How can women grow their careers in technology, and how can companies draw more women into tech careers and, ultimately, leadership roles? Chris Byrne, senior vice president of global operations at Workday, shares her views on these topics and more.
The tech sector continues to grow at a remarkable rate. Still, it remains a highly male-dominated industry. And for all its amazing innovation, the tech industry continues to fall short when it comes to recruiting and promoting women into senior leadership positions.
While at Workday Rising Europe, I had the chance to talk with Chris Byrne, senior vice president, global operations, Workday, to get her tips for women looking to advance in their technology careers. Byrne also shared her thoughts on how companies can inspire more young women to choose technology careers, and ultimately create opportunities for them to move into leadership roles.
Byrne is responsible for managing global product and technology programs and leading our European development centre in Dublin. Workday recently received a ranking of #2 on “Ireland’s Best Workplaces 2020—Best Large” by the organization Great Place to Work.
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Below you’ll find a few highlights from the conversation, edited for clarity. You can find our other Workday Podcasts here.
“I haven't written a line of code in a long time, but I have a great job in tech. I think we don't tell young girls enough about jobs in user experience design, customer success management, technical operations, and product management. There are so many roles beyond sitting at a desk in isolation with your headphones on writing code.”
“I think it's also making good choices about the tech you work on, the people you work for, and the team you put yourself on. In this day and age, you get a lot of opportunity to own and direct your own career. So look at a place that's going to help you be as successful as possible.”
“We’ve joined the 30% Club in Ireland, and I look at everything now with that 30% lens. When you have 30% gender diversity, you've made a major improvement that is going to allow you to get to that 50% you would hope to achieve one day. But 10%? It’s not enough.”
“I always say that the company with the best T-shirts and the most free food is not going to win the hearts and minds of the worker today; it's the companies that allow someone to stretch, grow, and thrive, to be on stage at a conference, or to go develop a product idea. Those are the companies that are going to be successful. So when you think about recruiting, you have to think about retention.”
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