01. Who are you, and what is your role?
I am Jacquie Silverton and my role is Mental Health and Diversity Manager. I manage the Mental Health Support Programme at SDC directly with the Managing Director, Adam Knaggs. I lead a group of ‘Mental Health First Aiders’ who support the mental health of our colleagues in times of crisis. In the 7 years of running the programme SDC have supported a considerable number of employees and, in some cases, their family members; this is something that I am very proud of.
In addition, I lead the Diversity Programme for the company.
02. What has your journey been to get to SDC?
Growing up, I was part of a very large, loving, if not affluent family. I was the first member of the family to pass the 11+ and attend grammar school setting me on a very different path to other family members.
After school and secretarial college, I went to work in the City for Lloyds of London in the Personnel Department. This was a shock to some members of my family as females were expected to get married, have children, and live in council accommodation; not to pursue a career or buy a home.
I moved to International Banking in the City and was responsible for the psychometric testing of Foreign Exchange Traders, who were predominantly male. When completing the tests myself, to the surprise of the Chief Trader, my results indicated that I would excel at strategic trading. I duly transferred to the trading floor, a job and a lifestyle that I really enjoyed. Not only did I have a very successful career but I was offered opportunities that would not have come my way if I had not taken the psychometric tests.
I met my husband, also a trader, married and had children. At this point, I took a 10-year career gap to raise my family, the most important career I have ever had! During this time, we moved to France and started a holiday business. However, after a few years, looking for more structure and a little positive stress in our lives, we returned to England.
This is when I decided on a career in construction and in my 40s I completed a Construction Management degree whilst at the same time starting our own residential project management business.
To gain experience in other sectors, I worked as a Project Manager for a small building company working on a wide range of projects from social housing and commercial buildings to the construction of crematoriums across the country.
I joined SDC in 2014, predominantly in the Business Protection Services Department. I loved the role and was fortunate to visit all SDC sites and got to know very many SDC employees; this has helped me in my current role as individuals recognise and know me.
03. What projects are you currently working on?
As well as continuing to support mental health across the company, I more recently recognised the need for more support for female career progression. I took this to the Chairman and Managing Director and that was the start of our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) journey towards greater equality within the company.
We have made progress on female PPE, formalising of maternity and paternity leave policies, understanding the effect of menopause on women and where they, or their lines managers, can go to for support.
As EDI lead, I deliver an EDI Awareness Seminar for all employees. During the development of this bespoke seminar, I spoke to employees from different groups and ethnicities within SDC to understand their points of view. All reported that they have not experienced any discrimination at SDC; this is something that we need to ensure remains the case.
Another focus I have is how to attract people from different groups to SDC. That could be an age group who may have a particular skillset, people from different ethnicities, beliefs, cultures or those with different gender identities or disabilities. Part of my role is to lead discussions on how SDC project to the wider community that we are all encompassing and progressive as an employer.
04. What motivates you?
I am a people person; I love people and communicating with all different people from different walks of life. I think my experience of meeting and interacting with a diverse community of people has given me the confidence to talk and to listen to people.
I love a challenge and I enjoy learning. I relish variety and the speed of change in the workplace, as well as being part of a team. I see a comparison between trading and construction because you never quite know what is going to happen in the day.
Being told I cannot do something is a huge motivator to me. The expectations I came up against as a woman in my youth and early career have massively influenced my drive to ensure gender equality and diversity within SDC.
05. What does working at SDC mean to you?
I love SDC; in particular the ethos of the company and the projects we build. SDC is a great company and I thoroughly enjoy my role in developing approaches to listen to and reflect the diversity of our employees, clients and the end users of our buildings.
In addition to the EBT, which sets us apart as an employer, we have a huge amount in place to value our employees. I love the people we have here; we have so many wonderful people, we are a family.
