Forum set up to get more women up the ranks of banks

A forum has been set up to help boost the number of women among senior ranks in the financial services industry.

Bank of New Zealand teamed up with the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) and Bank of New Zealand to launch the ‘ Women in Financial Services Forum’.

The reason d’etre is to get more women in senior, middle and executive roles in the banking sector.

Research by both firms, based on responses of 272 New Zealand finance industry professionals, reveals almost 70% of women aren’t convinced about transparency in the workplace when it comes to remuneration and pay parity between genders.

And relatively high numbers of women (36.2%) also perceived they were treated differently to their male colleagues at work and in associated social or work-related activities.

The disadvantages extended opportunity for promotion, pay and benefits and inclusion in social and other work-related activities.

A reason given was that women were often disadvantaged by the demands of long and inflexible working hours and workplace cultures which place importance on sport (watching and participating) and drinking that did not appeal to many women.

Finsea chief executive Russell Thomas access to senior managers often takes place in informal settings, such as sports and other social activities that men tended to have more exposure to.

“While this may seem like a trivial point, access to senior managers often takes place in informal settings and unless women are present they miss out on opportunities their male colleagues take for granted.”

 findings are the first snapshot on gender diversity dedicated to the finance industry.

“Men and women are hearing the talk [on gender diversity] but there is uncertainty among women about whether this has translated into real action,” says Mr Thomas.

The Women in Financial Services Forum will organise regular events and policy work to help improve representation of women in the industry’s senior roles.

It was all about cultivating a better understanding of diversity policies within the industry, rather than encouraging women to be picked for top jobs just to tick the diversity box.

NZX already consulting on diversity reporting

The NZX Is already consulting its listed company members on a proposal to include gender diversity in annual reporting. If accepted, members will be required to disclose the gender composition of their boards and senior management teams and to provide information on their diversity policies.

Finsea and BNZ’s research reveals almost half of female respondents (47.8%) agree or strongly agree the NZX should adopt a similar reporting regime to that enacted across the Tasman by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Only 29% of male respondents had that view.

Women hold about 9% of private sector directorships in New Zealand.

Most NZX 100 companies have no female directors, while women account for 2% of management positions reporting directly to chief executives.

BNZ chief executive Andrew Thorburn says homogenous workplaces “just won’t cut it any more”.

The bank, which employs 5000 people, has an in-house diversity council and sets diversity targets, not quotas.

Mr Thorburn believed quotas could be damaging and collapse broader initiatives that led to more sustainable change.

“Quotas become about fixed outcomes, then that’s all that matters – did you hit the quota?

“The last thing women want is to be seen to be getting the job because of the quota.”

Mr Thorburn says 38% of BNZ’s senior leaders are women.

Mr Thomas says that when compared to Australia that figure is “very good”.