Women in Wealth Awards 2016

www.wealthandfinance-intl.com 15 Best Executive Search Firm Director - UK Jo Sweetland is Managing Partner at Green Park, an Executive Interim and Executive Search and Leadership Advisory firm, where she is Head of the HR practice. In the private sector, Green Park specialise in enabling financial organisations, whether they are FTSE 100 companies or SMEs, to source diverse talent from their deep networks of financial expertise. Green Park have continually managed to move the dial on diversity by developing a suite of equality and performance-optimising services which enable both clients and candidates to achieve favourable success from their mandates. Jo told us more about her work as head of the HR Practice. “I work with a range of businesses, right across the private sector, enabling them to solve some of their most pressing people-based challenges. Being a trusted adviser to my clients is vital to both my own and Green Park’s HR brand. I was the fifth hire at Green Park, and have now been at the company for ten years. I was headhunted by the CEO of Green Park from Boyden, where I was Senior Consultant looking after interim and senior appointments across the private sector. “Green Park have enjoyed great success to date, and I feel very lucky to have been a part of this fantastic journey. A big factor in our future success will be continuing to work with the most talented people, whatever their background, and I want to help this process by being a mentor and role model for future women leaders, both in Green Park and beyond. I think the playing field is levelling for women in business, and women are increasingly recognised for their performance. However, I think that as women, we do have to work harder to demonstrate our credibility and be heard. In financial services, there are preconceptions that have to be overcome and positive strides are being made towards this. Even ten years ago, HR was still seen as a ‘fluffy’ subject; now, businesses increasingly recognise that the people agenda should be right at the heart of a successful organisation.” Jo would like to see women given the opportunities that their skills, experience and talent deserve. She believes that companies should fully WW160003 Company: Green Park Name: Jo Sweetland Web Address: www.green-park.co.uk integrate flexibility for women into their culture which would provide a compound platform to progress the careers of women on an equal basis to their male peers. “Looking to the future, I think my main goal is to have a vital role in Green Park’s continuing success story, and to continue to lead the field in the search and interim sector. Personally, I want to make it easier for women in business to succeed and continue to open the eyes of my clients to the power of gender, and holistically, diverse workforces.”