Case Study: prioritising talent to open up opportunities to women

This leading infrastructure services and engineering company identified the Women@Amey network to attract and retain women in a male-dominated industry.

Amey Plc
Year awarded 2023
Region London
Size 1000+ employees
Sector Construction and engineering

“A great opportunity to meet like-minded women across the business who support each other”

Programme Participant, Women@Amey

Amey is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce that is truly representative. Conscious that infrastructure and engineering sectors are typically seen as male dominated, the organisation created the Women@Amey network in 2016 to attract and retain female employees and provide support and development at all levels.

The Women@Amey network identified that alongside the challenges faced by women working in STEM, there were also significantly less women in senior leadership roles at Amey. In 2016 there were 25% female employees, and women made up 14% of senior leadership roles. In response to this – and to address a wider business objective of increasing female representation across the business to 33% by 2025 – the network committed to designing a leadership programme aimed at women who had the potential to become a senior leader.

Programme Participants at St James’ Palace for the 2023 Award Ceremony

In order to determine what potential learners wanted, the Women@Amey network surveyed potential participants which helped to form the framework of the new programme. Responses included a focus on confidence, visibility, commercial and strategic skills and an awareness of career development opportunities. The first cohort ran in 2017 with 15 participants and the programme included a range of development opportunities from mentoring and job shadowing to presenting to the Senior Management Team and working on a bid or mobilisation. The level of peer support has also been highlighted as a USP of the programme with one participant confirming that it’s “a great opportunity to meet like-minded women across the business who support each other.”

Learnings from the first cohort were used to further develop the programme, ensuring that there was continuous feedback and improvement. Changes have included expanding the scope of potential applicants and extending the programme length from 12 to 18 months, both of which have allowed for greater diversity on the programme. As part of the application process, there is also a written application and this is anonymised to ensure that the selection process is free from unconscious bias.

Louise Ramos, Talent Partner, receiving their Award from HRH

One of the ways in which Amey is measuring the success of the programme is whether it is reaching its targets. The organisation set a target of 70% of participants achieving a promotion, role stretch or lateral move during or within a year of completion.

From the start of the programme to the completion of the last cohort, 77% participants have achieved a lateral move or promotion.

Furthermore four former participants have since been promoted to the senior leadership team. Programme success has also had a positive impact on the wider business; in 2023 30% of Amey’s employee make-up was female and there were 18% of women in senior leadership roles within the business.

A former programme participant who joined Amey as a graduate and is now an Account Director said:

“The programme was not only good for building a support network, but also enabled me to raise my profile and engage with senior managers across different business units. I have learned to take a more strategic approach and build a strong team.”

Amey has recently launched a Multicultural Leadership Development programme which utilises a lot of the successes of the Women in Leadership programme. As Amey’s L&D Partner Richard Higgs confirms:

“One of the greatest strengths of the Women in Leadership programme is its flexibility. We are replicating many of its innovative and supportive elements to further embed our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy at Amey through the launch of our new Multicultural Leadership programme which we hope will also go on to achieve a Princess Royal Training Award.”