Gains from equality

Interview with Nicole Reimink-Böttger, Head of Diversity & Inclusion

Nicole Reimink-Böttger is responsible for the diversity policy at ABN AMRO. The new perspective on this subject is an eye opener for her: “As a bank with a social mission, we promote gender equality in many ways. We do this out of a strong belief not only that everyone deserves equal opportunities, but also that gender equality benefits everyone: women, men, families and the economy overall.”

Which results in the report surprised you the most?

I was surprised to learn that a relatively small adjustment to the distribution of paid and unpaid work increases the Netherlands’ GDP by €10 billion per year. The income of an average family with children would improve significantly if just 8 of the 168 hours of the work week were redistributed. The report shows the importance of a smart distribution of unpaid work (such as housework) as it helps families financially and empowers women to build a career. Thus, it is not only a women's issue - it’s everyone’s issue.

What do you think is standing in the way of gender equality and have you experienced this in your own career?

Women have always been at a disadvantage. The women’s rights movement in the 1960s mobilised women across the world to fight for more equality. While we’ve made some progress since then, we still have a long way to go. Many businesses today are committed to equal opportunities and equal pay. But behind true equality lies so much more. Society is largely developed from a male perspective. This is how we have traditionally looked at things. This inequality is deeply rooted in our system; we don’t know any better. As a young woman starting out in my career, I never thought about gender equality. It just wasn’t an issue. I see the same thing in the young women who come to work here. You can just see them thinking: ‘do we have to? Why even go there when there’s no problem?’ But we still have a long way to go, even at ABN AMRO. There’s an imbalance between the number of men and women in senior and middle management positions, but we’re making strides in improving that imbalance through the objectives we have set. Moreover, biases and social norms influence women's choices regarding education, career, and care.

What is ABN AMRO doing to create equal opportunities within the bank?

Whenever we implement any process, we always ask ourselves: how can we make this more inclusive? A good example of this is using job adverts with gender-neutral language. Since doing so, we’ve attracted more female applicants without discouraging their male counterparts. It’s great to see this starts bearing fruit right away. Another practical way we’ve set about achieving inclusivity is by making sure that all job interviews are conducted by a male/female team. And we invite at least two women for every vacancy. The bank is also making headway in its role as a sports sponsor. We set out on this journey by sponsoring the Ajax Women and a female empowerment programme in hockey, where women are also faced with unequal opportunities. The bank also supports a host of initiatives. Female employees may wear men's work clothing to work if they feel more comfortable doing so. We also see that having children has a big impact on our colleagues, which is why we have introduced six weeks of paid partner leave and a toolbox for engaging in conversation with your partner and manager about the division of care and work as you prepare for the birth of your child.

Aside from women, what are you doing for other groups who also lack equal opportunity?

We have programmes for status holders, people with poor employment prospects and the advancement of colleagues from different cultural backgrounds. Equal opportunity is a big topic and is so much broader than what we have studied to date. This report can provide tools for putting gender equality on the map and starting a conversation about it, but also for looking at other target groups who suffer from the same disadvantages. This report is the first step in sending a signal that it’s really important for a company to be a reflection of society. It is not about 'man versus woman' or 'us versus them'. It is about 'us and them', about 'women and men'. That is how we all benefit, both within companies and in society as a whole.

Also read the interview with Chantal Korteweg, Director of Inclusive Banking ABN AMRO here.