International Women's Day 

 It is International Women’s Day today and here at Situations, although we’ve certainly employed men in the past, we currently have an all-female team.

Women at Situations

Jenny Mitchell and Melissa Campbell are Shareholders and Directors of the business and, with the appointment of Nadine to our board this January, we now have a majority female board too.

We’re a close team of staff and, although we all come from very different backgrounds, we get on well and work and play hard together to provide the best service to our clients and candidates.

Our Backgrounds

There are many different routes women can take to achieve their chosen careers.  Our staff have very varied backgrounds:

• Jenny went to University and then worked in PR and ran a Travel business, having lived in the UK and Africa for several years. She originally joined Situations as a temp back in 2001, became a Director of the business in 2002, a Shareholder in 2011 and is now joint Owner & MD.
• Melissa attended the Guernsey College of Further Education after secondary school and then spent 13 years in the legal field, starting as a PA then becoming a Paralegal at a local law firm. She joined Situations in 2002, became a Director 6 months later, a Shareholder in 2011 and is also now joint Owner & MD.
• Nadine completed her A Levels at Guernsey Grammar then worked in very responsible HR roles in both the commercial and finance sectors in the UK and Guernsey, during which time she completed the Master’s in HR Management. She joined Situations as a Consultant in 2015 and is now a Director.
• Lisa completed her A Levels and then worked in Securities and Fund Administration, before moving into varied HR and Recruitment roles for 15 years in both the finance and commercial sectors. Lisa became a Situations Consultant in 2016.
• Cath gained a degree in Psychology and her teaching qualification, then worked in Teaching for several years before moving to the GFSC and then joined us in 2018 to oversee our Temp Desk.
• Anna completed her GCSE’s and Secretarial studies at the College of FE before moving into banking roles for several years and she joined us as Office Manager 11 years ago.
• Becky studied Art at the College of FE before moving into retail work and office administration, she then joined Situations in an administrative role in 2014 and has worked her way up to become Digital Officer responsible for the agency’s marketing and online presence.
• Debbie spent most of her career in banking before taking some time out to raise a family and she joined Situations 2 years ago as Bookkeeper.

As you will see from the above, qualifications and backgrounds can differ greatly, but people end up in the same place.  It all adds to a person’s experience and skill set.

Female Board Members

The situation at this Guernsey recruitment agency is very different to the general UK picture though.  According to www.theguardian.com, in 2017 women made up less than a quarter of UK boardrooms - just 22%, however 16% of UK companies have no female board members at all, and it is still rare that a UK company has a female chair or CEO.

On the flip side some good news:  according to www.telegraph.co.uk, in 2018 women held 27.9% of the board positions in FTSE100 firms, which is a great improvement from the 12.5% figure in 2010.

The Guernsey Picture

From a local perspective, the former Women’s Development Forum took great strides in encouraging Guernsey females to fulfill their potential, whether that be by taking up leadership positions in their employment or via the set-up of their own businesses.

Guernsey plc is a great place to do business and has much to offer the local entrepreneur, whether they be female or male, however diversity in gender, race, background or experience can only be a good thing for business.