Are you in control of your life/work balance?
Last night we had just our third Women’s Utilities Network event which was definitely a success.
The evening kicked off with good food, drinks and the hum of conversation as women from across the utility industry, mingled “It’s great to be in a supportive environment with like minded women discussing our careers and futures”
After the initial networking, we moved downstairs where founder Angela Peart (Utility People) kicked off the main event with the launch of the new WUN website before handing over to Rebecca Selder (EDF) to who introduced Fiona Jackson – Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement for EDF. Fiona gave us an overview of her personal career journey and explained how it’s rarely a question of balance work and life but more balancing work, family, friends, well-being, and self. And that there isn’t an equation we can all work towards it’s about continually assessing what works and what doesn’t, being brave and making changes when we need to re-balance. We were then introduced to our panel of industry professionals Jo Robertson, Gemma Cutcliffe, John Peters, and Natalie Gill, who shared their experiences and how they control their life/work life balance, not only as employers but as utility professionals whose careers have progressed. It was great to hear John Peters from Engage Consulting’s perspective on how he tries to work with his employees to make sure their flexible working works for them and for Engage, and to hear from Natalie Gill at Timewise on how to approach the situation of flexible working no matter what your circumstances are.
Jo Robertson from MoneyPlus had us all in admiration as she spoke about how she learned to change her life/work balance from just working to a having time with her children and having time for herself, and Gemma Cutcliffe from EDF Energy shared her experience on how working for larger organisation can benefit your life/work balance.
Following the panel discussion, founder, Angie Needle (British Gas) launched the WUN mentoring scheme find out all about it here: https://thewun.co.uk/mentoring/
Finally, Angela Peart thanked our hosts and speakers before we returned to the networking and drinks lounge to talk about what we heard this evening and get to know each other a bit more.
Feedback:
It was a really great event – with a really authentic feel about it.
“The topic and speakers were very relevant to me, the opportunities to also help me further my career were helpful”
“The relaxed but professional atmosphere is great for networking and my experience is that everyone is really supportive and genuinely interested in each other’s experiences.”
“I like the fact that there we two men involved with the session as we need more male advocates for women’s issues so long may that continue.”
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