Tees Business LIVE : May 14 2024
EVENTS
DIVERSITY DEBATE
Tees Business LIVE : May 14 2024
WYNYARD HALL
Inspiring - Power of Women ambassadors from Hartlepool ’ s Eldon Grove Primary School took part in a Q & A of their own after listening to a panel of Alison McGee ( Durata ), Jo Potter ( Sembcorp ), Cathi Harrison ( The Verve Group ) and Ashleigh Wright ( Westray Recruitment ).
Inclusion in focus as panel discusses EDI at work
PICTURES : TOM BANKS
Encouraging an inclusive culture and avoiding being “ box tickers ” were among strategies suggested at a Tees Business LIVE event to promote workplace diversity and inclusion .
A four-strong , all-female panel discussed inclusion , recruitment and retention at the event , which was held at , and sponsored by , Wynyard Hall and hosted by former Tees Businesswoman of the Year Claire Preston , the Power of Women campaign ’ s head of operations .
The panel comprised Sembcorp ’ s UK head of human resources Jo Potter , Durata director Alison McGee , Westray Recruitment MD Ashleigh Wright and the CEO and founder of the Verve Group , Cathi Harrison – the reigning Tees Businesswoman of the Year .
And Cathi admitted the makeup of her firm , with a mainly female staff compared to the usual financial services demographic , had been something of a “ happy accident ”.
She told an audience of 80 delegates : “ The vast majority of my team are female , including 100 per cent of the senior leadership team , and we ’ ve an average age of 34 , so against the usual financial services demographics , we ’ re different – although not particularly because of any proactive initiatives .”
But she admitted that the recent appointment of a new male chief commercial officer “ will give us the reverse issue to what many companies have ”.
She said : “ It will be a different dynamic to the board because we ’ re so used to the girls being on the team , but diversity falls in every way .
“ We ’ re excited to get him onboard because he ’ ll challenge the way we think , the way we ’ ve done stuff and hopefully help us see any blind spots to take us to the next level .”
Ashleigh Wright , who recently succeeded her mother as Westray Recruitment MD , said inclusion “ has to come from the top down ”.
She said : “ It can ’ t just be a team talking about it , saying it ’ s an important thing to put in place – the directors and senior leadership team need to have open communication with their teams about it .
“ The clients who are successful with it are companies who implement diverse training and have an awareness about unconscious bias , especially regarding recruitment .”
Sembcorp head of HR Jo Potter said that for a traditionally male-dominated business , it had been “ a journey ” for the firm .
But with a more representative and diverse senior leadership team in place , progress was being made on “ differences and diversity ”.
She said : “ We ’ re on a journey – I wouldn ’ t say we ’ re where we need to be but we ’ re making progress and I ’ m particularly pleased with our leadership team .”
And Alison McGee , quality director and company secretary at critical power specialist Durata , said : “ We don ’ t want to be ‘ box tickers ’ – we want the right person for that job . Your background doesn ’ t matter at all – that ’ s how we look at it .
“ The team we have now is fabulous and we really look out for their needs . It ’ s about making sure people are happy to come to work because it ’ s not a recruiter ’ s world any more . It ’ s the candidate ’ s world and if you ’ re trying to sell your business to that person , you ’ ve got to make sure you ’ re backing everything up – there ’ s no point telling everyone how fantastic you are if you aren ’ t .”
Tees Business LIVE also included a prize draw in aid of the Power of Women campaign , while the event featured Claire Preston speaking to four PoW ambassadors from Hartlepool ’ s Eldon Grove Primary School . For more about the Power of Women campaign , visit powerofwomen . org . uk
10 | Tees Business