Introducing Mind The Gap

Mind The Gap is a campaign which began at the beginning of 2017 by SThree Group brand, Computer Futures. Initially, it was started as a result of the new gender pay legislation that was coming into place – since then, it’s grown into a valuable programme, promoting diversity and inclusion throughout businesses. Our new campaign lead Amanda Wiper explains what the future holds for Mind The Gap in 2019 and how Progressive Recruitment will benefit…

I couldn’t be more excited to be taking on the challenge of helping to evolve the ‘Mind The Gap’ campaign that’s been such a huge success. Jenny Kelly, the campaign founder of ‘Mind The Gap’, has done an incredible job of bringing the initiative to life over the last two years and it truly is an honour to keep her shoes warm while she’s on maternity leave.

Jenny’s work over the past couple of years has been truly inspiring – she has added value to Computer Futures and I can’t wait to help towards building something that will help our candidates, clients, and our own people across our entire business. ‘Mind The Gap’ provides a space for discussion and gives a platform to issues that impact so many people on a daily basis. Something that grew out of addressing gender pay gap legislation has grown arms and legs and we’re now tackling this along with a wider range of issues for women in business.

I think ‘Mind The Gap’ has been a real success, largely because of its authenticity. In such a short space of time, we’ve been able to bring issues to the table and address topics that really do impact everyone. The events that have come out of ‘Mind The Gap’ have provoked discussion over numerous issues like mentoring, the gender pay gap, leadership, and shared parental leave to name a few. We’re focusing on things that so many people are passionate about. It touches on really important and relevant issues, in such an authentic way and it feels like the natural next step that we expand the initiative so more people across our business can benefit from the great work being done.

With so much success, I clearly have a lot to live up to! At the moment, I’m studying a CIPD in HR and Learning and Development, so I suppose supporting people is a real area of focus for me. I’m really passionate about diversity and inclusion issues in general and really trying to create a fair and mindful space where everyone feels valued and included regardless of gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, or age. I think on a personal level, I find the history of female leadership interesting. We all need to be incredibly thankful to women who twenty years ago really pushed boundaries and were able to achieve leadership positions that probably seemed impossible at the time. Today, although there’s still a long way to go, thankfully there’s so many more opportunities available for women across all industries. I think we really need to remember how far we’ve come in addressing the gender imbalance in the workplace and be thankful to people throughout history who’ve really pushed boundaries and helped us to get on the right path.

Going into 2019 and taking the helm of ‘Mind The Gap’, there are so many areas to address. I do have two main topics that I’d like to focus on. Firstly, I think it’s important to look at support regarding maternity leave in the workplace – I strongly believe that it’s important to put plans in place so that women can develop real strategies to prepare themselves for their return to work post-maternity leave. And I think it’s important that we have real transparency around the topic. Secondly, another thing I’d really like to address is the expansion of female networks and building up internal allies – getting a really strong support network within your organisation is something I think is exceptionally important.

I’m so excited to build on the incredible work we’ve already seen in ‘Mind The Gap’ and hopefully rise to the challenge! There’s so much that could be done and as we allow the initiative to grow I can’t wait to work with a whole host of inspiring people. Together, we can bridge the gap and take this inspiring and incredible initiative to the next level.

Our next event will be taking place in May – keep your eyes peeled!

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