Organisational change is a constant, but in the last year and a half, it has been a very fast-moving constant. How are companies adjusting their organisational structures and people strategies to meet the needs of the ongoing situation? People Matters asked Shawn Williams, Chief People Officer of Sabre, who joined the Texas-based travel technology company in August 2020 and leads the development and execution of its global human resources strategy, what he's observed and implemented in recent months. Here's what he shared.

Could you tell us a bit about how the pandemic has changed the way Sabre's workforce is structured? What are the major changes you see?

At Sabre, we took the opportunity to expedite organisational changes we began in 2018. During the early months of the pandemic, we completed plans for the realignment of our business segments, combining airline and agency-focused businesses.

Our teams are now working much more closely together, which gives our team members a greater overview of our business along with more opportunities for collaboration and movement between the different areas of our business. 

While the pandemic may have, in large part, closed international borders, at Sabre we are finding that geographic boundaries are being broken. We’ve had physical movement for some employees who have gained promotions and moved from one side of the world to the other. But we’ve also had increased collaboration virtually from employees across the world. Because we’ve all gone through a period of working from home, it really didn’t matter whether the person you were collaborating with was just down the road or in another part of the world. So, perversely, the pandemic has actually helped in many ways to bring our teams together in a spirit of enhanced collaboration. 

Where do you see the major challenges and opportunities for employers? How are they playing out for you?

One of the main challenges employers face at the moment is being able to adapt. The events of the past few months have certainly shown us all how important it is to be able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances.

We have all almost been forced to take a more holistic look at our work and home lives during the pandemic because the two have merged to a large extent. And, while that’s been challenging, it’s no bad thing to be virtually invited into our colleagues' homes and to consider in a new light how best to fit our professional and personal lives into our day to be at our most productive and our happiest.

It’s vital for us, therefore, that employee well-being is top of mind in everything we do. We’ve recently created the Sabre Well-being Advisor Group (SWAG), a council made up of a dozen team members globally to guide conversation around well-being, capture best practices globally and enhance the tools and programs we have to support employee well-being.

One of the first initiatives introduced by the council is a new partnership with Headspace to provide free, premium access to their mindfulness app. With many of our team members working some or all of their time at home, it’s important to set boundaries rather than being “always on”. Through this partnership, we hope to encourage employees to take time out for themselves every day, thereby increasing productivity and reducing stress.

What are some of the main changes you see in the expectations people have today of how work should be set up?

Employees now expect greater levels of personalisation, empowerment, and flexibility than ever before. We've approached this by introducing a global Work from Anywhere (WFA) program which provides Sabre staff with a flexible selection of work arrangements so they can achieve a manageable balance between work and personal life. The WFA framework includes choices on returning to work at a Sabre premise, to opt for a blended arrangement with some days in the office and some at home, or to continue to work remotely. 

Our team members were all given a monetary allowance so they could set up their home office or place to work from in the way they wanted to. We didn’t dictate that they needed to buy a certain desk or chair. If they want to spend their allotted amount on plants for their desk or a beautiful work of art to put on the wall in front of them, that’s up to each individual. We trust our team members to make the best choices for them and for the company.

The flexible environment and ability to work from anywhere has been very important to me personally. Shortly after joining Sabre, my wife was diagnosed with cancer and we needed to travel for the best treatment. I was able to be by her side throughout her treatment and continue to work and perform my role as the Chief People Officer for Sabre. That flexibility meant the world to me and made me very proud of Sabre and my fellow team members. Thankfully my wife has made a full recovery and we are back home and I am able to work from the office several days a week.

How can companies adjust their talent management strategies to stay current with these changing expectations? What initiatives, in your experience, have worked?

A good talent management strategy starts with the understanding of the personal aspirations of talent and aligning these to our overall business strategy. We want to empower our team members to work where they want in the way they want, to grow, learn and develop in ways that suit them to enable their own career progression. We know that one size does not fit all, and we want to give our employees the tools and resources they need to drive their own careers.

One of the challenges for multinational companies on talent management is to stay nimble in recognising and rewarding local talents which is one of the reasons I set aside a number of days to spend virtually “in” APAC even though it’s not possible right now to travel to our Singapore HQ.

With all this in mind, we are rolling out a global mentoring program to help employees to develop technical and leadership skills in the areas they believe they need support. This is just one of several programs we have introduced to help employees grow and develop, and to align their personal goals with business goals. Other initiatives include our leader speaker series, skill building series and peer coaching series where leaders coach and support each other.

The pandemic has highlighted just how important the people of any organisation are and it’s important our team members know how much they are appreciated. Our “Say Thanks” tool enables people across the business, not just the leadership team, to recognize the efforts of others for going above and beyond their role in a way that has a tangible positive business, cultural and/or customer impact.

What do you see as the greatest adjustments employers today will have to make to remain competitive in the talent marketplace?

Along with the efforts for greater personalization, empowerment and flexibility that we’ve discussed earlier, it’s also vital that employers make a more tangible commitment to inclusion and diversity. This is a subject close to my heart personally and professionally. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, I’ve served in various social governance roles. We’re also incredibly lucky to have such a diverse, global team at Sabre. A diverse team is a strong team and it’s important that Sabre continues with our ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive environment where team members, with all of our wide and rich variety of differences, can bring their full selves to work, contribute their best and know they belong. As such, we are making a more deliberate and intentional commitment to inclusion and diversity with the creation of an I&D Council as a catalyst for ongoing systemic change. 

We have multiple workstreams under way with projects to understand the why of I&D, enabling inclusive behaviours, developing diverse talent and driving globally inclusive culture. 

This drive for greater inclusion and diversity, the new Work From Anywhere framework, and the transformation we are realising in our employee benefit program is not about any quick fix, or temporary pandemic solution, but is about effecting lasting change and making the adjustments needed to make Sabre an even better place to work at, no matter where our team members are working from.