Barratt Developments Support Future Female Leaders

Recent activity to support future female leaders at Barratt

In January 2019,  Barratt held another  one day workshop to support our future female leaders with their ongoing career development.  The event was attended by Jessica White, Chief Financial Officer and was a mix of key note speeches, facilitated discussions and opportunity for delegates to reflect on next steps in their career and their development plans.

We spoke to three of the delegates who were there at the workshop to get their views about the event.

Samantha Cheeseman, Commercial Solicitor at GSC told us: “The workshop was extremely interesting and included a variety of different segments which kept the audience engaged and was very thought provoking.  The speakers shared their personal experiences which made it easy to relate to the theme and see real life examples of women in leadership positions.  It definitely provided food for thought and it is reassuring to work for an employer who is keen to put the focus on developing their employees’ careers and who is committed to ensuring we have a diverse workforce in a variety of different positions at different levels.”

We asked Helena Taylor, Planning Manager at DWS South West what was the one thing that resonated most with her, she said: “The genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion and support for female leadership was very clear, and it’s really exciting to be part of a company driving this positive change in the industry.”

Cherelle Greenaway (pictured), Senior Technical Coordinator, also from DW South West felt the workshop had made a difference and said: “I have been very motivated since leaving the workshop and have been working with my line managerson my career development action plan and working my way through the reading material presented at the workshop. It has provided the inspiration for me to continue to understand more by researching further material that will benefit me both at work and more generally as a person.  I will continue to be driven in my work and dedicated to the business as I progress and grow in my career.

We also held the final event of our Catalyst Programme in February. This was the last of our three events aimed at potential senior female leaders, to support their ongoing development.  Our Group Chair, John Allan and our Chief Executive, David Thomas attended as part of the session to share some of their insights and the afternoon was spent with a keynote speaker from the London Business Forum who delivered a session called the 80 minute MBA.