Sue Davies says the pandemic revealed how flexibility can emerge when it’s required.
“At the end of 2019, our HR team had a wonderful plan for 2020, but at the middle of March, we had to course-correct,” she says. “We pushed for clarity of purpose, because when you’re not all together [in a physical space], the things that happen by osmosis just don’t take place. We have to be clear on what to concentrate and focus on.”
Davies and her team at Markel continued to hire and onboard employees, and they also moved nearly 40 summer interns to a virtual program, which she says was “highly successful.”
Her own role also shifted.
“As a leader, I’ve had to be much more visible, implementing biweekly pulse surveys and finding different ways to connect,” she says. “I had to play a more strategic role with the larger management team, because this was a human crisis in so many ways.”
At home, Davies worked to maintain familial ties.
“Other than my husband and three children, my family is in the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa,” she says. “We’ve really missed the whole family piece; we can’t wait for travel to open up.”
Looking ahead, Davies sees both recovery and renewal.
"The challenges over the last 14 months have pushed us to thrive in different ways," she says. “How do we find the best of both worlds and determine what the future looks like? This is an opportunity to make some significant changes.”
