Gender equality at the bank: the next step

When asked how the initiative first developed, Maria Anne van Dijk, Global Lead, Social Sustainability at ABN AMRO says, “It was one of my colleagues at our Singapore office who got the ball rolling when she asked, ‘Why aren’t we affiliated with the Women’s Empowerment Principles?’” “Good question,” thought Maria Anne. “The bank has a long history of working very intentionally towards greater gender equality within a broader vision of diversity policy. We’ve already taken some very big steps, particularly since our CEO is so committed to this issue. But we hadn’t yet signed up to the WEPs,” she says.

Women’s Empowerment Principles

The principles, or WEPs for short, are an initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact. Thousands of organisations around the world have now signed up to these guiding principles, which the bank, too, has since endorsed. Nicole Böttger, Head of Diversity & Inclusion at ABN AMRO, is pleased that the bank is taking this step. She says, “The WEPs are about promoting female leadership, but they also cover things like health and safety issues.” She says that equally if not more important is the fact that the bank is now looking to focus greater attention on female clients. Maria Anne says, “With our standard-bearer Judith Sanders, an investment strategist with the bank well known for addressing in the Dutch media the role of women in investment, we’ve been able to highlight women’s attitudes to money. These often differ from those of men, particularly when it comes to investment. But is the bank really doing enough to cater for those differences? The answer continues to be that there’s plenty of room for improvement. There’s real scope for us to raise our profile with women, and perhaps even develop products that respond better to their particular needs.”

Balance at every level

The bank is also examining its strategies for recruiting new staff. Nicole explains, “We’re taking a different approach to job ads since we realised they just weren’t attuned enough to women. We’re making changes to all our ads now. Research shows that more women are responding and that the new ads don’t deter male candidates, so it’s a win-win.” Nicole was a recent contributor to a high-profile report on quotas for women in top jobs published by the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands. She says, “After the report came out, it became clear to us that this topic resonates widely. People are being challenged to look at the female-to-male ratio in executive positions in their own organisations. At the same time, we want to urgently address other themes within gender equality. It’s not just about the top tier – it’s about striking a balance at every corporate level. That’s why endorsing the WEPs is so important. We’re seeing that the initiative has wide support throughout the bank and that it shows our clients that we’re taking this issue very seriously.”

Change is in the air

So what exactly is the bank’s strategy in concrete terms? Maria Anne says, “We’ve identified so many opportunities we want to take advantage of. We want this to be so much more than an endorsement – it’s about actually putting the WEPs into practice. We see opportunities involving the development of products for female entrepreneurs and bringing investment to the attention of women in an effective way. We’re also going to be looking at lending and encourage open discussion. And we’re not just going to keep sponsoring top male athletes as the default option. The bank is now actively supporting Ajax Vrouwen, a women’s football club in Amsterdam. Ever since the #metoo movement, change is in the air. At every level, we’re trying to get the message across that it’s not about forcing change, but that we truly believe in this cause and see how valuable it is.” And it doesn’t stop there, since diversity is about more than gender. The lessons learned from this approach can help ABN AMRO tackle other forms of inequality in and outside the bank. Nicole and Maria Anne both believe ABN AMRO will greatly benefit from the WEPs international network of contacts. Nicole says, “The network will allow us to easily share best practices. It’s not like we have to reinvent the wheel here. This is a global trend. Everywhere you look, you see that women are closing the gap. At ABN AMRO, we don’t just want to be part of that – we want to be at the forefront.”