Cox Automotive’s HR director Alison Fisher will be holding a talk about diversity in the workplace at this year’s AM People Conference.

The conference, hosted in partnership with the IMI and taking place at Whittlebury Hall on September 19, will see Fisher (pictured) deliver talks focused on Cox Automotive’s Women with Drive (WWD) campaign.

The campaign is designed to attract more females to the industry and inspire them to aim high and achieve more.

Fisher said: “When it comes to creating high performing teams you need to employ a diverse range of people. The automotive industry is still very male dominated so we focused on gender diversity initially.

“We targeted senior leaders in the industry to help us inspire women to have the confidence to succeed, dream big and strive to achieve their ambitions.

“The goal is for companies to implement robust plans when it comes to recruitment and promotion to encourage more gender diversity in the workplace.”

“Part of developing a more diverse workplace is creating the right environment where people feel comfortable, there are more female role models, and far more flexibility.

“Our goal is for the industry to embrace diversity.

“The automotive industry has traditionally been seen as a man’s world, but the workforce needs to diversify if the sector is to continue to succeed.

“Those companies which put measures in place to attract a more diverse set of employees will be the ones which will thrive.

“If you look at other industries much of the activity around attracting talent is centred on diversity and inclusion. A more diverse workplace is a more collaborative one, essential for on-going success.

“At Cox Automotive, Women with Drive has the full backing of the board, and we’ve already starting to see more diversity in our leadership team.

“When I joined we had no female auction centre managers and now we have four.

"That’s not because we have made a conscious decision to employ women in these roles or adopted a quota policy, they were absolutely the best people for the job, but by focusing on gender you create an environment where women feel confident about putting themselves forward.”

For the first time, this year’s People Conference is a standalone event and tickets are available to dealers and manufacturers, with a limited number of supplier tickets on sale online.