Celebrating International Women’s Day at ISS - #ISSGreatInfluencer

Employees were asked to think about the women in ISS who have had a great influence on them and share it using the hashtag: #ISSGreatInfluencer. The idea was based on paying a simple act of kindness forward and doing a great deed to make a difference to someone’s day.

Stephanie Hamilton, Head of People and Culture was first to start the trend by nominating her #ISSGreatInfluencer. She said:

‘I am so excited to see your #ISSGreatInfluencers and celebrate these women on International Women’s Day, I work with many fantastic role models and people who inspire and influence me to be better. I would like to choose Lucy Ingham as my #ISSGreatInfluencer. Lucy works in IT and has been working tirelessly alongside the other members of the IT team to support the recent system outage. Organised, smart, tough and capable of thinking on her feet in circumstance that is so unusual, I think she is awesome.’

Stephanie also urged employees to make the difference by supporting an external social enterprise organisation called @rockingurteens who aim to equip young people with the skills that future leaders need. For International Women’s Day, @rockingurteens wanted to empower young women aged 13-14 by asking for volunteers to write inspiring, motivational letters to young women.

We were delighted that many employees took part by nominating their #ISSGreatInfluencer and why they are important. Here are just a few:

• Aidan Bell, COO Key Accounts 1 and Executive Sponsor of our ‘Building a diverse and inclusive culture’ pillar of ThinkForward@ISS has chosen Wam Dawson as his #ISSGreatInfluencer 

"Wam inspires me in the way that she approached work, dedicated, organised & caring. She is a real team player who supports all of us all, giving advice and direction in equal measure making sure we really do look after our people!"

• Kelly Holt has chosen Linda Cregan as her #ISSGreatInfluencer 

“Linda works primarily for the education business in a very busy role, but she is leading the charge to develop the health and wellbeing strategy for the whole of Food Services. Positive, professional and knowledgeable, Linda goes above and beyond, and really wants catering across ISS to be market leading and is fully willing to make it happen! A pleasure to work with and gets the job done!” 

• Jade Atherton has chosen Rebecca Balson as her #ISSGreatInfluencer

“During 2019 here hard work has helped me develop by own career into bid management. She has taken the time to go through processes, create a training plan and shadow me while working on a bid. She always has a positive attitude, and nothing has been too much for her to help me with. Perfect role model.”

• Wendy Gregory has chosen Kat Crockford as her #ISSGreatInfluencer

“Kat has been and continues to be a big part of my ISS journey – in fact she is one of the main reasons I chose to join ISS nearly two years ago. Kat is an inspiration to me and to those who work with her, as a woman, a parent (with a huge amount of interests and volunteering commitments outside of work), and a senior member of our SLT. She is hugely positive, always insightful, supportive and I’m proud to work alongside her.”
 
International Women’s Day also saw ISS employees doing many inspiring activities to celebrate women including volunteering at Sarah Bonnell Girls’ school in East London. A group of ISS employees met nearly 100 Y9 students to deliver interactive sessions, sharing careers advice and their personal journeys to inspire the next generation of women.  Special thanks to Ben Bolt, Mell Luff, Anastazja Maik, Saffi Haines, Siobhan Riordan and Catherine McCarthy.  

The visit resulted in some amazing feedback from the students: 

• "Women can change the world"
• "It was really useful for getting prepared for future jobs"
• "It helped me to choose my pathway".
• "That you can be anything you want whenever you want. The only limits that are set for you are made by you"
• "That l can be successful"
• "That you should take advantage of every opportunity I get and try different things to see what I like and enjoy"
• "That you should always choose what is best for you and it's not about what others think you should do"

The Financial Services and Retail Sector hosted a business briefing to its top 50 Managers which included presentations from three of their inspirational female leaders.
ISS was proud to be part of the movement to celebrate many inspirational women. 

#EachForEqual