The ACT launched the ACT Guiding Principles on DEI late last year. This was an initiative driven by the treasurers of the largest corporates based in the UK (the FTSE 20) who had identified that, particularly in bank relationship meetings, diversity was, shall we say, a work in progress…
Last September, we held a fascinating workshop bringing together the treasurers of the largest corporates and the key relationship managers from their relationship banks to explore just what some of the blockers to progress were and, more importantly, how we as a profession can work together across the market to improve diversity (as we know greater diversity brings better results).
One of the findings was that, for less experienced team members, it was very difficult to build networks. This was not helped by the new ways of working as a result of the pandemic and requests from corporates to limit the number of people attending meetings. Simply put, without those opportunities, it’s harder to make contacts and to develop your network.
At the ACT, we are trying to play our part by providing those less experienced the opportunity to grow their networks.
The first such event took place at the end of February and was hosted by PwC. We were delighted to welcome over 60 people, who took the opportunity to extend their networks.
The evening started with an informative discussion from Rob Waddington, Partner, PwC, about the importance of developing and nurturing a network. This was followed by a discussion on the ACT Guiding Principles with an opportunity to explore some of the challenges being faced by participants – these conversations were informative and frank in nature, which helped to develop ideas and options for the way forward.
The biggest takeaway on the night was the concern that DEI must not be just a tick box exercise, change must be visible and more senior managers need to be alive to the risk of unconscious bias in their dealings with colleagues.
There was an overwhelming demand to run this sort of event more frequently – we are already looking at how we might make these events a regular occurrence.
If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch:
Future Leaders in Treasury
The ACT Future Leaders in Treasury group is designed to support members while they are building and developing their knowledge and reputation. To find out more about the group please visit www.treasurers.org/futureleaders or join the LinkedIn group (open to all).
