Have you ever aspired for more than just a job, more than a place to exist between the hours of 9 to 5, more than a table you’re expected to lay out morning tea for but aren’t welcome to sit and be heard at?
Maybe you’ve always pictured yourself in a career that goes beyond the ordinary, where your professional growth is not just encouraged but meticulously nurtured.
Well, maybe you’d be interested to know that there are employers who can turn those pictures and aspirations into a reality. A place where their core philosophy is ‘we care more’.
Where? At Pacific National.
And what evidence do we have for these amazing claims?
To answer, we’re taking a look inside the recent Women’s Series event run by Pacific National.
Overview of the event
Thirty-five women from the business hailing from every corner of the country and mirroring the diversity intrinsic to their business attended Pacific National‘s PN Connect | Women’s Series over three months.
Pacific National partnered with 10,000 Hours, a leading professional development organization, to orchestrate an experience where facilitators motivated and inspired participants to explore ideas through meaningful discussions.
Most of all, the event encouraged individuals to step away from their daily routines and provided a space for personal and professional growth, connections, and the sharing of experiences.
Mary Stark was one of the attendees, and she shares further:
“We worked on developing ways of thinking that help us flip negative experiences into positive ones using positive self-talk. We also did brainstorm sessions where we challenged our brains to come up with a mountain of ideas, underneath which lies a single brilliant idea for a project.
“We discussed our career aspirations and our career goals. We learned about time management, public speaking, organization, and communication in the work life, always with a focus on the positive positioning.”
What else did the attendees think?
On a post-event survey, 100% of the participants from the 2023 event series said they would recommend this program to a colleague or peer.
What’s more, the survey showed that everyone felt considerable improvements in their crucial skill areas like resilience, confidence, creating social capital, and strategies for utilizing self-reflection.
These improvements weren’t just statistics; they translated into tangible outcomes — 85% reported an increase in the size of their network, and 95% reported an improvement in the effectiveness of their network.
“By giving us the freedom to take time away from our normal roles in both operational and non-operational functions, and by creating a safe environment where we could be ourselves and talk honestly and openly, Pacific National demonstrates it cares more. It’s not just a place to work, it’s are a place to be developed and engaged.”
– Catherine Jackson, 2023 event attendee
And the video below shares even more amazing feedback from the 2023 participants.
How this can help your career
Why does it matter now? Because, if you’ve read this far, we can only assume you aren’t just seeking a new job; you want to forge a career. The skills and confidence nurtured in events like these aren’t just checkboxes on a resume; they are the building blocks of a fulfilling and impactful professional journey.
The relevance goes beyond just this single event though – it’s about aligning yourself with a company that not only champions diversity and inclusion but lives and breathes it every day. Something Mary Stark agrees with too:
“Working here lights me up. I feel so very privileged to be a part of this amazing group of courageous, strong, inspiring yet humble woman supporting each other in an organization and industry that screams out for this very thing.”
And with the success of this event over the last two years, the Women’s Series will run again in 2024, and we hope for many years to come.
So, isn’t it time to be part of something more significant? The confidence you seek, the career you aspire to – it’s all within reach.
