08.03.21

International Women’s Day 2021

At Lifestory, creating a diverse and gender equal workforce to drive change in the industry is part of their key ethos. As part of their commitment, Lifestory has successfully achieved a 60% female workforce of over 132 women across the  210 employees in 2021 and are constantly striving to create an equal environment across the business.

 

As part of International Women’s Day 2021 (8th March), they are shining the light on one of their incredible female employees, Sallyanne George who has achieved a stellar career rise since she joined Lifestory over six years ago and has been doing everything she can to create an equal working environment.

 

Sallyanne started working at Lifestory in November 2014 as a Personal Assistant to the Regional Director Mike Gill and quickly rose up the ranks to become a Development Coordinator after 18 months. Her career continued growing and she became a Development Manager in 2018.

 

Sallyanne explains that it has not been the easiest ride being a woman in the construction industry since she started her career and credits her Lifestory team for being extremely supportive of her career growth and achievements.

 

‘’Mike Gill who was the first Director I worked with at Lifestory, has been instrumental in helping me grow and achieve so much in the construction industry. Despite being a very busy person, he has always been there to listen and explain matters to me properly even on the smallest issue.  He has been one of my inspirations of how a true leader should be,  encouraging everyone to optimise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses. I would have to also credit my current Director Simon Broomfield as an inspiration, he is  also an all-rounder leader who goes above and beyond to ensure everyone works well as a team, in a wonderfully unassuming manner.

 

‘’Working in construction which is well-known to be aa male dominated industry has brought its fair share of challenges, especially when there are only a few other women holding Development Manager or similar roles across the industry. It can be quite tough to change the mentality of some of the inherent gender inequality on a building site, but I am really proud that Lifestory as a company is committed to providing training and opportunities to all women across the business to progress in their roles. We strive to have a team of mixed genders across the different business areas and it is so refreshing to see change and women taking on more senior positions in the business.’’

 

Sallyanne is a firm believer in fostering equality in the workplace and has never been afraid to raise her voice to ensure that everyone is treated with the same respect. She explains that sometimes some people do not realise that their actions might be gender biased and it is always best to speak up in these situations and resolve the issue at that particular time.

 

‘’Over the last few years in particular, I am really glad to see that positive change has happened in the construction industry to make it a more gender equal industry. I hope more can be done to encourage more female talent across the board and hope that perceptions will change, and that gender inequality will be a thing of the past in the next 10 years.”

 

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International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not a country, group or organisation specific.

 

#IWD2021#ChooseToChallenge

 

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/