Enhance your career without sacrificing yourself

Day two of the Computing Women in Tech Festival brought together a diverse range of informative, innovative, and inspiring women. Each is committed to increasing the proportion of women currently occupying roles in the STEM sector. Mark, despite great efforts to increase diversity.

Amy Taaffe Evans, Head of IT Control for DVLA, delivered the keynote titled “I’m Every Woman: Realizing Your Career Ambitions While Satisfying Your Personal Ambitions.”

Taaffe Evan’s role within DVLA is a complex and multi-faceted job as it is people-centric. Her and her team’s focus is to provide an environment in which growth mindsets can flourish. It’s a great place to work and one where the talent pipeline is healthy and well maintained.

In addition to her professional responsibilities, Taaffe Evans is also the mother of two teenage daughters and a well-groomed dog. The difficulty inherent in balancing all these elements of this equation resonated with the audience. I was protecting

“It can be difficult to be kind to yourself and put your own needs first when it comes to making sure others’ needs are met.

That challenge of maintaining physical and mental health while supporting everyone around us is also very relevant. In their capacity as daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers, women end up absorbing the emotions of everyone around them, especially in times of crisis, and it can take its toll.

A few years ago, a close relative of Taaffe Evans contracted two very serious illnesses within a short period of time. The pressures of caring for her seriously ill mother and siblings, combined with the challenges inherent in raising young children and working a full shift, made it an incredibly difficult time. Although I often traveled overnight between my home in Ireland and Wales for the game, I always felt the need to arrive at work with the face of the game intact.

“I felt pressure to be superhuman, not because my employer or my own leadership chain made me feel that way, but because I had unrealistic expectations about where my tipping point was. I ignored the fact that I could “fill from an empty cup. I hid much of what I was doing and its implications. I ignored most of it. Time to rest, refresh, or check inventory. After a few weeks, shocked and grief-stricken, I crashed. Did.

Sadly the experience is by no means unique. Many women, especially those working at a fairly senior level, have absorbed the message that somehow intruding in the home on a work day is somehow unprofessional. The pandemic has been leveled in that regard, as the family of a colleague showed its existence for the first time.

wellbeing is important

Taaffe Evans found herself coming to terms with the immense tension she was actually being put to, but ultimately found reflection to be a very positive exercise. rice field. It’s not just her.

“I had the opportunity to think about the type of leader I wanted to be and the type of organization I wanted to be a part of. I asked myself, my team, and my colleagues if I was leading with integrity and investing in people. I am able to provide meaningful support and guidance on any topic, whether professional development or personal growth, not only in terms of their professional development, but also in terms of knowing them on a deeper level. will be

“Are we really fostering positivity and encouraging dialogue? We were adopting a positive growth mindset, but perhaps we weren’t practicing it the way we were. How do we advocate the importance of happiness and let people know about our approach?”

The team at Taaffe Evans developed a series of wellbeing-centric initiatives and faced a rigorous test of them with the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020. The natural mental and physical breaks that normally occur in the office were abruptly absent from our workdays, resulting in an “always on” remote working model.

A number of initiatives and campaigns have been implemented to encourage staff to maintain balance, and these have since been incorporated into the wider organisation. Employee surveys conducted on a regular basis show much higher levels of satisfaction in four key areas: leading with integrity, investing in people, advocating for well-being, and cultivating positivity. is recorded.

However, finding work-life balance is not a “one time” task. The elements are constantly evolving, and Taaffe Evans says they are evolving with it.

“Maintaining balance is an ongoing challenge for me. It has to be worked on and re-evaluated on a regular basis, but it is important to be aware of it. It’s very important to have an open conversation with yourself about what you have and where you need to adjust: you need support and seek that support before feelings of overwhelm start to build.

“Managing your own expectations of yourself is important before communicating and managing the expectations of others.”