Morson’s rail director Gary Smithson has been shortlisted for the Inspirational Man of the Year in the annual Women in Rail Awards 2021!
The Women in Rail Awards aim to showcase and reward individuals and companies (large and small) who have made a significant contribution to improving gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK railway industry.
The Inspirational Man of the Year award is in recognition of a male professional who has made an outstanding contribution to the UK rail sector by pro-actively influencing others to promote gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion in their workplace or in rail. It is intended to celebrate a man who has inspired women to opt for a career in the sector and leaned into the debate and put in place a support structure for women in the rail industry.
As rail director at Morson Talent, Gary Smithson has established a diverse team of rail experts – currently, 60% made up of females in operational or leadership roles – which acts as a blueprint for other rail industry leaders to follow suit.
Inspired by coach and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, Gary’s mantra is: ‘if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten’.
“I’m thrilled to have been shortlisted in these important awards. I wholeheartedly believe that the rail sector can be a catalyst for change, and that the success of the wealth of technical projects currently live across the UK depends on reaching diverse talent to deliver them.
Rail and infrastructure is key to the UK’s economic success and to ensure the best people are working on critical projects, ED&I must be at the heart of decision-making processes at every level of the supply chain. The entire Morson rail team are working to making this a reality, and we’re involved in a number of initiatives and projects from working with contractors to highlight transferrable skills to engaging with school children whose future jobs, with the increasing digitisation of the sector, may not even exist yet.
In collaboration with the wider rail community, I’m confident that the future of the rail industry is bright and through the transformation of the sector we’ll continue to pave the way for individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences to see their future in rail. By ensuring the design, delivery, and legacy of rail programmes are inclusive, diverse, and forward-thinking, we’ll create a stronger, more sustainable industry, culture and country.”
He’s proactively instigated a series of initiatives to ensure female contractors with backgrounds in engineering or mechanics are encouraged to consider rail for their future careers. Additionally, he works directly with Morson clients – some of the country’s biggest rail companies working on globally-renowned infrastructure programmes – to ensure their ED&I schemes and employer brands are tailored to engage not only women in the industry, but those of varying ethnicities and abilities, too.
Gary has also been pivotal in Morson’s continued investment in the Women in Rail programme, including Morson’s sponsorship of the annual awards event and the Big Rail Diversity Challenge, which Morson is entering a team into again in 2021. In response to the pandemic, Morson was a keep supporter of the Women in Rail Kids Hour initiative, which aimed to simultaneously support the mental health of young people living in lockdown and their main caregivers – predominantly, women. Additionally, in 2020, Gary was a driver behind Morson’s signature of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Charter from the Railway Industry Association and Women in Rail, to continue his division’s championing of the ED&I across the UK rail industry.
Congratulations to Gary for making it into the shortlist! The winners of each category will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Roundhouse in London on Thursday 30th September 2021.
