We’re proud to be celebrating International Women’s Day and in our women’s network, Women @ SGN, have held a jam-packed week full of blogs, videos and events all on this year’s theme of ‘Inspiring Inclusion’.
We’ve heard from women in various job roles within the company, highlighting the diverse journeys and experiences they’ve had in their careers to date. We’ve spoken about menstrual health, work/life balance and the menopause.
One standout event was our 'Career Journey' webinar with our Deputy General Counsel Sharmila Sylvester, who shared her invaluable insights and top tips for a successful career.
Sharmila’s journey shows the importance of flexibility and resilience when planning your career path. In her webinar, she gave female colleagues some of her top tips:
- Embrace indirect journeys – your career path may unfold very differently to your best-laid plans. Take advantage of any opportunities, even if they don’t seem like immediate stepping stones, which offer worthwhile experience.
- Back yourself – confidence is key. Self-belief and surrounding yourself with a supportive network are so important, especially during challenging moments.
- Be kind and curious. Your job title does not define your career. Finding ways to get involved can open unexpected doors. And personal connections matter.
Our menstrual health webinar, led by experts Kate Sang and Chiara Cocco, provided a platform to discuss the challenges and barriers women face when managing periods, problematic menstruation, and peri/menopause at work. Among the issues they discussed were:
- How menstrual health or menopause issues can have a big impact in the workplace, especially for field workers or those in non-office environments.
- How a range of accommodations can be made, some of which can be simple (for example, changes to temperature or lighting in offices).
- They talked about the importance of asking for a second medical opinion if your GP doesn’t have experience with these issues and isn’t able to help.
We’re committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment for all. Not only is it the right thing to do, but we need a diversity of thought in our company in order to achieve everything we want. We need everyone to feel comfortable enough to be open, to share their thoughts, ideas and solutions.
