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gathered in Barclays’ Canary Wharf HQ during World Travel Market. Lee Hayhurst reports
‘Diversity in the workplace helps retain top talent’
Diversity in the workplace is an increasingly important factor for employees in the digital age, but firms must invest in talent to make sure it is coming through the ranks.
Traveltek’s Cressida Sergeant
recalled that when she worked for Expedia [2015-17], the company strived to ensure a 50:50 gender split throughout its business but that this became more challenging for senior roles. “We tried to get the recruitment
guys to work harder to get the right calibre in, but if you haven’t nurtured that resource up through the ranks it’s going to be difficult when you get to that stage,” she said. The Travel Corporation’s
Gunjan Verma said he was trying to bridge the gender gap in his tech development team because he believes it will help to retain talented staff. “In the past we have had very successful women working in the development team, but they
haven’t stayed on for long with us. “There is part of me that feels
that because there were no similar people around them in the team to support their career at TTC, that was one of the reasons they left.” Culture Trip’s Andy Washington
said firms that have the right approach can take an active role in addressing issues like those the #MeToo movement is highlighting. “There are societal issues people
are addressing and that’s an issue for us whether we want to address them or not,” he said. “If you get things right in the
first place, you are not going to be sweeping up after there’s an issue. “But if you are still running quite
a hierarchical business, that’s when you tend to see politics
coming in to play. If you’ve got a robust business with a great culture, that’s got people who are motivated, those issues don’t tend to come to the forefront.” Washington said the millennial
generation is “vocal” and has a voice, so companies should empower them and “treat them like customers”.
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SpencerStuart’s report, ‘Travel 2025: How Digital Transformation and Global Growth are Redefining Leadership Roles’ is available at:
spencerstuart.com/research- and-insight/travel-2025
‘Office layout should reflect firm’s culture’
The physical working environment should be considered as an extension of the culture and brand values of a firm in the digital age. SpencerStuart’s Grant Duncan told the breakfast:
“The way the working space is organised should reflect the culture of the business. “This means the removal of big-status offices
where the CEO sits to create a much more open, fluid environment.” Culture Trip’s Andy Washington said: “We have
an environment that’s not just open plan for the sake of it, it fits with our squad functions.
“They sit together and then it’s about management, the people, the culture, the benefits, all of it coming together, that creates a very successful business. “Millennials tend to want to move on quite
quickly unless you create an environment they want to keep coming back to because they are enjoying it.” The Travel Corporation’s Gunjan Verma said: “If
you are locked in your office all day, issues can start to creep in. It’s very important that the door is always open, that you are available for staff to speak to.”
DUNCAN: ‘Create the flexibility to build cross-functional teams’
29 November 2018
travelweekly.co.uk71
“If you haven’t nurtured that resource, it’s going to be difficult [to promote]”
SERGEANT: ‘Recruiters must work harder to get the right calibre in’
‘Digital projects require different staff hierarchies’
Digital leaders must ditch old-fashioned “command and control” structures in their businesses to be successful. Grant Duncan, consultant at
SpencerStuart, said the demands of digital transformation require a fundamental rethinking of workplace hierarchies. “You need a governance
model where all key stakeholders work out what their roles are, which then creates a lot more flexibility to build cross-functional teams below them,” he said. “Teams are given a task and
once that has been completed they disintegrate and repopulate around another task. “You contain failure within
various task groups. Celebrate failure, make it OK. It sounds quite process-driven, but process is quite an important factor in this.” Andy Washington of Culture
Trip said top-down management styles are dead, with digitally savvy firms now organising themselves in teams, or squads, empowered to make decisions. “I hate it when someone says
that’s not in my job description. It doesn’t work like that any more.”
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