In the light of International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8th we have decided to take the opportunity to champion some of the amazing women here at Onalytica throughout the month of March. We’ve carefully selected women who have risen through the ranks but also come from an array of teams, roles and backgrounds.
Amardeep Sidhu is a Client Relationship Director who has been with Onalytica for more than 6 years. She started as a Client Relationship Manager back in August 2015, and got promoted to a Director in September 2019.
Why do you think it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day?
To continue to improve on areas of inequality, we need to draw attention to what isn’t working, but also what is. IWD allows us to celebrate the wins, while also recognising there is still a conversation we need to have about gender inequality and changes we need to strive for.
This year’s theme is #BreaktheBias, what does this mean to you?
We need to recognise that biases are inherent in the workforce. To offset the biases we need to identify them first. Only then can we actively introduce solutions that mean no one is worse off based on unfair assumptions.
Have you faced any barriers in your career due to being a woman? If so, how did you overcome them?
Earlier in my career, I was paid less than the male team members despite us each doing the same role and joining with the same experience. If not for my colleague having an open conversation about salary, I would never have known or had the opportunity to raise it with my director at the time. That conversation meant I wasn’t further penalised financially based on a company’s hiring approach.
Ultimately it made me more aware of how I wouldn’t have known about the disparity if not for someone else speaking, and in the future, I should ask more questions and negotiate.
What is the most important piece of advice you have been given that has helped you in your career?
Speak up. I tend to be someone who works through and just gets on with it. That fear of letting the team down, or needing extra help always meant I’d work through to exhaustion at times. I’m now better at saying ‘I need help’, and it means I work more collaboratively, and get better outcomes on projects.
How can we encourage more women to pursue careers in male dominated industries and positions of leadership?
In the workplace, we need to recognise that while we’ve made progress, women don’t always see themselves reflected in the leadership of companies. Encouraging women to pursue and stick with careers in male dominated industries requires a combination of different things including:
- Visibility & Role Models – I want to see people like myself in senior roles, and ideally would want a mentor I can ask for guidance on how to progress further.
- Peer support – I’ve always found environments where the teams are collaborative and not working in silos helps with both problem solving, but also ensuring you are constantly learning from one another.
- A feedback loop – I want to receive constructive feedback but also be able to provide it.
How important is diversity in the workplace?
Incredibly important, we all have different life experiences and have different viewpoints to offer. In influencer marketing, we want to avoid generalisations and stereotypes so we can reach our target audience without presuming they all have the same experiences we do.