WOMEN@EXYTE
A series of initiatives at Exyte Northern Europe is ensuring the topics of diversity and inclusion are to the fore of the company
Diversity and inclusion is a topic that we at Exyte Northern Europe are passionate about. We are on a journey to create a proposition to truly enable our colleagues to feel that they ‘Belong@Exyte’. Ultimately, this journey will enable our people to do their best work, whilst working with Exyte. Through collaboration with all of our teams, we have mapped out a path to where we want this journey to take us. We have ambitious plans in designing and building the ‘Belong@Exyte’ brand house with a focus on Women @ Exyte and Cultural Diversity@Exyte. Over the course of 2023 we will then focus on the other ‘pillars’ of Age, Neurodiversity, Family and LGBTQ+.
We have assembled a panel of ambassadors within our company, a total of 16 leaders (both men and women), who have come together. They have collaborated, discussed, debated and decided on the agenda for our two events for International Women’s Day, which were held in Israel and Ireland, bringing together more than 100 of our colleagues. We heard ideas at both events from our female colleagues on how
we can attract, develop, support and progress Women@Exyte. This feedback has been collated and we are now working on how to implement and embed these changes in our organisation, which we are proud to say have been ‘co-created’ across markets with our females’ colleagues input.
This collaborative effort will help us move the dial in relation to all things gender diversity and more importantly, will help us
in transforming our organisation/industry.
Our ultimate goal is working towards representation – we want women to be represented more in our engineering, project management and construction disciplines and we have ambitious plans to achieve this.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
ICIM speaks to two female employees at Exyte that have worked their way up the construction industry
Aileen Haverty
I’m an International HR Leader that has been privileged to work in many industries across Europe (Ireland, UK, Gibraltar, Germany), Asia (Myanmar), Pacific (Papa New Guinea) and the USA. I have been involved in many people-related strategies such as transformation strategies, mergers and acquisitions, start-ups and building out HR functions. I like to ‘build’ propositions and HR products, thus constantly evolving HR support to the business. Based on this experience, I was recruited into Exyte to develop our HR suite of products, which includes working with the company leadership and their teams on the ‘Belong@Exyte’ initiative.
Advice I would give to women in the industry
Some advice I have for working in the construction and engineering industry is to keep grounded and expect the unexpected – learn how to pivot as not everything can be planned and projects tend to take priority. Resilience is also a word I hear being quoted a lot and would tend to agree. Finally, always remain curious. Get involved with what the teams are working on, particularly the project managers, the commercial teams and the engineering and design teams as their work is fascinating and to be able to truly support them, we need to understand their world.
Sinead Kinsella
I qualified with a BSc in Architectural Technology from Napier University and a PgDip in Renewable Energy & Energy Management from Ulster University. Since qualifying in 2004, I have been working in the construction industry and have focused my career on industrial engineering design. I joined Exyte in 2012 as an Architectural Technologist and this was the start of my venture within the semi-conductor industry. I have worked on numerous large-scale high-tech projects, from the initial stages right through to completion and handover to the client. Working within the semi-conductor industry has allowed me to travel globally as part of my job, for which I have had the opportunity to experience work in Ireland, Israel, United States and China.
I am now an Engineering Manager within Exyte and if you are looking to progress your career and willing to work at developing your knowledge and skills, there is ample opportunity for growth. As a global company, Exyte is a multinational and diverse company to work within and there is a great combination of office and site work.
Advice I would give to women in the industry
My advice to young females that are looking at a future career in architectural, engineering or construction related fields is, if there is an opportunity in the school level to study engineering or technical graphics and design, take it. Do not be put off by the fact that the industry is predominantly male; there is a lot of progressive career paths for all people to develop in their profession, which can be either office or site based in the construction industry.
Unit J3, Maynooth Business Campus,Maynooth
Co. Kildare, W23 AZW
www.exyte.net
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Denise Maguire Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine
