Una's blog

Congratulations Jane Farrell

by Mark Rowe

Jane Farrell, pictured, FM Development Manager, Sodexo UK & Ireland, celebrated International Women’s Day with a successful night at the Northern Power Women Awards, writes Una Riley.

Jane won the Transformational Leader award for her gender diversity work in the security industry. I have witnessed her tireless commitment to the gender balance within her own company which has resulted in Sodexo being listed in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women for the last three years. However, her quest does not stop at Sodexo’s door. She is a champion for WiS [the annual Women in Security awards] and her influence extends to the wider world of security. She is involved with industry bodes, a member of the WCoSP and a freeman of the City of London. Jane was a recipient of the PSM-WiS Award in 2013.

In November, last year Sodexo announced its gender pay gap, one of the first organisations of its size to do so. Sodexo’s gender pay gap is less than half the Office of National Statistics national average; and that’s only the start. The company’s global research shows gender balanced management teams outperform those without across a range of business drivers. In 2016 their Global Diversity and Inclusion Report shows global senior executives are 30 per cent women. Global CEO Michel Landel has set a target to increase that figure to 40 per cent by 2025; with Jane on side I believe that target will be met.

Jane joined Sodexo in 1982 and whilst balancing the upbringing of her family, continued a fulfilling career with Sodexo and external security industry associations. Her passion is for developing people to their full potential and mentoring women to raise their profiles in the world of security and other sectors of the FM family. It was a male colleague who nominated Jane for her work carried out promoting women in security in the north of the country; recognising women working in prisons through the Women in Security awards and upskilling women in security roles while also mentoring Diane Gleeson (based in Manchester) to become the 2016 Rising Star for Sodexo UK & Ireland.

When Jane was shortlisted for a Northern Power Women award I asked how it felt. She said: ‘I was delighted to be nominated because the award recognises the work, dedication and commitment for encouraging women to believe in themselves and become successful in industries often dominated by male colleagues. When I was shortlisted for a Northern Power Women award I was so happy because one of my proudest moments of 2016 was to see Diane Gleeson walk away with the national Sodexo 2016 Rising Star award at last year’s star awards. I saw potential in Diane when I first interviewed her and mentored her to learn about a completely new industry which is male dominated and watched her succeed.”

I recently caught up with Jane again and asked how she felt now that she had won. She said: “I really was surprised to win the award against such tough and inspiring competition but the security industry is close to my heart and still struggles to attract women in an industry dominated by men. The Northern Power Women’s award for the Transformational Leader category has focused and created awareness in wider industries, in which security plays such an important part in our world and values. I want to encourage more women to be attracted to the security industry as a career of choice. I am over the moon at this success.”

Jane is unstoppable when it comes to WiS within her company. From when she created a woman in security network, an industry which only has 8pc female representation, to drive the increase of women in security within Sodexo to 16pc and increase awareness of the security industry to women through training. She has raised the profile of 19 female officers through the PSM-WiS Awards over three years. That is the sort of commitment we want from wider world of security companies. Jane is a former speaker at the Security Industry Authority Diversity conference promoting Sodexo’s success in promoting women in security and an active member of Sodexo’s womenwork leadership team to promote equality in the workplace. However, it is her mentoring that I know she takes great pride in; the proof is in the pudding as mentioned, resulting in Diane Gleeson becoming the recipient of the National Rising Star Award 2016.

I asked what she’s involved and engaged in outside of her regular role? Jane replied: “I facilitate events for women in security to widen their knowledge outside the normal scope of their role eg. site visit to Forest Bank Prison where we engaged with women working in the prison sector. A lot of my contribution is completed outside my working hours.” Jane went on: “I want to expand the mentoring role and continue building Sodexo Women in security with an aim to increase female security roles to 20 per cent by 2018.” I can’t express how happy I am to see women like Jane working within the security profession to progress the role of women and to attain the recognition they deserve for their contribution to our industry. Congratulations.

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