let’s talk.