Winner of Excellence in HR and Talent Management: Sue Flood, Head of EMEA HR and Recruiting, Virtu
How do you feel about winning this award?
I am proud to receive this award and recognition for my contribution in the field of human resources. A role in HR is often underestimated, but we play a key role in workplace culture and we advocate for diversity and inclusion. Receiving this award is proof that Virtu recognises and appreciates the importance of our role.
Which of your achievements are you most proud of?
When I joined Virtu in 2012, there were only six of us in a small office in Dublin. I take great pride in the role I was fortunate to play in the development and growth of our team. Working together, we attracted talented and culturally aligned individuals whom I genuinely enjoy working alongside.
I also take immense pride in my role in designing our new Dublin office, and I’m incredibly grateful to the entire team for their trust and support in allowing me to channel my passion for design into the project.
What do you personally want to achieve to further support diversity in the workplace?
I would like to see more women in our industry.
As someone working in a recruiting role, I have seen how under-represented women are in the FinTech applicant pool. For this reason, I am a huge fan of our Women’s Winternship Programme. Our Winternship programme goal is to introduce college women to a diverse cross-section of FinTech products and services, expertise, and backgrounds. Since its establishment, the programme has become a proven successful tool for creating a strong pipeline of exceptional female candidates. Past Winterns have progressed to our regular summer internship programmes and have also converted to full-time hires. I am constantly amazed at how impressive these women are, and I genuinely love to see new applicants who have been referred to the programme by previous Winterns. This proves that the programme works and I want to continue promoting our Winternship programme and encouraging more women to apply for roles in FinTech.
How are you seeing diversity impact the industry?
When I joined the Dublin office, we were all Irish. Now we have employees from all over the world and in the kitchen, you can hear conversations in German, Mandarin, and Italian. The team teaches each other words in their native languages, and together we celebrate holidays from other countries and religions. The dynamics have changed, too – at one point, I was the only woman, and no one in the office had kids. Today we have a diversity of ages, family dynamics, and cultural backgrounds that we share with each other, expanding everyone’s world views and perspectives. These interactions and cultural exchanges help strengthen the interpersonal bonds and the familial culture of the team here in Dublin.
As a company that supports all forms of diversity, it’s easier to attract and retain top talent, as applicants from diverse backgrounds are more likely to apply, join and stay in our organisation because we value their unique contributions.
A diverse workforce brings together people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This diversity of thought leads to more innovative and creative solutions.
What still needs to change for the better?
The perception of the industry needs to change. A lot of people do not apply for roles in FinTech because they feel intimidated if they have not gone to the most prestigious schools or had the opportunity to participate in internships run by leading companies or that their experience might not be valued as highly as people who had these opportunities.
We focus on finding the top applicants regardless of the school. We are engaged with programmes that work with students from all backgrounds to ensure all students are positioned to excel in STEM careers. We’ve had some success with these programmes which demonstrates that these investments work, but we still have a long way to go. There is still a large, diverse pool of untapped talent out there.
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