Happy International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023!

For over a century, organisations and individuals from every corner of the globe have been coming together on this auspicious day (8 March) to publicly celebrate women and accelerate equality. This year, the theme is #EmbraceEquity – encouraging us all to challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek out inclusion.

Doing so doesn’t only benefit women. Creating a world where gender differences are valued and celebrated has huge benefits for business, too! Accenture found that fostering a culture of equality in a workplace environment helps everyone advance to higher positions, while research from Catalyst shows that the more gender-equal companies are, the better it is for all employees. This means a happier workforce, higher levels of job satisfaction, and increased productivity.

This International Women’s Day we’re celebrating some of the fantastic females flying the flag for equality and forging change here at Kisimul. Read on as we hear from our CEO Anita Andrews, our People Director Jane Smith, and our Quality Director, Nicky Cooper…

Q: How do you think your upbringing has influenced the way you’ve approached your career?

Jane Smith, People Director (JS)

“I grew up in what I suppose you’d call a ‘working class’ household. My dad always wanted to be a teacher but wasn’t able to afford the further education necessary to make it happen, and I think that him not being able to pursue his dream made both of my parents more determined to ensure that education was never a barrier to my brother and I following ours.

My mum in particular always showed an entrepreneurial spirit – from a young age I would join her on her market stall at the weekends. Ultimately, they both invested in our success and our happiness and that’s something that’s stayed with me – I’ve tried to do the same for others at every stage of my career.”

Anita Andrews, CEO (AA)

“I had a challenging childhood and left home at the age of 15. I was always a good student, but by the end of school I was a little bit lost and I didn’t go on to college or university or anything, so the concept of equity vs equality is interesting to me as a female who has had to make her own way. I wasn’t handed anything, but I have always been extremely driven to succeed and that’s stood me in good stead.

I work hard, I’ve studied in my own time, I’ve taken risks and I’ve said yes to every opportunity when its arisen! I think it’s fair to say that historically females probably have had to work harder to achieve the same results in some cases and that’s why I’m so passionate about promoting equity at Kisimul.”

Nicky Cooper, Quality Director (NC)

“I grew up with a sister who has autism and I think that probably had an impact on my early career decisions. I started out as a mental health nurse, before moving into a patient safety role in a large NHS Trust. I’ve had lots of other fascinating roles – leading mental health related homicide investigations in order to learn lessons and as the Director of Quality for the adult social care division at a very large health and social care provider, to name just two – but I feel very much at home here at Kisimul. I feel like I’ve come full circle!

My drivers have always been to identify areas for improvement and learning, and to support teams to implement strategies to make things better, essentially. In every role I’ve focused on ‘finding it and

fixing it’, trying to improve the quality of service that people receive which ultimately improves outcomes.”

Q: Do you feel there are intrinsic differences between male and female approaches in the workplace, and how does that affect women’s ability to progress, in your experience?

JS – “In my personal experience, men typically present a more confident front and are more willing to ‘big themselves up’ you might say, while women tend to edit themselves out for fear of how they’ll be perceived. Over the years, I’ve worked in a number of male-dominated teams where female voices have been in the minority and speaking up can feel uncomfortable in that scenario, but it’s so important that we continue to push for change. Unfortunately, I think it’s still going to be some time before we achieve real equity across the world but I’m proud of what we’re doing here at Kisimul.”

AA – “Kisimul’s board is fairly evenly balanced but in my experience of other organisations, that’s not always the case. When I left the public sector, everyone at the decision-making table was white, male, and of a certain age. As a younger female my voice wasn’t going to be heard, so I had to take a chance in order to progress.

In general, I think there’s a dearth of women in senior positions who are there to actually lead and that can be to a business’ detriment. I think women tend to prioritise culture and values, while entirely male boards can create a more transactionally focused environment. Having a good blend is important.”

Jane agrees. “I think having a relatively even split of male and female executives on board is hugely positive. Our personalities and lived experiences are all very different but I firmly believe that our strength lies in those differences. While we’re aligned on the big issues – our values and our mission for the business – we each bring a fresh perspective to the table and feel comfortable sharing our views without fear of reproach.”

NC – “I think good leadership qualities can exist in both men and women, but I completely agree that you need a mix of both at the top of any organisation. As a female leader I feel its my responsibility to bring my best self to work, but also to be my most authentic self – to be able to express emotion and empathy. Women are perhaps generally perceived to be a little better at doing that than male counterparts, but I have seen a noticeable shift away from conformance to those gender stereotypes in recent years.”

Q: How are you personally and Kisimul as an organisation striving to help women achieve their full potential?

JS – “I’m passionate about having frameworks in place which allow people to flourish. For me, one of the key ways we can do that is by putting people in the driving seat when it comes to their own learning and development. Having ownership over your own journey is vital. When people feel included, understood, and valued, everyone benefits and that’s why our Meaningful Life model extends beyond the individuals who access our services. It’s for everybody, but it’s not one size fits all.

One of the IWD mission statements for this year is ‘to forge inclusive work cultures where women’s careers thrive and their achievements are celebrated’ and I think that sums up exactly what we’re doing here.”

AA – “As Jane says, at Kisimul our aim is to empower everyone to be able to do a job they love. Our new Head of Colleague Learning is focusing on exactly that – mirroring our Meaningful Life model for our colleagues by creating nuanced, tailored programmes which allow the individual to thrive. For

many women, that will mean building self-esteem and ensuring that they understand their value. We want our female colleagues to know that the glass ceiling doesn’t exist here and that we want to help them achieve their professional goals.”

“More generally speaking, we recognise the need to create effective and fair schemes which give all colleagues a clear pathway to realising their ambitions. That’s why we’re adopting what is effectively a gender-neutral strategy for progression, by looking at what professional success looks like for each of our colleagues before putting frameworks in place to facilitate them achieving that success. One method under consideration is the introduction of a leadership development scheme which would encourage talent to grow with us.”

NC – “The phrase ‘person-centred’ is one that people will likely be familiar with in the care sector, but at Kisimul that really is the golden thread that runs through the entire business. Our Meaningful Life model makes the needs and wants of the individuals we support our priority, but it also applies to our team. We want to understand what makes people get up in the morning and incentivise both our men and our women accordingly.”

“I can honestly say that the implementation of a person-centred approach through our Meaningful Life model, for the people we support, and our colleagues, is a key priority of the Kisimul executive team. We do have a predominance of women, particularly young women, working across the Group and we’re committed to creating career pathways which provide opportunities for them to grow both personally and professionally.”

Q: Have you witnessed any change in terms of the way men and women are viewed in the workplace over the course of your career to date?

JS – “Absolutely. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to work all over the world, from India to South Korea, and it’s fair to say that different countries are at different stages of the gender equality journey but here in the UK there has definitely been progress made. There’s still a way to go, but the picture is very different today than it was when I started out.”

AA – “As a society, I agree that we’ve come a long way – I haven’t been mistaken for the CEO’s secretary lately – but honestly, I think we’ve still got a long way to go before we achieve real equality. There are undoubtably more women in senior positions who are respected for their contributions, but I don’t think there’s enough representation at the very top level of organisations yet. I’m pleased to say Kisimul bucks that trend.”

“I have young children and I see gender bias already creeping in – what they play with, what they talk about wanting to be when they grow up. I think education is so important in changing cultural norms, and I really hope that, when they’re my age, the notion of ‘boys jobs’ and ‘girls jobs’ are a thing of the past. I’d like to think I’m modelling that for them.”

Q: It’s widely acknowledged that the majority of social care roles are held by women – up to 84% according to one report from The King’s Fund. Are we seeing any signs that this could be changing?

NC – “I think it has long been the case that women tend to occupy more of the patient facing care jobs, while men have historically held a higher percentage of senior posts. This is certainly not the case in Kisimul though, or indeed in my last health and social care organisation.

JS – “That is true of the sector, but we actually have a fairly good ratio at Kisimul in comparison. If you look at our figures, we have around a 60/40 split across the business which says to me that there is

change happening here – whether that’s replicated across other social care organisations I’m not so sure.”

AA – “I wonder if we’re unusual in that regard. I believe there is still a stigma around men working in care jobs, but I’ve seen first-hand how great male care workers can be. We need to do something at a societal level to address this perception that care jobs are better suited to women, diversifying who is being attracted and achieving greater balance at every level. We need more men choosing jobs in care, and more women striving for those leadership positions.”

Q: IWD was created to promote gender parity in a society where women are often on the back foot professionally speaking. You work closely with young people and adults with learning disabilities and autism – do you think women and girls who are autistic face even greater barriers to inclusion?

JS – “Without question. There’s a whole other conversation to be had around the extra barriers facing women and girls with autism. Primarily, the fact that it’s been largely considered a male issue for so many years which has resulted in swathes of girls missing out on support in schools and beyond. Girls are recognised as being better at mimicking ‘typical’ behaviours, possibly making it harder to spot, but I think there needs to be some serious levelling up of services to ensure they get the help they need early on.”

NC – “I’ve noticed recently that there are a lot of older females who seem to have gone their whole lives feeling like they were a bit different, perhaps but not knowing why. With the increase in conversations and awareness of autism, they’re finally looking for answers and many are receiving diagnoses in their late 30s and 40s. Not only have these women often been fighting for space at the table because of their gender, they’ve also had this secret battle going on internally.”

“Getting a diagnosis is only really the start of the journey for them. Change is happening and there is certainly less stigma and more acceptance of autism in general, but ongoing support still isn’t widely available. To give an example – my son is autistic, and I found that help all but dried up as he transitioned into adulthood. For women receiving a delayed diagnosis who have never had any support as a young person, there needs to be better signposting to the services that do exist, or they’re being set adrift again. Looking at this on both a macro and micro level, I don’t think that society is doing enough to meet the needs of these women…yet.”

Q: We think the three of you are hugely inspiring women, but who would you credit as your own inspirational females?

JS – “I had a fantastic line manager while I was working for a big retailer, named Andrea. This was fairly early on in my career but the skills she taught me have stuck with me to this day. She was excellent at sharing her wisdom and expertise in an accessible way and she really helped me to grow professionally. She made a lasting impression and I’m still very grateful to her.”

AA – “I’m not sure I could choose just one but a stand-out would be my former mentor, named Pam. She was incredibly fun and knew everyone who was anyone. My mentorship with her primarily focused on combating imposter syndrome (something a lot of women in senior positions seem to struggle with) so she got me to speak to recruitment firms so I could see my actual worth in the market, rather than my perceived worth. It was eye-opening and really shifted my perspective.”

“Elsewhere, I’ve been reading the most inspiring book – Let It Go: The Memoirs of Dame Stephanie Shirley. I was drawn to it because her late son had autism and she supports several charities in the field, but her story is incredible. She came to the UK on the Kindertransport and set up her own IT business which only employed women for a time. She found that going by ‘Steve’ was advantageous

in a male-dominated market which speaks volumes… Overcoming adversity to forge your own path to success is a common theme amongst women in business – it’s certainly true for me.”

NC – “It would have to be Rosa Parks for me. I expect most people are familiar with her story – refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person in an act which changed the course of history, really. I admire her courage and her unwavering pursuit of equality and justice.”

“Also, I have to say my sister Fiona. As I mentioned, she has autism and a learning disability but she never stops pushing for her independence, regardless of what obstacles might stand in her way! She has always been a real inspiration to me.”

If you have been inspired by the fantastic women forging change at Kisimul this International Women’s Day and would like to be part of our team of #AmazingPeople, head to Kisimul.co.uk/careers for details of current vacancies.