“We Lead with Understanding”: A Conversation with Sarah Williams, Chief People Officer

This July, OCS has partnered with Scope to support and amplify Disability Pride Month – a meaningful step in OCS’s ongoing journey toward greater visibility, understanding, and the inclusive recruitment of people with disabilities in the workplace and beyond.

But this work is not new to everyone in the business. For Sarah Williams, Chief People Officer for the UK & Ireland, inclusion is not simply a professional responsibility – it’s personal. Sarah brings lived experience as the parent of a disabled child, and her perspective continues to shape the way OCS approaches accessibility, equity and culture.

We sat down with Sarah to hear her story – and to understand how her journey, both as a mother and a leader, is helping OCS build a more inclusive future.

Sarah, tell us a bit about your daughter – how has she shaped family life for you?

My daughter is neurodiverse and lives with autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a learning disability, and global developmental delay. She’s registered disabled and has a rare condition called brachydactyly type B.

What that means for us is that life is different. It requires a different pace, a different kind of energy, and a different type of preparation. My husband and I have had to learn a great deal – not just formally, through training, but also the realities of day-to-day life. We’ve been trained in how to support communication, how to de-escalate situations, and how to interpret behaviours. However, most of it is simply about living and adapting to life.

We’ve had to learn how to advocate for her in systems that weren’t designed with her in mind – this includes education, healthcare, and everyday activities such as shopping, travelling, or accessing public services. Sometimes people don’t see the need straight away – because not every disability is visible. But we live it. And that gives you a very different perspective on what inclusion means.

How has that experience shaped the way you understand people – both inside and outside of work?

It’s made me see people in a very different light. I think I’ve become more patient, more understanding. You start to realise that everyone has their way of experiencing the world. What works for one person might not work for another – and that doesn’t make either of them wrong.

You also become more aware of judgment – how quickly people can make assumptions when they don’t understand what they’re seeing. Whether that’s a child struggling in a loud environment, or someone reacting strongly to a change in routine, the outside world often sees that as misbehaviour. But it’s not. It’s about people trying to manage in an environment that’s not built for their needs.

That awareness changes you. It doesn’t just affect how you see your child – it affects how you see everyone.

You joined OCS in a senior role. Did you feel you could bring that lived experience into your work?

I did. And that was part of the reason I wanted to be here. I felt there was space for honesty and openness, as well as a genuine willingness to do things differently – not just to say the right things, but to listen, adapt, and take action.

That gave me the confidence to bring my whole self to the role – not just the professional side of me, but also the parent, the advocate, the person who has experienced what it feels like to be on the other side of inaccessible systems.

I joined OCS because I saw a company that was ready to take inclusion seriously – to examine how we recruit, support people, and engage with communities. That’s not always easy work, but it’s essential.

How does your experience influence how OCS is thinking about inclusion?

One of the first places we’ve focused is recruitment. Because if we’re not thinking inclusively from the very start – when someone first considers joining us – then we’re putting up barriers before we even meet them.

Traditional application and interview processes may not be suitable for everyone. Some people, especially those who are neurodiverse or disabled, may find the traditional process overwhelming or just not reflective of what they can do.

In some cases, in the future, we might invite a candidate to shadow a colleague. We’d give them 20 minutes or half an hour to see what the job involves — what a typical day looks like. And then go for a coffee and have a chat. It’s a more human way of understanding whether there’s a good fit — and it allows the person to show up as they are, not as they think they need to be. These are some of the changes we’ll be implementing along with other improvements to make the process more inclusive.

We are also exploring how technology like Widget can positively impact a candidate’s experience— who they’ll meet, where they’ll go, and what the process will involve. It reduces the unknowns. That can make all the difference.

It sounds like you’re shifting the whole experience.

Yes. Because this is not about lowering standards – it’s about removing unnecessary friction. It’s about understanding that people show their value in different ways, and our job is to create space for that.

And this doesn’t just benefit candidates who are neurodiverse or disabled. It helps us as an organisation. We get to see people as they are – not just as they perform under pressure in an interview room.

I want everyone who engages with OCS – whether they’re applying for a job or already part of the team – to feel like their needs are seen, understood and respected. Not as an exception. As the norm.

What about beyond recruitment? How do you see OCS playing a role in communities?

There’s a real opportunity – and responsibility – for us to go further. We’re building stronger relationships with schools and colleges that support young people with additional needs. Many of those settings are underfunded and stretched. They often lack the time or resources to provide students with access to real-world career pathways.

That’s something we can help with. We can give our time. We can share insight into what a career in facilities management might look like. We can make ourselves visible.

If just one young person feels seen, inspired, or finds a way into work because we turned up and talked to them, then we’re doing something right. And we want to do more of that – regularly, not just once.

You’re now hiring roles specifically focused on this, is that right?

Yes – we’re bringing in an Inclusive Resourcing Manager and a Head of Social Value. These roles will help us embed inclusive thinking across the business – in how we hire, train, and connect with communities.

These roles are about making an impact, not just ticking boxes, and they’ll work closely with our CHROMA employee networks, which already support diversity across gender, race, LGBTQ+ identities and disability. It’s all connected.

You speak about this with such clarity. What drives you?

My daughter. And the world I want her to grow up in.

That experience guides how I lead, how I listen, and what I push for. I know what it feels like to navigate systems that aren’t built for everyone – and I see the impact that can have on families, opportunities, and confidence.

I take this work seriously because there are real consequences when people are overlooked or excluded. And I believe we all have a role to play in changing that — not all at once, but step by step, in ways that are practical and lasting.

What does success look like?

To me, success is when inclusion stops being something we have to keep calling out – because it’s just part of how we work. It’s not a department. It’s a way of thinking.

Everyone is different. Everyone is navigating something. When we lead with understanding – when we build with flexibility from the start – we make space for all kinds of talent.

And that’s the kind of organisation I know we can be.