Nisbets New Zealand

With this year’s International Women’s Day theme being “Inspire Inclusion”, we have spoken to our Managing Director, Dawn Swainston, about inspiring inclusion at Nisbets, and how the landscape of inclusion has changed over her career. Since the beginning of her career, Dawn has recognised the value of inclusion, as she has often been the only woman in sales and leadership teams. She has witnessed this change over the decades, with increased diversity in the workplace including people of varying cultures, genders and abilities being given the opportunity to develop and progress in their chosen careers. Dawn recognises that greater diversity in teams and amongst leadership enables broader conversations in business and better enables businesses to support their customers, teams, and suppliers. Embedded in the Nisbets culture and led by Dawn and the Leadership Team at Nisbets, the entire Nisbets team champions the importance of inclusion, with diversity of employees at all levels including senior management. Seeing diverse groups of leaders across other businesses, Dawn recognises this as a significant and welcome difference to being the only woman in a team of 34 sales representatives during her early career. When asked about the future of women in the workplace, Dawn can see the progress made over the course of her career continuing and that the best person for each role will be hired regardless of gender, disability, or nationality. She also believes that the development and support of team members to reach their highest potential will continue to increase as a higher priority to businesses. Dawn has some tips for women who want to progress in their careers and reach their highest potential. These include “…embracing a healthy balance in your life; you can have a great career and a great family – it’s not necessary to choose between the two. With two adult children, and a great support network around me, I am living proof that women can achieve everything they set out to. It is also important to work in businesses that you are genuinely passionate about, having the support of a mentor and, most importantly, believing in yourself.” #NisbetsNZ #internationalwomensday2024 #iwd2024 #inspireinclusion