Let me introduce myself. I am Erica, and I am the Content Marketing Manager at Ennis & Co Group. I usually hide my name behind the moniker of “Comms Team” but on this special day I wanted to talk directly to you about a subject that is very close to my heart.
Today is International Women’s Day 2024. Today, we come together to celebrate women across the world, and the topic of female business leaders is still very much at the forefront of the Diversity and Inclusion agenda.
My experience as a woman in the workplace for 25 years has been varied. I’ve worked for ten organisations in my career, eight of those led by men, and only two by women, which, of course, includes my current role. An indication that in all industries, female leaders are still very much in the minority. Things are different here. Our CEO, and the entire Senior Management Team, are female.
I don’t think I need to make an introduction to Lynda Ennis at this point. There won’t be many people reading this who haven’t heard her name before. Lynda has been a driver of positive change for women in the workplace for her entire career, but on founding her own business, saw an opportunity to implement action to drive change forward. And did just that.
At Ennis & Co Group, we have always been strong advocates for greater diversity and inclusion across the automotive and mobility sector, and have undertaken several pieces of research, publishing a collection of reports which are available for download on our website. We have shared new and emerging trends that we have uncovered in our day-to-day work as executive search specialists, and we have tracked the “D&I journey” as we move forward in our rapidly evolving industry.
Everyone in an organisation has a responsibility to drive the D&I agenda, but senior leaders, in particular, have the opportunity to build strong, diverse teams around them, drawing on the varied skills and experience that this will bring to a role, a team and a whole business.
Some other excellent examples of female leaders building diverse teams in the automotive industry include Philippa Oldham, Stakeholder Engagement Director at the Advanced Propulsion Centre, Jo Evans, Chief Customer Officer at TRL, Mandeep Dhatt HR Director – People & Culture Leader Lotus Cars Europe, Alison Jones, Senior Vice President, Global Circular Economy at Stellantis, Geraldine Ingham, Global Managing Director Range Rover, Sam Simister, Co-Founder Gen M, Tina Lovelock, Global People Director, Brompton Bicycle and Julie David. Voices in the industry well worth following.
In 25 years’ time, it would be progress indeed if today’s new entrants to the workplace reflected on their careers and were able to say that they had been led equally by men and women. With such strong figureheads in our industry, it feels as though that may well be possible.