Offer career development to attract more women, recruiters told

Recruitment firms operating in male dominated fields can attract more female professionals if they demonstrate clearer career progression and provide requisite training, according to One Way.

The specialist construction and rail recruiter, which has been vocal about the need to address the gender imbalance in construction, has highlighted that a lack of training and structured promotion opportunities is putting top talent off a career in recruitment.

Emma Davis, Associate Director at One Way, is one such example of a female recruiter who had been deterred by a lack of career structure. She explained her story:

“When I began my career in construction recruitment I struggled as I didn’t have access to training that would not only help me perfect my hiring skills, but also my knowledge of the construction industry. When you add this to a lack of obvious career progression, it might come as no surprise that I was put off construction recruitment in general.

“However, following some persuasion from a rec-to-rec hirer, I went for an interview with One Way and was instantly put back on track. After meeting with the managing director it was clear that the company really valued its team members and would put me through the necessary recruitment and construction training. The latter option enabled me to expand my credibility within the industry and put me in a much stronger position when dealing with clients and candidates alike.”

Paul Payne, Managing Director of One Way, added: “If firms want to increase diversity in their company they need to review their training and development opportunities to ensure they appeal to everyone. Stories like Emma’s are quite common in recruitment, but for firms operating in male dominated industries, attracting some of the best female recruiters will only be made all the more difficult if they cannot demonstrate the potential to develop a career in their business and the support they will offer to help staff achieve this.”

Since joining the firm eight years ago, Emma has worked her way up from a trainee to Associate Director, successfully opening and expanding an office in Greater London and developing her own team.

“As I moved into a more senior position I was given full support to develop my people management skills, including mentoring from the senior teams. This enabled me to really grow professionally and successfully build a well-structured team” Emma adds.