Seven women from UM Group attended International Women’s Day Conference & Exhibition, held at Millennium Point in Birmingham.

The event, which took place at the end of February ahead of IWD tomorrow (March 8), formed part of the global celebrations “to accelerate action to collectively forge a more inclusive world for women”.

A packed schedule of panel discussions at Millennium Point covered topics including breaking unconscious bias, the importance of mentors and sponsors, understanding neurodiversity and improving equity, diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

Those taking part from UM were Felicity White, Rebecca Lee, Isabel Conde, Laurianne Wilson, Vicki Brough, Marcela Lopez and Agnieszka Sriskanthan-Reksa.

Vicki, UM Group’s HR Manager, said: “There were a lot of interesting and thought-provoking sessions throughout the day. The issue of unconscious bias is one that has always interested me and one I think we need to raise more awareness of, particularly when recruiting or promoting within an organisation.

“There may be a perception that women are somehow not as committed as male colleagues if they don’t come in early, stay late or go for office drinks because of caring responsibilities etc., and looking at unconscious bias explores these beliefs that we may not even realise we hold.”

Laurianne, European Commercial Director at Andean Life, part of UM Group, added: “And this is not just a male thing. Women can also be guilty of unconscious bias too.”

Felicity, UM Customer Support & Quality Assurance Manager, said that marking IWD was still as important as ever, but the topics being discussed and debated had changed over the years to remain relevant.

She said: “The discussion about neurodiversity is a good example of how IWD has continued to evolve, highlighting how the condition can present itself in different ways, sometimes through external behaviour, but also sometimes through internal behaviour too.

“The panel reinforced the message that it’s so important to understand everyone as an individual and that how someone acts and thinks differs from person to person.”

Laurianne said: “The role of IWD has evolved. It used to be much more about women inspiring women and encouraging the younger generation of women. This remains hugely important, but there is also more of a recognition of the importance of having male colleagues as allies and that we want to be part of an equal society.”

Vicki added: “We need to put more emphasis on men and women encouraging each other and that it’s only by working together that you can truly change culture. The role of mentors and sponsors, and the difference between the two, was something that came up in various panels during the day."

The IWD event at Millennium Point was attended by around 1,000 delegates, predominantly female, but also with a significant proportion of men, several of whom took part in the various discussions.

Rebecca, UM Group Environmental, Health & Safety Manager, said: “It was good to hear what other businesses are doing to support women in the workplace and some of the different ideas, in areas such as diversity and inclusivity, that are being put forward.

“While there is always more work that can be done in any organisation, the day highlighted that UM Group is already doing a lot of very positive things to ensure equity between men and women.”

Vicki said that UM would be incorporating some of the learnings from the event, for example around neurodiversity, in its training package for managers.