OMNI (Overseas Moving Network International) has two new members of its board: Eric Tate from Aires in the USA and Ido Barner from Mobilitas. This interview looks at their respective backgrounds, their thoughts on the OMNI organisation, the key issues the industry faces right now and OMNI’s role in addressing them.
Both Eric and Ido have been essentially one-company men since the start of their careers in the mobility industry. Eric joined Aires 30 years ago as a sales trainee in Pittsburgh, before moving to Texas, California and on to Connecticut in 1998 where he remains in charge of the company’s Northeast region. He became a member of the Aires board in 2008.
Ido was born and raised in Israel. After his military service and completing his higher education in Paris, France he joined Mobilitas as a trainee in the Finance department working with Cedric Castro. He took over the management of the European region in 2006. After a short absence he returned to the Mobilitas group assuming management roles and since 2019 has been based in Bangkok, Thailand after living in Cape Town, South Africa, for a few years.
Interestingly, Ido had a short break from the moving industry in 2012 for 18 months during which time he worked in international sourcing and development. This experience gave him useful insight into procurement and how it relates to the relocation industry. “It showed me how procurement manages business purchasing,” he said. “It is concerned only with getting the right people in the right place at the right time. It’s important that the process goes smoothly, is supply chain vetted and compliant, but they don’t have too much time to spend on tenders.”
For Eric, this is the first time he has joined a board outside his own company. Ido, however, is also a member of the executive committee of IAM. Why did Eric choose to accept OMNI’s invitation this time? “Firstly, I think that OMNI is the most prestigious name in moving so I could not have refused, I hold it in such high regard.” He also points out that Bryan Putt, Aires Owner, was OMNI President some years ago. “I saw it as an opportunity to be a shaper of the industry rather than just an observer. It’s something that I can put my full effort behind to continue the tradition of OMNI which has been so important to Aires throughout my career.”
Ido doesn’t think he will have any trouble finding time for the multiple roles at Mobilitas, IAM and now OMNI. “It’s a question of passion,” he said. “If you’re passionate about something you always find the time to do it. My days at work are quite busy but it’s nice to balance commercial work with volunteering. It feels as if I am doing something pure, I’m not trying to win anything.”
Ido also explained that being on the board of an organisation such as OMNI is different from a company board. “On a company board you can give your opinion but it’s the business owner that always makes the decisions. On the OMNI board there is no one more important than anyone else. You can’t impose your ideas.”
Having been close to OMNI all his working life, what does Eric see as the organisation’s role now. “It was always a family of the best-of-the-best, vetted agents that brought the top companies together to trade and work as true partners. It was a way of competing against the global companies. I still think that’s part of it. We still use it as the sales tool in our presentations and the scores we get from our OMNI agents are still the highest.” But he feels the organisation has now evolved. “It’s become a place where business leaders can share their thoughts on how to run their businesses and weather the storms. It’s an ever-evolving organisation and to my mind it is still the elite of the elite.”
Ido agrees that it’s evolved. Indeed his company, with offices in multiple continents, would not have been accepted into membership only a few years ago. “The organisation understood that the agent-to-agent model needed to be adjusted as global companies expanded.” And he is truly excited to be working more closely with the world’s leading organisations and most inspirational characters. “It’s the place where I have personally learned the most. The conference always has great people and great speakers. There are other conferences but it’s only at OMNI that the top C-Suite leaders of the industry come together and work as a single group.”
What do Eric and Ido believe are the most important issues the industry faces right now? More importantly perhaps, what do they think OMNI can do to influence them?
Eric believes there is a communication problem that OMNI needs to address. Because sustainability is such a hot topic, many corporate clients are choosing to reduce allowances or pay lump sums to assignees as moving less must be more sustainable. But Eric points out that moving less is not more sustainable, it just moves the emissions elsewhere. Buying new at destination is not better for the environment than shipping what people already have. “We need to help the members understand how they can operate more sustainably and explain to corporate clients that sustainability will not be improved by not moving people. As a membership I think we can help deliver a consistent message that is heard globally.”
Ido is looking in a different direction. He believes cash flow is one of the most pressing issues. He says that we are all very friendly with each other, but believes we need to be more robust when it comes to credit control.
On the OMNI Board, Ido and Eric are working with Mark Pitcher, Walter Laffitte, John Lim and OMNI president Philippa Robbinson. “It is a real honour to work alongside these people and, when I look at the list of past OMNI board members, I see they are all people I have admired,” said Eric. “It’s humbling to think that maybe one day there will be someone new to the business who might regard us in the same way.”