In this official Q&A, meet Gina Buckney, a speaker well-known for her work as a corporate wellbeing specialist. In this insightful conversation, Gina discusses the significance of gender inclusion and diversity in the workplace, as well as the impact of workplace stress on peoples’ mental health.  

This exclusive interview was conducted by Megan Lupton, a Senior Content Executive at Champions Speakers. Megan is a specialist in female-focused content and regularly interviews successful female role models, such as Gina Buckney. 

Q: What advice would you give to women struggling in male-dominated sectors? 

Megan: “A lot of sectors, such as sports and technology, are heavily male-dominated. What is the best advice you can give to women trying to break into these sectors?” 

Gina: “The best advice that I can give to any young female in a male-dominated environment is to just be yourself. 

“I remember, back to one of my first interviews for a really big bank in the UK. I’d got to the final stages of the interview; I remember walking into the room and there were ten men in the room and just me. It was my first role coming out of university... you get that feeling of imposter syndrome. You're thinking, ‘what am I doing here,’ and really start to doubt yourself. 

“Just focus on your end goal and what you're trying to achieve, and don't let those worries, fears and self-doubt creep in. Because, at the end of that interview, I was the only person to get through to the next round!” 

Q: How can managers empower their female employees to improve workplace inclusion? 

Megan: “Diversity and inclusion are a big part of all organisations; how can we shift workplace culture to ensure female employees feel empowered?” 

Gina: “Firstly, leaders need to take responsibility to really understand the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the table.” 

“In many organisations, you've got the same people, same mindsets, and the same style of working, so you're going to get the same outcomes. Whenever I’ve gone into male-dominated environments I have brought something different to the table.” 

“I can think of a scenario where I’d been promoted because I put myself forward, even though I’d never done engineering or operations. I only had three women in my team, out of 144 people! What I brought to that table was something that no one would ever have thought I could bring: empathy for the staff, great communication, listening to problems, and fixing those problems. I won over half of the workforce because I’d listened. “ 

“If you don't see the value in bringing women into your team because you think they are not naturally engineers or I.T technicians, you don't know what you're missing. Educate yourself and then make space for women to come through because when you add that different dynamic to the team, you might get a healthy tension that will give a different perspective”  

Q: What are the most significant risks and issues you see business leaders facing?  

Megan: “In previous interviews, business speakers said a lack of awareness caused the biggest downfall, what are the risks leaders should be aware of...” 

Gina: “The flexible resource pool is wearing thin.

“We're coming out of a pandemic. We’ve had a lot of changes in society and human nature. People have had time to reset and re-evaluate what's important to them.  

"You had a pool of resources that have gone home to their native countries because they're not able to work here. You've got people that have retired. So that's left a lot of the top layer diminished.

“The power has switched from the employer's hands to the employee […] to say, ‘what do I want from an employer now’ or ‘do I want to work all these hours.’  Leaders really need to recognise this trend and make a change to look at wellbeing and the fact that mental health issues are on the rise.” 

“I would say really my biggest advice is just to educate yourselves, become more knowledgeable on these things and look for other solutions to your problem.”  

Q: What are the warning signs of mental health issues in the workplace? 

Megan: “Many mental health specialists speak about burnout and the effects it has on employees… what other warning signs should business leaders look out for?” 

Gina: “The warning signs might be obvious: like people taking days off sick, not showing up for meetings, or being a little bit despondent. Are they paying attention? Are they consuming information in the same way they used to? It's looking at behaviours and saying, has anything changed?

“I would say productivity is the other key sign. People don't just have to be out of work to show that there's stress there, they could be at work but not doing their job anymore. As a leader and manager, it's your job to really understand what is the reason for the behaviour change, but in a way that is approachable, caring and sympathetic.” 

Book Gina Buckney 

Contact the Champions Speakers agency to provisionally enquire about Gina Buckney for your event today. Simply call a booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.