Women’s Equality Day: Susan’s story

By Susan deBlaquiere, VP, Program Management

​To close of our week of sharing #TeamGuidant stories for Women’s Equality Day on the 26th of August in the US is Susan deBlaquiere, who explores our ‘family first’ culture and shares some great advice on speaking up.

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Last month, I celebrated my 10-year anniversary with Guidant Global.
This is the longest I have ever been with any business I had worked for.

I was originally hired to oversee one smaller account that was in the process of merging with a larger account. Since then, I’ve held various roles including Account Manager, Operations Manager, Program Director and Program VP.

I was recently named VP of Operations for our Talent Delivery function to oversee operations for a number of our clients. I’m excited to move into this role and look forward to providing our clients and suppliers with process improvements while helping our operation teams work smarter, not harder.

Equal treatment for women within our organization is never something I have questioned.
This is down to the fact that we have a sizeable number of women in management and senior-level positions within Guidant, all while being spearheaded by Julia Robertson, CEO of our parent company, Impellam Group.

Guidant values great leaders and always focuses on promoting from within, wherever possible. As demonstrated by my career progression here, if someone is qualified for the position, they will be considered, regardless of gender.

In my experience, each manager I’ve had at Guidant has had the ‘family comes first’ mindset.
If I was overwhelmed, they would encourage me to take a break or a mental health day. Guidant has made this even more of a priority in the last year, with so many adjusting to remote working due to the pandemic.

With the creation of Unity alongside our diversity and inclusion team in the US, we’ve conducted mental health awareness training for managers, seminars on how to avoid burnout, as well as implemented coffee break meetings.

Those who participate in the meetings have the opportunity to connect with someone they would not have met otherwise. Those chats give our people the opportunity to socialize with their colleagues. Having a casual chat during an otherwise hectic and isolated day could be just the pick-me-up someone needs.

The people at Guidant make the difference for me.
I’ve met so many great people from all over the world working within our business, and everyone is encouraged to provide input and question the status quo when necessary. Our teams are passionate about what they do and we encourage anyone to raise their hand if they have an idea that could improve the work we do.

Especially if you’re just starting your career, don’t be afraid to ask questions in order to really understand something.
You won’t be doing yourself any favors by holding questions back. Don’t be afraid to speak up as your input could spark a change that may not have been otherwise considered.

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We’re delighted to help our people do their best work through embracing who they are in and out of the office. If you’re interested to work with us, check out our latest vacancies >