Women7 is a group of international advocates committed to ensuring that gender considerations are mainstreamed into G7 discussions and translated into the G7 Leaders' Declaration, as policies and commitments that foster gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Last December Italy assumed the leadership of this international movement. 

During the Wo&Men* webinar, hosted by Roberta Montera, Marzia Banfi, Cristina Luisa Pierotti, and Irma Rodriguez from NatWest’s Italian branch, the two panellists talked about the current state of gender diversity and inclusion within the financial sector, the progress that has been made already, and the challenges that remain.

Caroline and Claudia shared some valuable examples from their work in NatWest and the Global Thinking Foundation (respectively), as well as personal experiences and insights. Their key observations and messages included:

On the current state of gender diversity and inclusion within financial institutions

• A considerable change we can see is that women are there to support each other regardless of positions, meaning that women help both those that are more junior to them as well as those that are more senior. This creates a more favourable environment for gender equality as well as a feeling of “we're in this together”. However, what we really do need is for this to be a collaborative across the genders. 
• Looking at gender diversity in the financial industry in the UK, we are encouraged to see that roughly 40% of board members are now women. Some may not consider this a great achievement, but it should be celebrated because it shows that we are going in the right direction.
• Attitudes towards diversity have also changed for the positive. It is commonly accepted now that diversity creates much broader thought and ultimately results in better solutions. A research paper found that diversity in the workforce was expected to see an average 8.3% uplift in performance globally, with 14% in Europe and 20.5% in Asia excluding Japan. This highlights the fact that embedding diversity isn't just what we should be doing but actually does impact the bottom line and as such makes business sense.

On how management styles can shape diversity, equity and inclusion, and which practices help foster an inclusive workplace culture

• A flat management structure, even if that sometimes means having many direct reports, can help to establish that connectivity and helps foster equality. Equally, an open-door approach creates opportunities to connect colleagues and in doing so empowers them.
• Introducing a mentor, sponsor, and line manager triangle also helps to empower colleagues and foster equality: the line manager is the partner for personal development and raising issues. The sponsor is the person – often quite senior – who calls out the employee’s achievements and who may say the employee would be well suited for a certain job. And the mentor provides a safe space where you can ask questions that you may not want to ask your line manager, your colleagues, or your sponsor.
• Clearly, having more flexibility in the workplace, such as working remotely, has helped tremendously to support all genders in not only combining work and family life much better but also working more efficiently. This is a good example of diversity – which comes in so many shapes and forms – yielding positive results.
• Equally important is diversity in recruitment. Younger generations in particular value organisations with a diverse approach and therefore being diverse becomes a key factor in the search for talent. However, diversity shouldn’t mean recruiting diverse candidates to fulfil a quota or personal targets, but to hire the best candidate, and diversity will happen automatically. It builds upon itself: “Success builds upon success, and diversity builds upon diversity.”
• Finally, thinking about line manager training is crucial in the DE&I context to tackle unconscious bias, challenge your own attitudes and learn new ways of thinking.

On the barriers that women still face in finance and about how financial literacy is essential for women to thrive

• A gender equal economy is a priority of the European Commission, and the financial system plays a key role. While a gender equal economy is not yet a reality, we are making progress and the recent report from the European Institute of Gender Equality on “Financial Independence and Gender Equality: Joining the dots between income, wealth, and power” is a big milestone with powerful data and a focus on the concept of financial independence.
• While financial literacy is pivotal first and foremost, we must ensure that women have some management over savings, have an emergency fund, as well as a supplementary retirement plan, and their own personal banking account – something which is already mandatory in some countries, such as France.

On future DE&I challenges

• One of the greatest stumbling blocks remains the acceptance of gender equality fully embedded as part of our sustainability journey. As such, all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must include gender equality.
• DE&I committees and initiatives are doing great work, but now must come the time to embed their thinking into the system and the day-to-day work. This means that we actually need to change the way we operate. Of course, this is going to take time.
• Role models support and pave the way for equality, while we work to create the right base of opportunities to make them as equitable as possible.

 Why Wo&Men are in this together?

• Male allies are crucial to help female co-workers rise. Therefore, workers and senior leaders must understand DE&I as a joint responsibility and joint effort so we can successfully reduce the gender gap by putting everyone on an equal footing.
• By making sure as a line manager that everyone in your team has the same chances, we can build an equal company for everyone.
• Allowing male colleagues to listen to what women are talking about will increase mutual understanding. We should remember that they have mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and so they will have those conversations about equality at home, too – and can be dedicated champions for our cause. 
• We must not forget, that, of course, DE&I is a much broader topic. While gender equality and a fair representation of ethnic minorities are in the focus, we also need to think about neurodiversity, diversity in social backgrounds, diversity in educational backgrounds, and so much more. What we’ll gain is diversity in thought which will result in much better, more innovative solutions that customers will also cherish.
• We have come a long way, but there is still more to do. However, if we can get gender equality right, then we have a pathway for other diversity issues. 

Want to listen to the full webinar?

Please click here to watch our webinar in full. Or, if you would like to talk more about the topics discussed, please feel free to reach out to any of our hosts.

*Wo&Men is a series co-ordinated by our Italian team, that aims to challenge both women and men with thought provoking insights on the topic of DE&I, to encourage further conversations and action in the workplace.