Today, 8th March 2024, marks International Women’s Day where we are taking the time to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s campaign theme is #inpsireinclusion and was chosen as a theme to emphasise the importance of diversity and empowerment, in all aspects of society.
To recognise and highlight how we #inspireinclusion, we spoke to just some of the incredible women who work at Athona and asked them: ‘What does inspire inclusion mean to you?’. Keep reading to hear what they had to say.
Jeanette Holder – Managing Director
“Whilst I have seen an incredible change for women in my lifetime, it is true that some prejudices still exist, but often they are harder to detect or even in our subconscious. We can all choose what we say or who we choose to work with, for myself, I wasn’t chosen to take on my role because I am a woman, I’m proud to work for a company that will choose the best person for a particular role – irrespective of race, age, gender or sexual orientation.
The promotion of fairness is essential and continued change must come from all of us. Events like International Women’s Day allow me to remember that everything I think, do and say has an impact on those around me. To truly inspire inclusion you need to believe it, be prepared to listen and remain open minded. So, if I’m made aware of anything, I act. I make sure I take personal responsibility for what I see or hear around me, and I hope this inspires those that choose to work with me.”
Amy Blunt – Senior Business Development Manager – Nursing
“I have always been lucky enough to work within inclusive teams throughout my career; where peoples different backgrounds and experiences are celebrated and you’re encouraged to work to your strengths to bring real value to the team.
Having been fortunate to develop in such teams, it is this that really inspires me to always strive for inclusivity within the team I work in as I want others to have the same opportunities. It’s imperative that we foster an environment where people feel they are heard, valued and that they are able to make a difference.”
Cheryl Denham – Senior Operations Manager
“Inspiring inclusion is appreciation of all, for their value, and simply not using aspects of their being as the reason to lower their worth. With women being present in all environments, (especially where they’ve not previously been expected) is a huge positive. Being seen and heard now paves way and normalises it for the future.”
Kerry Sheehan – Marketing Manager
“For me, inspiring inclusion is one of the most important aspects of my role as a manager to an all-female team. I want to ensure that they feel empowered, understand they can achieve everything they want to in their careers and keep striving to reach for their goals, both personally and professionally. We’re lucky to be surrounded by incredible people every day and work for an organisation that ensures we all work together, collaboratively and in a culture where everyone can thrive and that’s not something I take for granted.”
Alex Franklin – Senior executive Recruitment Consultant – Acute
“Inspire Inclusions means to me to have an environment where everyone has equal access to opportunities regardless of who they are. Athona do very well in breaking the status quo around ‘Recruitment being a male dominant industry’, we have tonnes of successful women at Athona who show how wrong that saying is every day!”
Helen Fearn – Audit Officer & Facilities Manager
“When talking to any of the women who work for Athona or any woman that I come in contact with through my day-to-day life I would try to always uplift, inspire, include and encourage them to take a risk, get out their comfort zone and believe in themselves, and always laugh every day about something.”
Lacie Duthie – Compliance Team Leader – Acute & Psychiatry
“Inspiring inclusion is extremely important, especially within my own role as a Team Leader. Everybody has their own opinions, experiences, backgrounds etc. which allows for more open discussions and new ideas to flow within the team. I feel like we can learn so much from those around us which can allow us as individuals to grow both personally and professionally just by taking on board different viewpoints and knowledge that we may have not thought about ourselves.”
At Athona, we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to recognise the remarkable women who work with us. We’re incredibly proud to say that our workforce is 65.5% women with our leadership team being 70% female. If you’re looking to develop your career within a company where gender bias and inclusion is at the forefront of what we do, then look no further than Athona. Find your next job with us today.
