Spotlight: Megan Vorster, Global Head of People & Culture, Corporate
Is your company considered a great place to work? It matters if you want to have the best customer experience, create a workplace culture of innovation, uplift employee morale, and attract and retain top talent.
As part of our parent company Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), FCM Travel is accredited as a Great Place to Work (GPTW); an international leader on research in the workplace.
Megan Vorster, Global Head of People & Culture, Corporate is one of the global team that works on this accreditation. With her 15+ years’ experience working in HR, aka People & Culture, we spoke to Megan about what GPTW means for our employees, and more crucially, our customers.
What Great Place to Work means
It’s not about free coffee and bean bags. It’s about enabling a space where employees feel valued, empowered, and supported in their professional and personal growth.
GPTW is a global authority on workplace culture and an industry leading research firm that recognises resilient, successful, sustainable businesses. It recognises and certifies companies setting an example in workplace culture and offers businesses the right set of tools to capture employee feedback.
A detailed survey is conducted annually, where employees can anonymously give their honest feedback. This data then becomes a goldmine for companies like ours to act.
“The GPTW survey is the main employee listening tool for us, measuring trust, engagement, and workplace culture. For us, it’s a vital way to understand what’s working well and where improvements are needed. The survey helps leadership make data-driven decisions to create a better employee experience, ultimately leading to stronger retention, performance, and business success,” says Megan.
“The insights from the survey inform key actions across the employee lifecycle—from onboarding and development to retention—ensuring that FCTG continuously improves its culture and ways of working,” she adds.
What happens with survey data
Sharing an anecdote on how FCM takes employee feedback seriously, Megan says, “After receiving feedback, one area we worked towards was reward and recognition. Initiatives launched were related to FCM’s DNA, so it’s tied closely to customer experience and while rolled out globally, can be tweaked locally.
“Sometimes we need additional context off the back of the survey, so we set up listening tours and other face-to-face sessions to listen to a range of people in the business and ask them for feedback.”
Happy employees = happy customers
It’s simple, employees are more likely to engage and feel appreciated when they feel supported and recognised.
“For employees, it means their voices are heard, their concerns are addressed, and they are part of a company that genuinely cares about creating a great workplace. Employee experience equals a better customer experience. If the workforce is happy, it will project into their day-to-day roles, which means our customers are happier,” says Megan.
Additionally, it means our people are more likely to keep innovating and pushing forward – something that is vital in corporate travel management.
“Travel management is not what it used to be. A positive workplace culture often translates to stronger partnerships and more innovation, giving customers confidence in FCM's ability to deliver high-quality work,” says Megan.
In a nutshell: Ask. Listen. Action. “This is what will drive that better experience.”
What Flight Centre, and FCM as a result, have achieved
Flight Centre Travel Group celebrated its GPTW certification for the second consecutive year in 20 countries - Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.
FCM Travel India, which has been certified four times, in 2024 also received the certification in two categories
Top 100 Great Mid-size Workplaces
Best in Professional Services
FCM Travel UK has also spawned more 2024 accreditations:
Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services
#25 in the Best Workplaces Super Large Category
Best Workplaces for Development
Best Workplaces for Women
Best Workplaces for Wellbeing
“Great Place to Work is a core part of FCTG’s People & Culture strategy, aligning with initiatives around employee experience, leadership development, and DEI. The certification helps the lives of our people and brings additional benefit,” said Megan. “It can also boost recruitment efforts, attracting top talent who want to work in a certified great workplace.”
How FCM drives positive workplace culture
A workplace culture powered by employee engagement, trust, and transparency can have lasting impact on businesses. Here are key steps that our company follows:
Everyone’s equal: At FCM, there is no difference. Management is not in their glass-walled corner office. Our leaders are constantly visible in the office, interacting with the team and understanding business requirements to drive service excellence.
The travel! We make sure there’s an opportunity to get together, as we believe that a strong bond between employees can lead to higher-quality work that benefits our clients. Every year, we throw the ultimate travel party, Global Gathering to celebrate our accomplishments.
You can be yourself: We don’t have to put on a corporate face; our workplace culture is to be ourselves. From the way we talk, to the way everyone dresses and how we define themselves, everyone is welcome. This safe space reflects in everything we do, from our brilliant travel services to our innovative, alternative mindset.