Why our Global Head of HR is passionate about International Women’s Day

Every year in Morgan McKinley we recognise International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

This week in our Dublin office, we had a special edition ‘Speakeasy’ (our version of ‘Toastmasters’) where the topic of choice was ‘The women that inspire me’. Our colleagues, both male and female, spoke eloquently about the women that have made an impact on their lives. It was powerful to hear the personal stories from our colleagues about the mothers, sisters, female family and friends that continue to inspire and shape their world.

This years IWD theme is Balance for Better, a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world. As a mother, daughter and sister myself, balance has a very personal meaning to me. I am lucky to have had great career opportunities within Morgan McKinley, starting my career here after college in an administrative role and progressing to my current position of Global Head of HR. At no stage did my gender impact on my career trajectory; I was afforded the same opportunities as everyone else in a diverse and inclusive environment where people succeed based on positive impact and delivery, and nothing else.

I consider myself very fortunate. Many women across the globe for a variety of reasons cannot access the same equal entitlement to education and career opportunities that I have been able to embrace. For me, the constant challenge is balancing family life and working life, but I don’t think this is a challenge limited to women. Men also struggle with this and until it is ‘the norm’ for men to also avail of all flexible options to balance work and home life, we have a way to go to equal the balance.

Last week at the Great Places to Work Awards, Morgan McKinley was recognised as a ‘Best Workplace for Women’. I couldn’t agree more, personally and professionally. I have great flexibility in Morgan McKinley to balance my work and home life, and this has a very positive impact for me and many of my colleagues. As an organisation, with an even gender split, the success of our women is critical to the success of our business and Morgan McKinley continues to be committed in supporting our people’s professional goals and personal aspirations.