How Standard Chartered Bank is Building Gender Diversity into its Business - Building Gender Balanced Business

• 90% of operating income and profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East
• 73% of employees based in Asia
• Three pillars of gender diversity: women in the workplace, women as customers and women in the community
• Discourages scheduling of late meetings at the end of the working week
• Jaspal Bindra, CEO, Asia is also responsible for diversity and inclusion
• 43% of senior managers in its business in China are women

“The higher growth rates typically seen in Asia mean that all other things being equal, an organisation in Asia is more likely to have the opportunity to achieve a noticeable gender shift within a matter of years, not decades as may be the case in other regions.”

While the opportunity to make substantial progress exists, this of course does not mean it always happens. Like most organisations, senior female representation at Standard Chartered is still lacking in some markets. To address this, we look at gender diversity at all stages of an employee’s ‘life-cycle’.

How we improved the gender diversity

To begin with, we have improved our employer brand, making it much more inclusive and distinctively less masculine. One other important factor that helps us bring in talented women is having senior role models, women who have reached the top echelons in the financial services industry. For example, we promoted SeonJoo Kim to Executive Vice President and Head of CB Operations, making her the first woman in Korea who started as a clerk to become an Executive Vice President in the financial services industry. We also have 13 female CEOs in markets as diverse as China, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Zambia.

Creating an inclusive culture

Recruitment, however, is only beneficial if we can minimise attrition and the ‘revolving door’ of talent. At Standard Chartered, we focus on creating an inclusive culture where employees feel able to manage both professional and personal demands. In addition to flexible working, home working arrangements and crèches in select markets, we have also introduced work-life balance initiatives like ‘Happy Friday’ (or ‘Happy Thursday’ in the Middle East), whereby employees are discouraged from scheduling late meetings. In addition to sending the right message, we find small changes like this can also help make a difference.

To improve the representation of women at more senior levels in the Bank, we have launched a number of initiatives, including targeted development programmes, networks, mentoring, and internal forums. Some question taking a ‘women-only’ approach. However, when in a minority (as women typically find themselves on talent development programmes), we have found that individuals tend to adapt to fit in with the group, rather than feeling able to take their own natural style/approach. Women also tend to be more open in an all-female environment, particularly about the challenges they face working in a traditionally male environment.

Finally, a key element has been the support from senior management. Jaspal Bindra, CEO, Asia, is responsible for Diversity and Inclusion across the Group as Chair of the Group Diversity and Inclusion Council. Jaspal is also a member of the Group Management Committee (the most senior executive management forum within the Bank), at which Diversity and Inclusion regularly features on the agenda. We also have the involvement of senior female leaders, including Joanna Fielding, CFO, China, who leads our gender diversity agenda as Chair of the Group Women’s Council. (See below for their biographical information).

“In addition to flexible working, home working arrangements and crèches in select markets, we have also introduced work-life balance initiatives like ‘Happy Friday’ (or ‘Happy Thursday’ in the Middle East), whereby employees are discouraged from scheduling late meetings.”

We began our Diversity and Inclusion journey only four years ago, but we have made huge progress. While we are confident that we are on the right path, this is a long-term journey. We are also much closer to reaching our aspiration in some countries than we are in others. In China for example, senior management is almost equally balanced from a gender perspective, with 43% women. At middle management level, female representation is even stronger – in some markets, we actually have a higher proportion of women than men (Thailand – 64%, Philippines – 61%, Brunei – 62%).

No one-size-fits-all solution

Unfortunately, progress has been less impressive in other markets. Such regional variation is hardly surprising – Asia is a hugely diverse continent. It is not always easy to explain precisely why one country has ‘succeeded’ whilst a neighbouring market has not fared so well. Factors include legislation, cultural norms, labour market dynamics, religion, family structure and the education system to name just a few. There is no single recipe for success. Whilst there are some fundamentals we believe any organisation has to get right, Diversity and Inclusion has to be addressed locally. One of the ways we do this is through our Diversity and Inclusion Country Champions. Champions come from all areas of the business and are responsible for driving global and local initiatives on the ground, working alongside their country’s CEO and management committee.

Our overarching objective at the Bank is to be a leader in gender diversity and we see three key pillars underlying this ambition – women in the workplace, women as customers and women in the community. Many organisations’ Diversity and Inclusion teams take a narrow view of what falls in their remit. But we believe, as Jaspal Bindra says (see top right), that gender diversity has a ripple effect on hundreds of other women and families, contributing to social, economic and political progress. It helps to sustain the communities in which we operate and contributes to the long-term success of our business.

Kari Nelson is the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Standard Chartered Bank.