Meet the winner angela williams
Angela Williams, BCD Travel’s VP of Human Resources, received the Outstanding Achievement accolade at The Business Travel People Awards 2017
How did it feel to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award? It was the most humbling experience of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be selected for this award out of so many notable people in our industry. I can barely remember the walk to the stage as I was shaking so much! I am so proud to be honoured this way.
Tell us about your role and the work you’ve done that earned you the award? I am responsible for BCD'S people strategy in the UK and Ireland and my purpose is really to help our employees fulfil their potential. I am a strong advocate of CSR and I belong to a global team, raising the profile of some of the most vulnerable people to help combat poverty and injustice. In the UK, with my counterparts in the People Strategy Group of the GTMC, we share best practice and promote our industry to new generations. I am immensely proud of our successful collaboration to launch an apprenticeship for travel consultants that provides a clear pathway for inexperienced candidates to become fully fledged business travel agents in as little as 12-24 months.
What do you particularly enjoy about your role? I come into contact with such a diverse range of people; everyone is unique and has something to offer. I enjoy being around people and seeing the value they bring to our company and their colleagues. I particularly love to see our staff develop in ways they did not anticipate or believe they could. How was the winners’ trip to Abu Dhabi? It was the trip of a lifetime! We were spoilt from the moment we arrived at Heathrow and visited Virgin Atlantic's Clubhouse. We were together only a few days but we forged strong ties and had some incredible experiences. We were wined and dined at the Southern Sun Hotel and the Emirates Palace and visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque and Arabian Nights village. There was also a desert safari, drag racing, a speedboat ride and some time to relax by the pool.
What do you think of the awards? We love the awards and have supported them from the beginning. They give us the platform to celebrate our very best talent and shout about how proud of them we are. I love the fact that we are recognising the real stars of our industry – those working at the coal face whose efforts really do make a difference, not only to their companies who are very proud to showcase them, but to our wider industry. We are very fortunate to belong to an industry that is incredibly sociable and transparent and the awards reflect our industry culture and spirit.
What do you think are the greatest challenges right now? Our greatest challenge is attracting new stars to our industry which was the impetus for launching the Travel Apprenticeship. As an industry we have to be nimble and move with the times. Change brings opportunity and I’m very optimistic for the future if we continue to attract new recruits who can capitalise on this in a fast-paced technological world.