Women Friendly Leeds Campaign: Shining a Light on Women’s Inequalities – This is Our Normal
Women Friendly Recruiters Checklist Launch and Employability Marketplace
On Thursday 3rd June Women’s Lives Leeds in collaboration with the Labyrinth Project and Smartworks launched the Women Friendly Recruiters Checklist.
Women Friendly Recruiter Checklist
The Covid-19 Leeds Women’s survey revealed that one of women’s main concerns for the future was employment inequality in Leeds. As such, Women Friendly Leeds is campaigning to address employment inequality in the city. One way they have done this is through the creation of the Women Friendly Recruiter checklist, which details 6 considerations employers can adopt to help employment become a more accessible world for women, and consider their needs.
To launch this, WLL VOICES Co-Ordinator, Emily Turner gave a presentation explaining the 6 considerations, alongside some of our ambassadors who spoke on why they believe that the Women Friendly Recruiters Checklist would support them in employment.
The recruiter checklist is a great way to demonstrate employer’s solidarity and support of women and women’s needs. These considerations are a step towards Leeds becoming a Women Friendly City. Through employers considering women’s needs during the recruitment process, women can be empowered to make career choices that suit them and that are healthy for them. However, all six criteria can also be beneficial to everyone, not just women, as employers are asked to consider the benefits of employment gaps, personal experience, and flexible working hours.
Better for women is better for everyone.
Advocates from the Women Friendly Recruiters Checklist have stated:
“I would definitely want to apply for somebody that is a women friendly recruiter, it evidences an understanding of issues that affect women, and it would probably be a nicer organisation to work for”
Employability Market Place
After the presentation, recruiters and HR personnel were invited to sign up to be a Woman Friendly Recruiter.
To follow on from the launch we then hosted an exciting Employability Marketplace that was open for women to browse stalls that could support them in employment. The marketplace buzzed with enthusiasm as stall holders chatted, teas and coffees were poured and everyone nibbled on samosas and Women’s Lives Leeds biscuits made by Bloombakers (a small business started independently by a woman living in Leeds).
Women’s Lives Leeds, Ts Grale and Smartworks also hosted workshops on Confidence Building, Interview Tips and Techniques, and “One I Wish I had Known.” The workshops attracted lots of women to build mood boards, increase their confidence and talk with those within the employment industry.
This was a day of empowerment and inclusivity. Women’s Lives Leeds acknowledges that the barriers into employment is an intersectional issue. As such our aim for the event was to provide attendees with lots of space to discover new and exciting opportunities in education, employment and volunteering in a safe and inclusive environment.
The whole day was met with smiles and chatter as women were able to express their employment struggles and feel empowered to take the next steps towards employment.
Some feedback we received spoke of women feeling as though they had been given opportunities they had never considered, and how the event had helped them build their confidence.
“lovely event with lots of opportunities for women”
wrote one of our attendees
I would like to say a big thank you to the WLL Team, Labryinth and Smartworks for all the hard work that went into creating such a wonderful event, and thank you to all the organisations that hosted stalls, roundtables and signed up to be a Women Friendly Recruiter.
Would you like to be part of our movement and be a Woman Friendly Recruiter? Contact Emily [email protected] to find out more.
