Western Union‘s head of payments products UK has said that the finance sector has never been a “particularly diverse” industry and is often referred to as the “old boys” network.
Speaking to RBI, Karen Penney discussed how even just a few years ago diversity and inclusion was not on the agenda for most financial institutions.
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UK-based statistics from Randstad also revealed that in 2018 only one in 10 management positions within financial services were held by people with ethnic minority backgrounds.
“When I look back to when I started in finance, most senior leaders were white men,” Penney said. “Even the FCA themselves say that diversity is not good in financial services. Although, things are gradually changing as a result of companies issuing their levels of diversity.
“A couple of years ago, very few companies actually stated what their levels were and only half actually championed diversity. With the changes that are happening now, diversity is becoming ever more important.”
Penney’s message chimes in with the UN’s World Day for Cultural Diversity and Dialogue on 21 May 2021.
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By GlobalData
Ethnicity targets
Movements such as Black Lives Matter have put increasing pressure on banks to change how they operate and incorporate diversity and inclusion. As a result, a number have added D&I into their company strategies, with some setting ethnicity targets.
For instance, Bank of America, HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Lloyds, have all set goals to increase the number of people from minority backgrounds in senior roles. In addition, JP Morgan recently announced that two senior female leaders will head up its consumer bank.
“Companies are now making much more of a commitment to diversity and inclusion,” Penney added. “It is very important to have both – it is no good having diversity if you then aren’t inclusive and have an open and transparent culture where people can really be themselves and have a voice. Encouragingly, there is change happening as organisations are now setting targets and so on. This in itself is a massive step forward.”
However, Penney highlighted that there is a danger of these targets becoming just box-ticking exercises for banks, and so, it is important for these initiatives to remain real and authentic.
Western Union praised for diversity
Western Union is an organisation that prides itself on diversity and inclusion – earlier this year, the payments company received a score of 85 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. It also was named in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index.
Speaking on this, Penney said: “One of the first questions I asked when joining Western Union was around diversity and inclusion, particularly gender equality. I was very impressed by what I saw then and I continue to be. We have a number of initiatives tailored towards women. And by making these statements we are showing that not only do we take diversity seriously internally but externally too.”
This comes after the FCA launched a review into gender equality within financial services. The review found that, despite the effects of the pandemic, the majority of signatory companies had met or were in the process of meeting their targets.
Meanwhile, the FCA admitted to falling short of its target, which is to have 45% of its senior leadership roles held by women by 2020 and half by 2025. It fell short of that target by 5%.
