Allyship in Action: Building Better Workplaces for Women in Construction
With Amy Tullis, Director of People for Europe at Laing O’Rourke
Episode #62: Allyship in Action: Building Better Workplaces for Women in Construction with Amy Tullis
Series 9, Episode #62, Wednesday 11 March 2026
In this episode, Joy Burnford is joined by Amy Tullis, Director of People for Europe at Laing O’Rourke, to explore how the construction industry can better support women to succeed and progress. Amy shares practical insights on tackling systemic barriers, rethinking roles and workplace policies to better support flexibility and caring responsibilities, and the critical role that sponsorship and allyship play in advancing gender equality. Together, they discuss what meaningful change looks like in a traditionally male-dominated sector and how organisations can take action to create more inclusive workplaces.
Soundbites
“It's been very hard for young girls and women to see role models in the construction industry. I think that is now changing, and those role models are starting to come through, but traditionally, it's been very difficult for them to be seen.”
“How can we make roles accessible to a broader range of people and still collaborate effectively in person?”
“With allyship, you're creating that psychological safety so you're supporting their lived experiences. If they don't have trust and don't believe you care, how are you going to be able to encourage women to move through the organisation? Just listening to a female and acting upon what you hear is the main part of allyship. You will know something that they don't know. So how can you help them, even if it's somebody else that they could go and speak to, or perhaps there's a course, or there's a part of the business that they could go in to get some experience that would actually help them. That's so powerful, and that's just listening.”
“Be intentional when you hire. So really think about those recruitment strategies. How are you going to reach out to different industries where there's transferable skills? Are there career break returners? Don't just go down the traditional routes. Have a balanced candidate pool that you can really draw on, because if they're not right for that role, there might be a role somewhere else in the organisation that you can place them into.”
“We need to stop being fearful of addressing poor behaviour. We always get frightened that we think we're going to lose good people. But people who create an unsettled environment are not great people. You know, creating that environment is really important, so we need to stop being fearful of educating those individuals.”
“If you invite people into the conversation, it doesn't just improve the culture for women, it also improves the environment for men. So, we want to promote healthy relationships between everybody that works within our organisation. Bringing everybody into the conversation is really important.”
Keywords
Gender equality, construction industry, inclusion, allyship, flexible working, role models, mentoring programs, diversity awareness, job design, employee networks, reasonable adjustments passport, sponsorship programs, psychological safety, fairness inclusion respect training, squiggly careers.
References and resources
“How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back” by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgerson
How Encompass Equality can help you
Book a call to see how Encompass Equality can help you create better workplaces for women, and in doing so, create a culture where everyone benefits.