Our Performance Energy on International Women’s Day
By Kate Dee, People Director, Bupa A&NZ.
Earlier this week, as I prepared for an upcoming International Women’s Day panel, I found myself pondering how I might support my three beautiful daughters when they begin job-hunting.
The train of thought when something like this…
What should they look for in an employer?
How can they tell if a business is committed to the advancement of women in the workplace?
What red-flags should they look out for?
Why am I daydreaming instead of preparing for this panel?!
Allowing myself to future-gaze a few moments longer, I imagined them thriving in a society that continues to make significant and positive regulatory advancements in workplace equality and inclusiveness. I also imagined them seeking out businesses that support their life and work-preferences.
I found myself reflecting, that to help my daughters find such an employer, I will simply encourage them to ask the interviewer a human question and see if they get a genuine human response.
This is why when I began interviewing for a role at Bupa, I was beyond delighted to be presented with the concept of Performance Energy. Rather than focusing on what an individual needs to succeed at work in a traditional sense (a mentor, incentives, training, etc.); Performance Energy takes a human approach and seeks to understand what life-choices a workplace needs to support to enable that individual to be at their best, and where we will not compromise.
What are your ‘non-negotiables’ that need to happen each week, for you to be at your best?
Time with family? Exercise? Social time with friends?
This life-positive philosophy enables Bupa’s diverse workforce to be supported with genuine compassion and understanding - promoting the very essence of the word ‘human’ in Human Resources. As a HR practitioner, I fell in love with Performance Energy immediately, and I’m pleased to say the two of us are still going strong.
Breaking out of this contemplative-state, I gazed at my daughters feeling optimistic that they will each forge their career-paths; safe in the knowledge that their unique Performance Energies will be supported and celebrated by employers, friends and family alike.
I hope you all enjoy a happy and meaningful International Women’s Day; however you choose to celebrate it!
