Encouraging women to choose careers in STEM subjects has been top of the agenda for many years – but what fresh ideas can you introduce within the workplace to attract and support female employees?
At Domino, we are committed to improving the gender ratio in leadership roles within a business to 40% by 2030. This target, endorsed from Board level down, now stands at 25%, from a starting figure of 18%.
Support networks
Recently we re-launched our Women@Domino global network to promote inclusion within the business and facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences, as well as networking, mentoring, events and training. Gender was also one of three key areas in our new Inclusion & Diversity strategy.
The network is not limited to female employees; male colleagues are encouraged to participate and promote ‘Allyship’ with their fellow workers.
Training and events
Some of the recent events include help to ‘build your own brand’ within the organisation, benchmarking your career progression with regular reviews, as well as ‘speed mentoring’ with the aim of finding suitable mentors with the right skillsets to help more junior colleagues.
We also plan to key into external initiatives such as National Mentoring Day as a focus, demonstrating our commitment to providing this support.
As part of the Inclusion & Diversity strategy, training sessions that challenge gender stereotypes have been organised, exploring bias and attitudes that might influence judgement and decisions when recruiting or promoting colleagues.
Career breaks
At Domino, we want to support our people at every stage of their career and that’s why we have recently launched an enhanced maternity pay policy which significantly improves on the current maternity benefit and provides new parents with greater security and peace of mind.
We know that for many women career challenges can arise around taking time out for children and returning to the workplace after a gap and that’s why as a company we continue to align with national initiatives such as STEM Returners, which provides support and mentoring for professionals, and benefits both company and employee.
Wider initiatives
Throughout the year, there are opportunities to participate in international and national weeks and days which focus on supporting women’s careers, such as the International Women in Engineering Day and International Women’s Day.
These deliver the impetus to stage internal events and publicity around them, celebrating women who are thriving within an organisation and acting as a valuable incentive for further recruitment.
Josie Harries, Global Business Development Director – OEM at Domino, joined the company in 2005 after completing her PhD in Chemistry and over the last 20 years has worked in many different areas of the business. These have included new product development and technology innovation in R&D and creating and leading the Programme Management Office. Latterly she moved into leadership roles, most recently leading Domino’s OEM strategy to shape the future of the OEM business and strategic partnerships. Josie also leads the Women@Domino network, a space where women and their allies can connect, learn and grow to elevate women in their careers.
