The Best Workplaces for Women, now in its third year, recognises organisations which, while providing a great work environment for everyone, are creating positive and supportive workplaces for women in particular.
The past 12 months have presented new challenges for organisations in this space, and we wanted to shine a light on that lived experience in one of 2021’s Best Workplaces for Women. We spoke to Niamh Graham, vice-president of global HR in Workhuman, who shared her insights around delivering a high-trust work environment.
What does this achievement mean for Workhuman?
“As a female member of the executive team and as a working mother myself, this recognition is hugely exciting and validates all the work we’ve put in to make Workhuman an inclusive workplace to its core. Over the past few years we’ve been laser-focused on making it a place where our female employees can thrive at work with the flexibility that allows them to manage their personal lives. Our Irish workforce is made up of 45 per cent women and we have successfully and substantially increased our female demographic in technology in our Tech HQ in Parkwest, Dublin. We are active members of Women in Technology and Science and Women Reboot and our CTO, Jonathan Hyland, is ex-chair of Technology Ireland where he has been part of many initiatives regarding Stem.
“Covid has threatened the careers of many women across the globe, and when we moved to a remote work environment last year, we took the time to listen to our employees and be adaptable to their needs.”
What elements of your culture contribute to creating a high-trust environment for women?
“Whatever the situation, we wanted to ensure our employees could trust that no matter what, they could take the time they needed and Workhuman would be right by their side, supporting their needs. Our approach became “do what you need to do when you need to do it, no questions asked.”
Knowing that external research is showing that women especially are dropping out of the workforce to care for their families at this time, we have paid huge attention to the feedback and challenges this group face and have flexed to meet each person’s needs. As a result we have not lost a single human due to the pressures of home and work balance in the last year. This lends to a high-trust environment for women when they know their job is secure during difficult times personally. We were named a tech unicorn in 2020 and so this elevates the interest in our business and supports our hiring and retention goals as an inspirational place to work also.”
What is the business impact of being recognised as a Best Workplace for Women?
“Attracting diverse talent, particularly in technology, continues to be a top priority for us. So this award contributes to our brand awareness of being a fully inclusive and successful workplace for all. Our customers are predominantly female HR professionals, so having diverse voices and skillsets build our Workhuman product and be part of our own team and culture allows us to enhance our innovation and collaboration further.
“With high tenure at Workhuman and overwhelmingly positive sentiment from women coming back from maternity leave, we’re proud to support women across our entire organisation and ensure we’re creating a workforce that fosters women in our workplace every day.”
We are delighted to recognise the following organisations as the Best Workplaces for Women in Ireland:
- Abbvie Cork, Dublin & Sligo
- Adobe
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Cruiserath
- Biologics
- Caci Non-Life
- Cisco Systems
- Core
- CPL Ireland
- DHL Global Forwarding
- Distilled SCH
- Edwards Lifesciences
- Fáilte Ireland
- Harvey Norman
- Kuehne + Nagel
- Laya Healthcare
- McAfee Ireland
- MSD Dunboyne Biologics
- Regeneron
- Salesforce
- Clune technologies
- Tesco Ireland Ltd
- Woodie’s
- Workhuman
This article originally appeared in ‘Best Workplaces 2021‘ a Special Report from The Irish Times, published March 2021.
Click here to learn more about Special Reports from The Irish Times.
