Catherine Savage
Head of Finance, Woodie’s
Sharon Kelly
Chief People Officer, Woodie’s
Businesses that are serious about diversity, equity and inclusion have bold strategies and policies in place that promote gender balance and empower women into leadership roles.
When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, some companies talk a good game, says Catherine Savage, Head of Finance at Woodie’s, the DIY home and garden retailer. Sooner or later, the talking must stop — and warm words of intention have to be backed up with authentic action. Essentially, the best businesses don’t play at DEI, she says. They live it.
Leadership coaching for personal development
Take female career development — something that Savage has experienced personally. When she was asked to become Interim CFO at Woodie’s in 2023, Savage knew that it was a big step forward for her. “I saw it as a huge vote of confidence in me personally,” she says. “Also, as a woman, it underlined that this business rewards all who work hard.” However, Savage was concerned that she lacked the requisite leadership experience, so asked for training support — and received it immediately.
“I was given one-on-one leadership coaching,” she remembers. “This was invaluable as it helped maximise my personal development and align my goals with the goals of the leadership team. It was probably the most important statement of support the business could give to me at that point and demonstrated that if anyone is willing to seek out opportunities for growth and development, they can move to a higher area of responsibility.”
Every company, including ours, needs
to be aware of the commitments that
women have outside of work.
Importance of accessibility to female role models
Savage was also boosted by the presence of strong female leaders across the business. “To see them succeeding is a wonderful thing,” she says. “There’s the saying: If you can see it, you can be it.” She also likes how (literally) visible they are. “We sit in an open-plan office, so all the team is very accessible,” she says. “That promotes staff engagement because everyone is so approachable. I’m very aware that younger female colleagues now see me as a role model. So, I make sure they know that if they want to get involved in something, they can come to me and we’ll have a conversation.”
Over the last decade, the company — recognised as a Best Workplace for Women — has made significant strides with gender balance and empowering women like Savage into leadership roles. “When I joined the business 10 years ago, 16% of the leadership team were female,” remembers Sharon Kelly, Chief People Officer, Woodie’s. “It’s now 57%.”
Part of that is down to setting clear goals, properly briefing recruitment partners about the need for representation, and then ensuring that all company training programmes — including those for junior members of the team — are diverse and inclusive.
Family-friendly policies that promote work-life balance
The company is also walking the DEI walk by closing its gender pay gap (which was 12.51% in 2022, but, after much work, was reduced to 2.2% in 2024) and forging partnerships with organisations such as the Diversity Council of Ireland. Plus, it is working to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion become watchwords across all parts of the business. “Every company, including ours, needs to be aware of the commitments that women have outside of work,” says Kelly. “We have strong, family-friendly policies in place that allow women to achieve work-life balance otherwise, it can be a stumbling block to female career progression. You have to be flexible as an employer.”
Authenticity drives true business inclusion
Savage agrees and notes that diversity, equity and inclusion must always be more than a company motto. “It’s about being authentic,” she says. “We’re always looking to implement and promote DEI policies that benefit the business as a whole. If we can bring all colleagues on the journey with us — because they know we are authentic about it — that’s how we will excel and move forward.”
