Leaders Shaping the Industry | International Women’s Day 2019

International Women’s Day (#IWD2019), celebrated annually on March 8th, is a “global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women”. This year’s campaign theme is #BalanceforBetter, which is all about building a gender-balanced world.

Together, Bullhorn and the Recruitment Innovation Exchange (RIX) are honored to highlight some of the many incredible leaders in recruitment in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Learn more about these leaders who are shaping the future of the recruitment industry. Click below to watch videos, read articles, or listen to podcasts to discover their insights and perspectives on how they’ve overcome gender bias, how they’ve helped to increase female executive representation in recruitment, and the advice they’ve shared for the next generation of recruitment leaders.

As one of the industry’s most successful executives, Loretta Penn, president of PECC LLC., brings unparalleled insights to improve diversity in staffing. “Many women tell themselves that if they’re doing a good job, ‘opportunity will come to me.’ No, it won’t. You must be prepared when opportunity knocks.” READ MORE

“Diversity” Is Not a Buzzword: Audra Jenkins of Randstad Sourceright on Where We Are and How Far We Have to Go

Audra Jenkins, head of diversity and compliance at Randstad Sourceright, shares her perspective on why staffing firms are behind in diversity efforts and what they can do to get ahead of the curve. “If you say you’re committed to diversity, but yet you have no diversity in your leadership, that’s not being authentic. Not authentic to your clients, and not authentic to yourself. So if you want to walk the walk, you have to really own the action behind the words to make it valuable. Or, prepare yourself to miss out on major deals because the marketplace is changing.” READ MORE

FutureYou Q&A Part 2: Embracing Equality, Collaboration, and Wisdom Workers

Emily Wilson, managing partner and co-founder, and Sharon Lewis, chief marketing and digital officer, of FutureYou, a boutique executive search firm in Australia, discuss achieving gender balance within leadership teams, the changing nature of the Australian workforce, and global differences in recruitment evolution. “To see change, there needs to be a focus on demonstrating a pathway, creating a culture, and providing an environment where women have the opportunity to truly thrive.” READ MORE

Growth as a Process: A Conversation with Alicia Barker of Staffing 360

Alicia Barker, chief operating officer of Staffing 360, reflects on her 20-year journey in the recruitment industry, and discusses her passion for coaching women and what it’s like being the only woman on the board. “I came on to a board that didn’t have any women. I came onto a leadership team that didn’t have any women. I work with a lot of men, but I don’t feel a divide. The rest of the team treats me the same way they treat one another and, if anything, I think I provide a healthy balance. We’re an executive team. No one is defined by who is a man and who is a woman. Every person in that room is strong, opinionated, and has a thick skin. You have to!” READ MORE

Watch

The Experts: Emily Costello on Women in Recruitment

Emily Costello, vice president of channel relationships at Robert Half, underscores the importance of remaining strategic in the approach women take to proving themselves in business, and reminds us of the challenges female leaders continue to face. “Honestly, for me in the staffing industry, I think I’m surrounded by a lot of really powerful women. Staffing is not just a man’s world, thankfully, so I think we’re able to kind of navigate by teaming up with each other and having mentors in our own industry that kind of help us to position ourselves in a valuable way in our business.” WATCH

The Experts: Dr. Marcia Goddard on the Gender Gap in STEM Fields

Neuroscientist Dr. Marcia Goddard shares innovative strategies recruitment agencies should use to combat the shortage of female representation in STEM fields. “If you see something that you like, really just do it because in the end, you need to be happy with what you’re doing and if you’re driven and you’re not afraid to try again if it doesn’t work out the first time, then you can really achieve the goals for yourself.” WATCH

The Experts: Ann Swain on the Turning Point for Recruitment

Ann Swain, founder and global CEO of APSCo, discusses the opportunity to increase the number of female leaders in recruitment. “I am a director of something called Women in Recruitment and we’re doing an awful lot of work in the UK, but it was spread beyond that, too, on making sure that women coming into the market understand what the career opportunities are, and actually helping those people, recruiting those women, giving them a career opportunity, and giving them opportunities that work for them, as well. I think there’s a great future in recruitment for women.” WATCH

Listen

Take It from the Top: Tara Ricks and Leah McKelvey [Episode 10]

Tara Ricks, an expert consultant at Elite Squared and former MD of Randstad Financial & Professional, discusses diverse hiring with a focus on women in recruitment. Tara also shares compelling stats on how companies consistently benefit from having women on their boards. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Take It from the Top: Penny O’Reilly on Women in Leadership [Episode 16]

Penny O’Reilly, managing director and country general manager at Kelly Services, talks about her career path and how she went from an office support consultant to Kelly’s director for Australia and New Zealand. Penny shares the most challenging aspects of “climbing the ladder,” her hopes for the recruitment industry, and advice for women following in her footsteps based on her 20+ years in the industry. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Join the Conversation

The Future Is Female: Increasing Female Executive Representation in Recruitment

October was Power Women in Recruitment Month on RIX and we capped it off with an inspirational #RIXtakeover Twitter chat featuring Sam Smith, vice president of global solutions and vertical group leader of life sciences at Kelly Services, and Ursula Williams, chief operating officer at Staffing Industry Analysts. Sam and Ursula shared leadership advice and unique anecdotes on how they’ve overcome obstacles to become celebrated leaders. Have an opinion you’d like to share? Tweet at us using the #RIXtakeover hashtag. PARTICIPATE

What do 2,000+ recruitment professionals say are the top priorities, challenges, and trends that matter to them in 2019? Find out at the brand new site for global recruitment insights and data.

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Leaders Shaping the Industry | International Women’s Day 2019