London-based medical communications agency has won the corporate category at the Women of the Future Awards, beat several much larger companies – including Shell, Olswang, Unilever and Accenture – to the prize.
“We are delighted to win this prestigious award, which reflects our continued commitment to the promotion of diversity within the workplace, and particularly within a sector which is typically stereotyped as being male-dominated,” said Jill Daws, senior account director at the agency.
Founded in 2006, the Women of the Future Awards were conceived to provide a platform for the pipeline of female talent in the UK in areas such as media, arts and culture and sport.
The corporate award recognises the organisation that is doing the most to support and nurture young women in business. The winning organisation was expected to show innovation in how it enables its younger women to fulfil their objectives, and to be engaged in wider public debate about the role of younger women in society.
Synergy Vision said that the judges were impressed by its “desire to see its employees become successful, as well as its inspiring and innovative approach to recruiting and promoting women at entry level through to middle leadership and senior positions”.
The judges also described Synergy Vision as having “much that it can teach the corporate sector about how a professional culture, policies and practice can help people to flourish in a way that is both good for business and for the employees”.
Daws said: “We have always placed a lot of importance on nurturing the career of all our young employees, men and women alike. We have worked hard to put a range of policies in place, such as an extensive programme for new recruits, and flexible working policies to help new mothers return to work. We are extremely proud to win this award and look forward to further collaboration with the Women of the Future network.”
Founded more than eight years ago by Ffyona Dawber, Synergy Vision has since seen its workforce grow from two to thirty people, and has further expansion planned.