It’s been six months since we released our annual Best Workplaces for Women™, along with our Best Workplaces for Women™ report. We gained valuable insight and first-hand experiences from the women involved. We recently had the pleasure of catching up with two of our participants, Nathalia De Villiers, Head of Operations at CACI, and Sylvia Coldrick, Chief Risk Officer at Liberty Insurance. We had a chat about how things have been going, and the impact being recognised has had on both them and their organisation over the past six months. Read on to see their experiences and how you can register for Best Workplaces for Women™ 2023.
Catch Up Interview
Great Place to Work: What was the impact of being featured as part of the Best Workplaces for Women on you personally?
My hope is that my story, with its constructive challenges and achievements, can instil confidence in any woman reading this – that they too have the ability to progress in their career as they wish to, alongside their family commitments.
At Liberty, women make up 60% of our workforce and more than half (52%) of our leadership positions. So while we do have a rich and diverse team, it’s still important that the women in these types of leadership positions are visible in order for other women to know that it’s something that is achievable and realistic for them.
The feedback I have received from my female colleagues – as well as male, who at Liberty continue to be strong allies for inclusion for women – has increased my confidence personally in this role. It's also helped to reinforce our belief as a business that we’re very much moving in the right direction.
Great Place to Work: What was the impact on the organisation?
Nathalie: CACI always has this strong commitment to develop and support its diverse staff and it has been even more highlighted, reinforced and valorised by this award and interview.
With regards to our selection process, we have often experienced meeting candidates who will directly refer to our Great Place to Work certification as well as our Best Workplaces for Women Award, which is indeed positive for both us and our candidates.
Sylvia: At Liberty, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a key part of the company's strategy. Being recognised as one of the Best Workplaces for Women gives us real, tangible and visible confirmation – both internally and outside the business – that this ongoing work to make Liberty a diverse and equitable company is on the right track. We've received great feedback from employees that they are proud to be part of a company that is working so hard on our DEI efforts.
Having said that, we never assume that we are fully there in being truly an inclusive company. We are constantly reviewing our DEI efforts to ensure we are meeting the evolving needs of all employees and fostering an environment where everyone can be at their best, both professionally and personally.
Download the Best Workplaces for Women Report below 👇
Great Place to Work: Has anything changed since we last spoke, especially given new ways of working?
Nathalie: Our flexible working policy is now fully implemented. Most of our teams organise to meet and to work on the same days at the office. Meeting regularly is important, as in our experience, collective discussion and listening to each other’s point of view can help bring transformation to the company. We continue to build on our connectivity with events and initiatives through our "Culture and Value" committee, run by CACI volunteers.
To give an example, on June 21st we held our Diversity and Inclusion Awareness Day – at CACI, we commit to diversity, inclusion and equality as a key factor of success. This event gave us the opportunity to gather all our employees together, from both our Dublin and Milan team. We are strongly convinced that diversity is an important element that results in better company performance.
We will continue reflecting, with all our teams, on new ways of working together, in the spirit of co-creation and creativity we always value.
Sylvia: Most notably perhaps, we have just placed in the Top 100 Best Workplaces for Women in the UK – which is another great milestone, particularly for our staff employed in Enniskillen.
Our Liberty Digital Way, which gives employees the freedom to live and work where they want to be, has proven extremely popular with our employees. During the summer months, that is perhaps even more pronounced. With the warm weather, children off school for the summer – not to mention the rising cost of living – the savings on commuting time have meant our employees have been able to spend more time with their families. What it also does is make us really appreciate in-person gatherings when we do meet up.
A few weeks ago, we had a summer event for all our staff in Ireland, and it was really great to all get together. Similarly, all of our managerial staff from Ireland, Spain and Portugal had an off-site meeting in Spain recently to share ideas and thoughts. I spoke at the DEI panel at that event where I talked about my own struggles juggling motherhood and being a Senior Leader in an Insurance company. But I continuously feel supported by Liberty with that. I hope that by me sharing my story and my experience of it can help and reassure other ambitious women in the industry.
How to get recognised as a Best Workplace for Women™ in 2023
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About Great Place to Work®
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