The launch of the ACT Diversity and Inclusion Calendar
Diversity and inclusion have always been high on the ACT’s agenda and addressed through a variety of channels, be it as part of our professional mentoring programme, the bursary scheme of the ACT Educational Trust or by engaging our members in discussions at our various events. Of course, we are excited to take this engagement a step further with the launch of a dedicated ACT Diversity and Inclusion Calendar – and last week it finally happened!
For our inaugural event, we focused on one of the most complex leadership challenges we face: gender inequality in the UK.
An eye-opening keynote by Diana Brightmore-Armour (CEO – UK & Europe, ANZ) and the lively panel discussion that followed, provided an open and honest debate and many personal insights into gender equality. The panel included Lisa Francis (Managing Director, Barclays), Jill Harrison (Treasury Manager, Whitbread) and Karen Toh (Treasurer, Grosvenor Group) and was moderated by the ACT’s Chief Executive, Caroline Stockmann.
To start on a positive note, there was broad agreement that tremendous progress has been already made and the treasury profession feels much more equal today. This also became evident from our (female) panellists’ own experiences: indeed, many stressed that, personally, they don’t feel that their gender is a relevant factor in their professional lives.
And yet, despite the significant progress made over the past decades and efforts to increase diversity and inclusion, there clearly is still a long way to go: “There are more CEOs of FTSE 100 companies called Dave than there are women” was the probably most memorable statistic of the evening, highlighting the stark gender inequality in the top ranks of UK businesses.
A look specifically at the treasury profession reveals a less extreme but still unequal picture: while no official statistics are available, only 29% of ACT members are women and 33% of speakers at the ACT Annual Conference in 2017 were female.
So what more can and needs to be done to address gender inequality? The importance of female role models, unconscious bias training (for everyone, not just men), and more flexible work arrangements (for everyone, not just women) became clear over the course of the evening.
Some of the less often discussed measures and practical steps mentioned to advance gender balance in the workplace, included:
These include obvious targets such as the number of female graduates being recruited at entry-level as well as less obvious ones, for example measuring and comparing the time it takes for men and women to get promoted, looking at the gender balance at the level right below the board or having a closer look at who recruits/promotes women within a company.
Practice what you preach. For a company to make progress in promoting gender equality, it is crucial that those in key leadership positions believe in the cause themselves and drive the company culture in the right direction. Making value assessments an integral part of the hiring process for senior management can have a positive impact.
Ian Chisholm, Vice President of Corporate Finance at BHP Billiton, highlighted one of the key success factors in pushing through BHP Billiton’s ambitious agenda to achieve a 50:50 gender split among its staff by 2025: talk about it and set aside dedicated time to talk about it for the board and senior leadership.
Far from being intended to be a ‘man-bashing’ evening, as Caroline Stockmann made clear in her opening remarks, it is vital to involve men into the gender debate, not least as they currently occupy the majority of senior leadership positions in Finance. Men being aware of the gender bias and advocating for change are key to move the discussion forward.
From discussions during and after the event, it was clear that the panellists’ anecdotes and experience with gender equality resonated with those in the room. The lively debates of the evening provided plenty of food for thought and an encouraging launch of the ACT Diversity and Inclusion Calendar - and we look forward to many more inspiring events to come.
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