Deirdre O'Shea
“When I graduated with a human nutrition degree back in 2012, my intention was to study further and become a dietitian,” says Deirdre O’Shea, who is a Laois native but is now living in Carlow. “But my career took a different path. I had a farming background, and I ended up working in the agriculture department of Ulster Bank in Carlow for about a year after college."
“Then I moved to Dublin and worked in various policy-based roles within the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), before working for a not-for-profit called Agri Aware for four years. Food, farming and agriculture have always been something I was passionate about.”
Deirdre then flew to Australia in March 2020, with plans to travel. However, Covid-19 hit and Deirdre moved back to Ireland shortly afterwards.
“I moved back to Dublin and secured a job at Aon Ireland, which I started in August 2020. Aon is a global professional services firm, which operates in 120 countries around the world. There are over 50,000 colleagues globally, and approximately 800 employees within Aon Ireland. I lead the food, agribusiness and beverage (FAB) division within Aon Ireland, advising clients on all areas of risk (both insurable and uninsurable risks) within their business.
“We have a broad range of clients in various sub-sectors of the FAB industry. In my role, I get to work with people across the Aon network, from our broker colleagues to people in our risk consulting division, for example, to deliver solutions for our clients. This keeps the job both challenging and exciting.”
Adapting
When Deirdre began at Aon, the role was fully remote, due to the Covid pandemic.
“When Covid hit, I spoke with my manager, and decided to move back to Carlow. I was renting in Dublin at the time and couldn’t afford to buy a house, so that was one deciding factor in moving back to Carlow for me, as Carlow is more affordable. I was able to buy a house in Carlow which was close to my family home.
“I worked remotely for over a year, but as we overcame Covid, Aon developed their Smart Working model. This adopts hybrid working arrangements, with employees working remotely and in the office. So as a hybrid worker, a minimum of 50pc of my time is spent either in an Aon office or on a client site, and then the remaining time is spent in a remote location.”
Deirdre says the hybrid model works well for her because she is regularly on the road, meeting clients and companies. “But on the days that I don’t need to travel, working remotely from Carlow helps to cut my commute time, which I feel is a big benefit.
“I do love to go into the office and meet my colleagues, and Carlow is a good location for commuting to Dublin, with easy access to the motorway. But when you’re travelling from a rural area to Dublin, it can take a lot of time out of the day. So by mixing my time between the office and working remotely, I get an extra three or four hours in my day for activities that I am involved in locally, such as sports. I also get to spend more time with family and friends.
“It’s lovely to have the flexibility to be able to spend a day in Carlow and have that extra bit of time to yourself. Aon are very good at promoting personal wellbeing and making sure that their employees are looked after from that perspective.”
Creating boundaries
However, Deirdre says that when she works remotely from Carlow, she prefers not to work from home and instead, takes advantage of the local Carlow Community Enterprise Centre, also referred to as Enterprise House. Established in 2005, Carlow Community Enterprise Centres offer fully serviced office spaces, hot desks, co-working areas and also large and small meeting rooms, all with fibre broadband connection.
“The centre is just a short stroll from my house. I found that when I worked from home during the Covid lockdown, it really wasn’t for me. I like that boundary between the home and your place of work, and I find that going into Enterprise House provides the feeling of a work environment. I like to get up, get my morning coffee and get dressed, as if I’m going to the office. That’s my personal preference.
“Plus, you meet various other business people in the centre, so it’s a good opportunity to connect with different people.”
Deirdre adds that another way business people and the community are brought together in County Carlow is through events organised by the Carlow Local Enterprise Office. “The Carlow LEO is excellent for organising networking events so that people in the hub can connect with each other. I attended a lunch for Women in Business in Carlow recently, which was interesting. For those working remotely, it’s a brilliant way to continue to feel a part of something and make new connections.”
Looking ahead, Deirdre thinks hybrid working will be the way forward for many companies. “I love hybrid working and Aon’s Smart Working model really works for me. It’s definitely something I hope will continue and I think it makes sense. There have been so many advances in technology, for example, we are now able to do meetings over Zoom or Teams, which is great. I do think in-person meetings are still so important, but there are some things that can be done online and other things in-person. And with climate change on everyone’s mind at the moment, hybrid working can help to reduce our emissions and carbon footprint.
“It’s good to have that balance and I think combining remote and office work is a win-win."
For more information on Aon Ireland, visit aon.com/Ireland
