Fern

I used to work for an airline as cabin crew. I flew around the world for 15 years and ended up as a cabin crew trainer. It got to the point where the work dominated my entire life, so I stopped flying in 2019 and explored other training-based roles, knowing that was what I wanted to pursue. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic I was made redundant. And, to be honest, I struggled both personally and professionally during that time. But I knew I wanted to work in learning and development, and eventually found a role at an apprenticeship provider, which gave me the foundations for apprenticeship management, alongside my experience in training. Come February 2023, I joined Bellrock, and, so far, it’s been a great experience. We’ve been working alongside Huddersfield University to develop and deliver CMI level five courses, and have also put an ED&I course together, to name a couple of achievements.

I’ve always enjoyed the training aspect of my roles. I enjoy helping people and seeing how they progress. Knowing you played a part in someone’s development is really rewarding. But it’s more than that. I also really love working with people, and the scope of different skill sets, backgrounds, and personalities in FM is massive. I’m based at home, so the opportunity this role offers in being able to meet face to face on a regular basis, putting faces to names, and actually talking to people, makes the job all the more enjoyable.

At Bellrock, yes. Some of the amazing women and leaders we have in the company are not just brilliant at what they do, but also just as people. In many ways that’s a testament to the culture of the company. They don’t try to put people in boxes. They consider how good you are, not what you are.

For young women in FM, I think it’s important to have female leaders to look up to. Something I’ve learned about Gen Z is that they want to see somebody who they can relate to sitting on a board. We’re not quite there yet in some cases, but we’re heading in the right direction.

One thing I think companies should really consider is implementing mandatory DE&I training as part of inductions, much like you have with health and safety or GDPR. Having recently put together and delivered a DE&I course, it became quite clear that the knowledge gap is significant. A lot of the information was brand new to people, and mandatory training would provide at least a base level of understanding and awareness. This could include looking at what DE&I means, why it’s important, as well as protected characteristics and the fact that everyone is covered by at least one of these. It could also focus on discrimination and harassment, unconscious bias, microaggressions, and allyship.

This question is timely, given we’ve just launched our first graduate programme. We’ve taken on three grads for the management programme, two of which are women. And we’ll also be taking four grads on the technical programme – two women and two men. Striking that balance while still having exceptional individuals was a huge focus for me, particularly on the technical programme given it’s typically a more male dominated field. We’re really proud of the mix we have and the candidates we’ve selected are brilliant talents. In terms of advice for young people starting out in the sector, I’d say just be yourself. Be confident in your abilities – if you focus on unlocking your full potential then you’ll be able to bring as much to the table as anyone else.