Since the beginning of their diversity, Inclusion and Belonging work many years ago, one of Version 1’s key focuses has been to increase the number of women entering the tech space and thriving within the organisation.
There is a growing emphasis on hiring a diverse workforce in the tech industry, as companies increasingly recognise the benefits of having a diverse team resulting in increased creativity, innovation, and productivity. Version 1 has been a long-term pioneer for this cause and has several initiatives and programs aimed at promoting gender diversity and empowering women in technology. This is driven largely by their Women In Technology (WIT) network which operates on a global and regional scale to provide a platform for women to connect, share experiences, support each other, and instigate change across the organisation and into the wider community.
Beyond what happens internally, Version 1 knows that the impact should not just stay within their company walls. They also put a large focus on community work and over the years have supported events and partnership such as Teenturn, Sister In Girls Who Code, School Reach Out, Women’s ReBoot, sponsoring the Women in Tech Initiative at the Women in Tech Awards and STEM Ambassador Programme to Women in IT.
In recognition of these initiatives, Version 1 was named as Best Workplace™ for Women 2022 By Great Place to Work® for Ireland, UK and India (and have already gained the recognition for Ireland again in 2023). In addition, in 2023, they have notched up 2 additional recognitions, being named a Best Workplace™ UK for Wellbeing by Great Place to Work® , a Best Place to Work™ UK By Glassdoor, and the Number 1 Best Large Company at Great Place to Work Ireland. These recognitions are great, but it’s the work that goes on behind closed doors that allows this success. They are a Bronze level Diversity Mark NI Awardee, and an Investors in Diversity Silver Level Awardee in Ireland. Both of these partnerships help their accountability and strategic direction into the future.
Having initially launched WIT in Northern Ireland, the WIT team was then rolled out globally and this year the Global WIT team celebrated its first anniversary in Ireland, Spain, UK and India.
Some of the internal initiatives they have been driving are: Menopause support, Fertility session , Fireside chats, Work experience for girls, Health and financial wellbeing.
Version 1’s Women in tech Lead Honey-Bell Oke commented: “The launch of our global Women in Tech Network has been a resounding success. We now have leads for each of the regions we are present in to ensure that we are giving the right support to our women, personalising it to their wants and needs. We want to ensure that all our women have access to support, not just in their careers but on a personal level, and this network continues to do both. We have an incredible bunch of women across our organisation, and when we all get together it’s nothing short of inspiring.”
Sync NI spoke with a few of the WIT global leads continuing the work that originally started in the UK and has been successfully deployed globally across the entire business.
Dana Law has been a Business Applications Consultant with the company for over 5 years now and is currently the Women in tech lead in Dublin and was originally inspired to join Version 1 because of this very culture. Dana is passionate about supporting not just women already working in tech, but also women who aspire to enter the industry. She was keen to emphasise that the tech industry is made up of a multitude of disciplines and transferable skills – testing, project management, business analysis, business support, data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud; the list could go on for days! She was drawn to the WIT as it was led by a group of women in Version 1 ‘who genuinely want to drive an inclusive and equitable environment – and having this network and support around really makes it a joyful group to be part of’.
It is indeed Version 1’s company values that also attracted WIT Cork lead Marion Cummins, a Senior Bid and Proposals Manager with over 15 years experience. Marion was drawn to lead the initiative in Cork like her global counterparts to benefit from ‘a friendly group of inspirational women who help, empower and encourage each other to be the best they can be.’
Aside from regular coffee mornings and monthly social meet ups, they have organised a number of events, including Drink and Draw, Fireside Chats regarding Resilience, Mindfulness talks, and a week’s STEM module with Teen Turn Ireland, an organisation that works with girls from underserved areas to gain STEM experience.
When asked about how these events have made a difference within the wider industry, Marion says: “The key takeaways when running these events has been a common theme regardless of geography and the message is uniform: it’s our differences that make us unique.” Dana stated: ”Inclusivity and change can only come with intentionality and an action plan – and I’ve seen Version 1 put in the work and make a sincere effort in increasing the sense of belonging in its culture”.
Looking beyond the shores of the UK and Ireland, we also managed to get an idea of how the WIT initiative was working further afield and caught up with the Malaga Spain WIT lead Viktoria Brandstadter, who for the last 3 years has worked as a software developer test. Also attracted to Version 1’s core values, Viktoria recognised how much the group has helped support her colleagues in Spain. After each of the sessions, Viktoria felt her teams always felt much more motivated and it was a great opportunity for everyone to share their experiences in an informal and relaxed environment, providing practical and emotional support to develop their careers within the business.
For those thinking about or considering a career in tech, Viktoria pointed out that ‘Lots of endurance is needed, but the job is extremely rewarding. Everyone works as a team, so if you stick to your guns and don’t give up, you will reach your goal, you can make it in the end, even if at the beginning it seemed like finding a needle in a haystack’.
Version 1 has a great variety of people and cultures, which makes the organisation what it is, and encourages people to be themselves and “bring their difference’.
Version 1 is continuing their growth within our Tech Sector, with numerous open roles that are both tech and non-tech focused.
To get to know more about Women in tech at Version 1, visit: www.version1.com/careers/women-at-version-1/
Or, to see what roles are available, visit: www.version1.com/careers/
