Yesterday we prepared a post for our socials to celebrate the three women in the team at Q2Q to coincide with International Women’s Day. This morning I woke up and decided it wasn’t the right post for us, I need to be authentic,and it just doesn’t resonate with me. Controversial maybe, as I am a woman working in the predominantly male dominated world of Tech?
Hear me out…
I’ve had a successful career to date, and since taking over Q2Q five years ago it has gone from strength to strength, with this past year being our best yet. I measure that success lessfrom the financials, and more from the positive feedback from our clients, the fact that we’re continuing to grow our client base, and the feedback from my amazing team on how much they love working at Q2Q.
Are we successful because I am a woman? Absolutely not!
I’ve interrogated the numbers and found ways to cut unnecessary costs… a man could have done that.
I’ve worked closely with the team to understand their strengths and ensure that they are using them to benefit the team as a whole… a man could have done that.
I’ve looked at our internal processes and ensured that are as streamlined as possible, and that we continuously strive to improve them as the demands change… a man could have done that.
I’ve questioned the “behind the scenes” work that we do for customers to ensure that we’re focused more on preventing issues rather than just fixing them… a man could have done that.
I’ve regularly asked for feedback from our customers to ensure that we’re continuously improving our service standards… a man could have done that.
I’ve updated the website and clarified the voice we use externally to reflect our personality as a team to ensure that our message is authentic… a man could have done that.
I’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that my team feel valued and appreciated… a man could have done that!
I’ve never felt that I needed any special treatment because I am a woman, I’ve never felt I had to prove myself because I am a woman, and I’ve never felt overlooked because I am a woman. I’ve worked full time since I was 16, I’ve been a single parent, am now a step parent, a wife, and a business owner. My husband has also been all those things (not the wife part obviously!!).
Maybe I’ve been lucky, or maybe its because I just don’t see people as “male or female” when it comes to work because I just see everyone as people, with no gender bias, and I’ve never even considered that fact that anyone would treat me differently because I was born with certain anatomical parts!
So, celebrating women because they are women feels odd to me. Yes, we have two other amazing women on my team…
Shannon is proving to be the best Helpdesk Supervisor we’ve ever had at Q2Q (as voted by the team!) because she has the perfect brain and personality for the challenging work required from that role. Not because she is a woman.
Whilst employed to manage our accounts, Sharyn brings a warm and supportive nature to the team, not because she is a woman, that’s just who she is, and I’ve worked with plenty of warm, supportive men.
However, we also have eight amazing men on the team! So,the National Employee Appreciation Day resonated a lot more with me, hence my previous post.
Maybe celebrating women because they are women is a good thing for many, I am just not entirely sure it’s creating equality. It feels like we’re saying “despite the fact that she has a vagina (can I say that on LinkedIn??) she’s still pretty amazing”.
Many women I’ve had the pleasure of working with areincredible, but so are many men. Do I have any female techies on my team? No, but I’ve never had a single CV from a woman sent over when recruiting. Should I be encouraging more women to pursue a career in Tech? Only if that job is something they love and want to do well at! Not because I want to even out the numbers to make it fair.
Maybe I have been in a bubble all my career, or maybe I’ve just always worked on the belief that people are people, they are not their physical vehicle!
