Recognition Holds Value for Women Regardless of Career Stage

By Katie Smith-Parent, Executive Director, Young Women in Energy (YWE) and Co-Founder and Board Director of Axis Connects and the Calgary Influential Women in Business (CIWB) Awards

As I reflect on last week's Calgary Influential Women in Business (CIWB) Awards, and last month's YWE Awards Reception, I know the common denominator is that recognition is critically important at every single stage of a career, especially for women, and wanted to share my musings.

Why Recognition?

How women are influenced personally, professionally and socially plays heavily into their desire to reach their full potential. Recognition, or the act of recognizing someone’s contribution or value is an appreciated act of effective praise for a job well done. Getting recognized for professional accomplishments seems to be (to me) a key driver in future success.

Recognition can be as simple as a thoughtful e-mail or high-five all the way to how Young Women in Energy (YWE) and Axis Connects choose to recognize their respective award recipients, by bestowing an award on an individual to reward them for either trailblazing a path or challenging the status quo.

Early Career Recognition

Early in a woman’s career, recognition can:

Boost Confidence: Recognition helps young women acknowledge their accomplishments and build their self-esteem and confidence, both of which are essential for personal and professional growth

Encourage Success: Being recognized for their contributions can encourage women to continue working hard, challenging the status quo, taking risks and striving for more success in their careers. Hopefully it incentivizes them to set higher goals and strive for excellence.

Tame Imposter Syndrome: Being recognized ensures women feel valued, appreciated and motivated to do their best; often at a time when imposter syndrome, or the feeling of ?'do I really deserve to be here' hits home.

Increase Visibility: Recognition increases the visibility of women's work, highlighting their potential and talent, and opening up opportunities for future growth.

Overcome Gender Biases: Recognition can help overcome gender biases in the workplace, promote gender equality, and create a level playing field for women as more people see successful women, the less 'rare' it feels.

The Next Generation of Energy Leaders

YWE believes that young women have the power to change the energy industry for the better.

Our flagship program is our Awards program, that recognizes and rewards ten (10) young women every year who are working to challenge the status quo and push the Energy industry forward. Since 2014, YWE has recognized more than 90 young women, specifically highlighting the variety of jobs available in the industry, and the intersectionality of stepping into different spaces to spotlight the next generation of talent.?Last month we hosted our 2022 YWE Awards event, celebrating the latest cohort of women ‘changing the face of energy’.

The ten (10) women who won this year’s award include:

·??????Ali Arnell, Director, Assurance, PWC

·??????Dani Urton, Director, Energy Transition & Climate Change, Vertex Resource Group Ltd.

·??????Farheen Akbar, Project Engineer, Vista Projects

·??????Isabelle Varney, General Manager, Maintenance & Reliability, Base Plant Upgrading, Suncor

·??????Jessica Shumlich, CEO, Highwood Emissions

·??????Kaitlyn Gammon, Project Manager - Hydrogen, Certarus

·??????Laura Pysyk, Senior Engineer Hydrogen Projects, ATCO Gas

·??????Lindsay Morgan, Manager, Commercial Marketing, Athabasca Oil Corporation

·??????Megan Gill, Manager, Regulatory, Capital Power and Founder of Repowered Leadership

·??????Shafak Sajid, Senior Advisor, Indigenous and Community Relationships, Pathways Alliance

Hopefully, these award recipients, and the awards alumni before them, feel that this award creates or continues a positive cycle of success, confidence, and motivation. Through a survey of previous Awards Alumni, we know that after winning their award, more than 72% were promoted, 55% pursued additional education, and less than 10% left the Energy industry in the nine years we’ve hosted this event. This proves that recognition earlier in your career has significant benefits to the individual, the company and the community.

Established Career Recognition

At a more senior-level, recognition accomplishes the above reasons, but additionally can:

Increase Visibility and Representation: Women continue to be underrepresented in executive positions, and recognition can help increase their visibility and representation in these roles. This can lead to more opportunities for advancement and inspire other women to pursue leadership positions.

Validate their Leadership: Female executives may face additional scrutiny and bias in the workplace, and recognition can validate their leadership and accomplishments. This can help counteract negative stereotypes and biases that may exist.

Enhance Credibility: Recognition from colleagues, peers, and industry leaders can enhance a female executive's credibility and reputation. This can help build trust and respect among stakeholders, which can lead to more opportunities and support for their initiatives, especially when it comes to future Board positions.

Promotes Diversity and Inclusion: Recognizing female executives can help promote diversity and inclusion within organizations. This can lead to more innovative and effective decision-making, as well as a more positive workplace culture.

Advancing Women in Decision-Making Roles

Axis Connects just hosted the 2023 CIWB Awards last Thursday, where we recognized five female executives and one male champion who are doing their part to not only excel in their C-Suite careers, but also use their influence to further diversity and inclusion within their own organizations and the greater community. Established in 2020, these awards bring together Calgary’s business community to recognize executives from a variety of industries.

Spanning technology, healthcare, consulting, hospitality, energy, and engineering fields, the 2023 CIWB Award winners are:

·??????Lifetime Achievement Award: Sue Riddell Rose, president and CEO of Perpetual Energy and Rubellite Energy.

·??????Social Enterprise Award: Andrea Robertson, president and CEO of STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service) Air Ambulance.

·??????Large Enterprise Award: Kelly Schmitt, CEO of Benevity, a leading provider of global corporate purpose software.

·??????Small/Medium Enterprise Award: Manjit Minhas, co-founder and co-owner of Minhas Breweries, Distilleries and Wineries, current Dragon on hit TV show Dragons’ Den, and recently appointed honorary lieutenant colonel of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada.

·??????Professional Services Award: Sippy Chhina, partner, director and vice-chair at Deloitte LLP, chair of the board of the Calgary Petroleum Club and board member of the Mount Royal University Foundation.

·??????Male Champion Award: Mark Brown, vice-president and general manager Fluor Corp.

“If You See It, You Can Be It”.

Axis Connects is working to advance women in decision-making roles. We believe by having more women in influential roles, they can use that influence to foster further diversity and inclusion in the business community. These executives represent a diversified business community that propels our city and province’s economy forward.

Summary

In summary, recognition holds value for women regardless of career stage. By recognizing those earlier in their career, we increase confidence, motivation and hopefully future success. Recognition of those more senior in their career, we increase visibility and representation, enhance credibility, and promote diversity and inclusion throughout Calgary’s business community.

If employers want to recruit women into their companies and motivate women to stay and advance, we need to recognize them for the work they do. A personal call-to-action is to recognize the women in your life – professionally or personally – and our city, and province will be better for it.