EY POWER Up event connects Jersey women to accelerate their careers

The EY Power Up event reached full capacity, was dedicated to empowering women in management positions and those who play a pivotal role in mentoring and sponsoring the professional growth of others.

The EY POWER Up programme is part of EY's Women. Fast Forward platform, which is a cornerstone in their commitment to advancing gender parity. The event was led by Natasa Nikolic, EY’s EMEIA Women. Fast Forward Leader, alongside facilitators Margo Blondel, CI Marketing and Business Development Director, and Nicoline Armatas, Assurance Senior Manager, and featured interactive exercises and stimulating table discussions, designed to boost participant involvement and develop key leadership competencies.

EY POWER Up is an experience led programme designed to bolster the skills, knowledge, and capabilities essential for women to project authentic confidence, manage their careers intentionally, broaden their networks, and enhance communication. The programme’s aim is to break down the barriers to gender equity and explore the key behaviours that drive powerful communication, accelerate success and overcome self-limiting behaviours to help women realise their potential.

The audience heard from spotlight speaker Kathryn Purves, CEO of Aztec Group, as she shared her top tips for projecting confidence and taking control of your career.

Kathryn shared: “For me, confidence comes when you are comfortable with who you are and what you want from your life. When I think about what has helped me build my confidence throughout my career, having great mentors and allies has been so important. On average, women will only apply for jobs when they meet 80% of the requirements and will often wait to be nudged or asked to take on a new role or promotion. Having a mentor that will push you when you don’t feel you’re at 80% and encourage you to ask questions and join conversations is instrumental in building confidence.

“Being authentic and trusting in the value that your unique views and skill set can bring is also important, and finding small things that work for you and help you to do your job to the best of your ability all help to build authentic confidence.”

Anne-Marie Robinson, EY Tax Senior Manager and the second spotlight speaker of the evening, went on to discuss the importance of building your network for developing your career. Anne-Marie has recently returned to Jersey from a secondment in London, where she was Chief of Staff to EY’s EMEIA Financial Services Regional Managing Partner, Omar Ali.

Anne-Marie explained how the role would have been extremely challenging without a network of people around her: “When I first took on the role, I tried to do it all on my own, but it became very clear very early on that I needed support and connections to make things happen. As time went on, I attended networking events and conferences and reached out to people, both within EY and externally, and built connections and developed relationships. It became clear to me during this time how willing people are to help you and see you succeed.

“For anyone who is unsure about networking or where to start, I would encourage everyone to be proactive and build connections with people from as many different levels and backgrounds as possible. It’s also important to remember that expanding your network and building relationships really is a two-way street; it’s not just what you can get from your relationships, but what value you can give to others.”

The event concluded with the final spotlight speaker, Debbie Reeve, Co-Head of Client Onboarding at Aztec Group, sharing her experiences of the power of effective communication when managing teams.

Debbie concluded the event by saying: “With any communication, it’s important to be transparent, proactive rather than reactive (where possible), to tailor the message depending on audience and make sure you are using the right channel. Communication in a coaching environment can be used to playback messages as a way to ‘hold a mirror up’ to those you are coaching, but also to hold the space to give them enough time to come to their own conclusions; powerful communication skills can be through holding the silence as much as through active dialogue.

“My key takeaways to anyone leading a team are to be consistent with your communication, do the things you say you will, be willing to listen and act on any feedback you receive and use your communication skills to empower others around you. Using communication effectively will help to build trust and confidence in you as a leader and ultimately elevate your teams.”

The EY POWER Up event concluded successfully, leaving attendees with practical tools for leadership and career progression. Participants were encouraged to arrange follow-up meetings with the women on their tables to discuss and hold each other accountable for applying the lessons learned from the EY POWER Up experience. For those looking to attend similar events and support gender parity in Jersey, please email eychannelislands@uk.ey.com.

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