Following Bonny, next up for this year’s IWD Q&A is our QHS Co-ordinator, Rachel Hall. Rachel began her career at Slicker Recycling in 2016 as part of the Customer Service Team and moved into the HSEQ team in 2020. She recently achieved her NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety which has added to her confidence.
Hi Rachel, thanks so much for joining us and taking part. It’s great to have you here. The first question I’d like to ask is about inclusion, this year’s IWD main theme. What does inclusion mean to you as a professional?
Thank you for asking me. It’s great that we are doing this and it’s fantastic to take part. I think to me inclusion is all about being recognised as part of a team, as everyone has skills and ideas to bring. We are all equally important as the next person, male or female, and shouldn’t be limited or restricted by gender.
That’s a great way to look at it. What more do you think can be done to improve female inclusion in the workplace?
That’s a tough one to answer, although as a teenager and as a graduate working several Saturday jobs, I’ve experienced bias against me for being female. However, I have also seen huge improvements over the years with women making more headway in business and politics.
Annual events like this will hopefully give more women who feel that they are not included a voice and believe they can stand up and be heard. There needs to be a general acceptance of people and diverse roles that they can all play. I know this doesn’t answer the question, but it’s part of the bigger picture, it’s not about being female or male anymore, it’s about full inclusion.
Not at all, it’s a really interesting answer. Staying on that theme, and something we’re asking everyone,
what is done here at Slicker Recycling to ensure balance and female inclusion?
I think we have a good balance across the business overall with a nice split between office and technical staff. We also have a female joint MD, along with a female Financial Director who is currently on maternity leave. Both ladies are highly respected within the company and the industry and I am sure that helps towards inspiring other females to follow their dreams. We also have a number of female managers across the company, including Laura Pettican as Transport Planning manager, Bonny Crayden as Site manager for Kingsnorth, and Kira Allen as the Lab manager based in Hull.
There’s a great list of names there. And what will you be doing to play your part this year in promoting female achievement, or pushing back against bias or discrimination?
Just continue to play my part in helping others. We have a new member of the HSEQ team joining us who happens to be female. She is exciting, energetic, and passionate and I am looking forward to welcoming her to the Slicker family and helping her to settle and grow into the role and really learn - in the same way the company has allowed me to.
And now for the last and probably most popular question. Can you tell us which female has inspired you in the past 12 months?
Gosh, I have three, is that ok??
Firstly, that would be my daughter who has been diagnosed with ADHD. She has discovered so much about herself in the last several years, but in the last 12 months, she has acknowledged that she wants to change her path in life and has taken a leap of faith, dropped her course, and is now finding a new direction. Her ADHD diagnosis has given her the tools to rediscover herself, but I’ve always known she had this power and I’m full of joy that she’s found it.
I would also like to give a special mention to my best friend, whom I’ve known for over 30 years. We’ve been through highs and lows, separately and together, but although we’ve been separated by continents, and sometimes not spoken for months, even years, she is my rock. She’s had a turbulent year when mine has been relatively calm and yet, she’s always there for me – we all need a calming voice when the storm hits.
My final inspirational woman would be Slicker’s very own Alison Lake. Alison took a leap of faith in me and believed in me even though I knew nothing of the waste industry. She supported me for three years and was in fact the one who encouraged me to move to HSEQ when the opportunity arose. As a working mother, it's sometimes difficult trying to balance both professional and personal life, but Alison always understood which I appreciated so much.
For more on International Women’s Day 2024, you can visit the website through https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
