Employ A Woman

by Elizabeth Harrin (London)

Veronica Akinyemi hugs me hello. “I’m so used to hugging everyone,” she says. The Employ A Woman team is setting up the event and she’s pulled herself away from organising to greet me.

I watch recruiters putting up stalls in a conference room The London Hilton on Park Lane. The main room is set up with 100 chairs, a table of warm croissants, tea and coffee, and a small podium ready for this morning’s speakers, all under a teardrop chandelier. Women are beginning to drift in for the early morning session, an extra event before the main exhibition starts; she disappears again.

This is the first Employ A Woman event, and its aim is to establish strong and lasting connections between smart women and top employers. The one day event is designed to connect some of the UK’s most ambitious women from diverse sectors and backgrounds with organisations looking to meet female talent in the UK. It’s not just about recruitment. After spending her career in learning and development Veronica is passionate about professional development and networking, and the event includes time for those too.

“It’s all come together,” Veronica says, when she’s back from organising the hotel staff. “I still can’t believe it’s all happening.” Veronica and her husband have self-financed the event. The inspirational women speaking today are giving their time for free. “Women do that,” she says, although she sounds surprise that it has worked out for her. I spot Dr. Suzanne Doyle-Morris, an executive coach who works with women in leadership positions across top organisations like Microsoft, Cisco and UBS. She’s speaking later.

There is a host of stuff organised throughout the day: pensions advice, image igloos for office fashion tips, CV reviews. I meet Jo Behari at the registration desk, an ex-city marketer who is running a workshop later about taking the plunge and changing careers. She left her city job to become director of Home Jane, a female property maintenance and home improvement company that supplies qualified tradeswomen to tackle all DIY jobs. She has just won a Women in Business award and has shepherded the company through expansion into the north of England. Jo ticks off a delegate on a list and hands her a welcome bag of goodies. “Veronica asked me to help out,” she says, and through her involvement with Make Your Mark she was able to put Veronica in touch with other people who could contribute to the Employ A Woman event.

TM Lewin, the popular shirt-making company established in 1898, is here giving out discount vouchers and offering delegates tips on the best type of shirts to wear for business meetings and interviews. Jane Woods, Director of ChangingPeople, will be launching her book When Work isn’t Working later, after speaking at the “Get up Girlfriends” session.

The delegates are a mixed crowd. There are over 600 women attending: a smaller group for the early morning session and the lunchtime workshops, but the exhibitors expect to be swarmed later in the day as more women arrive.

I speak to an IT trainer in the NHS who is looking to move jobs. She’s here to get some tips and advice about how to approach interviews and recruitment in the current economic climate. I meet another city woman who has just been made redundant. In a time when jobs are scarce, knowing how to have the edge is a great advantage. Veronica has acknowledged that many organisations have put their 2009 recruitment plans on hold. Maybe now isn’t the best time to be hosting a recruitment fair. However, when the economy begins to pick-up recruiters will want to hire the best within the market.

Nobody here thinks it is an issue having an event targeted at women, and there is wide recognition in the marketplace that women have an essential role to play in helping redress the shortage of talent in the workplace.

I catch Veronica again, as she’s doing her hair before she’s about to go on to the podium. “It’s justified,” she says. “I want women to be able to make choices and not settle for the first thing that comes along.” If women get jobs as a result of the Employ A Woman event that’s a good thing. But ultimately, she wants women to have more choices and more support in doing what they want to do. “When I became a mum last year it became more real and I appreciate the complexities,” she explains. “For every successful woman there are still many more in jobs below their skills and abilities because of lack of support.” With organisations like Employ A Woman, more talented women will be able to get the breaks they need to really fulfil their potential.