Industry experts share their take on International Women's Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) – celebrated every March 8 – is an important opportunity for companies to celebrate women’s achievements and talents, and to act on the issue of gender equality, according to Beverley Yeomans of independent financial advisory deVere Group.

As well as being the chief operating officer, Yeomans (pictured left) was appointed by the firm as its inaugural chief diversity officer in September 2021.

At the time of her appointment, Nigel Green, chief executive and founder, commented that she has been “at the top of her game in a senior executive role and more recently on the board, for more than two decades in a highly male-dominated sector.”

Green said: “Due to traditional industry biases, it’s a depressing reality that very few women have ever achieved this level, so young, and for this long in international financial services. But Beverley tore-up that ‘rule book’, breaking down barriers and leading by example. She was the ideal person to become our first-ever chief diversity officer.”

“Companies must do more than virtue signalling”

According to Yeomans, companies must do more than virtue-signalling and commit to taking measurable steps to improve gender equality in the workplace.

“Last year, companies around the world rushed to delete their virtue-signalling social media posts in real time on International Women’s Day when challenged about their hypocrisy,” she said. “To be clear, companies should indeed be promoting the core values of IWD on Twitter and other platforms; but they cannot only do this, and not only on March 8 each year.

“Their public displays of advocacy, without actually doing anything to support the cause in a meaningful way, is unhelpful.”

Yeomans added that companies have an obligation to do more for gender equality because it is not only a moral imperative, but it also makes good business sense.

“Those businesses that prioritise gender equality are better positioned to attract and retain top talent, nurture a culture of innovation and creativity, make better decisions, meet customer needs, and fulfill their social responsibility,” she pointed out.

Happy #InternationalWomensDay There's much to celebrate ✨ about women's achievements, yet we all know there's more to do. Worldwide🌎 let's #EmbraceEquity & build a better world for women everywhere. Collectively we can all forge positive change #IWD2023👉🏽https://t.co/yvAXmQnnxd pic.twitter.com/bwXu5EVyg1

— Women's Day (@womensday) March 8, 2023

How to improve gender equality in the workplace and why?

As well as advocacy on social media, Yeomans stressed that companies should take concrete steps to improve gender equality and the status of women in their organisations.

“Firms must set specific goals for improving gender diversity at all levels of the organisations and track their progress over time,” she said. “Policies and practices such as flexible work arrangements, parental leave, and equal pay for equal work must be implemented; recruitment and promotion processes must be proven to be fair and unbiased; and training and education should be given to employees and managers, where appropriate, on issues related to gender equality, harassment, and inclusive leadership.”

Kate Davies (right in picture), executive director at the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, agreed, saying that “it feels like a no-brainer to boost gender diversity in financial services.”

“Half the population is female, so most mortgage decisions are either going to be made solely or jointly by women,” she stated. “Many will prefer to be advised by someone who looks and thinks like them, and who understands their financial and personal circumstances. Someone who won’t patronise them or assume they won’t understand ‘difficult’ things like finance. Surely, many broker firms will want to employ teams which reflect their customer base in terms of gender and ethnicity?”

Davies added that there is evidence that where there are women on boards, decisions tend to be more collegiate and better for the business.

“More inclusive and diverse teams also reflect more inclusive and diverse points of view, giving them a better understanding of what consumers need and value, and ultimately offering customers better service in terms of product design and service delivery,” she said. “From a team perspective, having a representative and diverse pool of employees ensures that everyone feels welcome, and nobody feels singled out.

“HR departments and managers will need to monitor how people are being trained and promoted, to make sure that women who opt to work from home as much as possible are not being overlooked. If they are, they may well leave, and their talents will be lost.”

Many women are financially vulnerable

Junaid Mujaver, partner of financial services at operations consultancy Newton, said that when it comes to finances, women have historically not had equal rights, even pointing out that it wasn’t until 1975 that a woman could open a bank account in her own name.

“Worryingly, we see that even today a significant proportion of women are financially vulnerable,” Mujaver remarked. “Financial vulnerability is an umbrella term that includes things like reduced financial education or limited financial resilience. It also covers those who have suffered economic abuse or financially controlling behaviour in relationships, which, according to the FCA, is true of one in five women.

“Financial vulnerability is one of the segments of vulnerability highlighted by the FCA, which needs to be a key area of focus for financial services providers in the run up to Consumer Duty coming into effect this summer.”

Sam Compton, director of operations at SmartSave Bank, added that today, there is no good reason why men should have more money than women.

“However, the gender savings gap remains as stark as ever – recent research has uncovered that women in the UK are still saving over a third less than men,” Compton said. “This ultimately hinders their financial freedom, limiting their ability to save for important life goals and even fund their retirement.

“Lower disposable income is the primary reason for this. Tackling these issues at the source is imperative, but most banking services today are too generic to help level the playing field. Creating more targeted savings products – products that take women’s lived experiences into account and make their lives easier – and empowering women through financial education are the keys to championing real gender equity.”

Mujaver stressed that firms will need to lean on data, insight, and expertise to ensure they are treating all customers with adequate care.

“This year’s IWD theme is Embrace Equity. Financial services must do exactly this, and strive for a future where no one, regardless of gender, is disadvantaged or poorly served,” he said.

Do you agree that gender inequality is still common in the workplace? Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment in the discussion box at the bottom of the page.