Note from headline sponsor

Diversity engenders competitive advantage

Banks have been slow to address diversity, but at their peril

Richard Whorton Head of HR Allica Bank

The benefits of a diverse workforce are well documented. Teams with broader representation have been proven to make better decisions and be more productive, while more inclusive hiring expands the pool of talent from which to recruit. Clearly, improving diversity doesn’t just make ethical sense, but it makes business sense, too.

It can also help banks better serve you and your clients – a workforce that reflects its customer base can tailor product offerings to meet their needs more closely.

And the SME market is only getting more diverse. The 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor identified that ethnic minorities and migrants are now nearly twice as likely to be early-stage entrepreneurs as white British people. Earlier this year, research in The Telegraph revealed that more women are starting businesses than men.

Despite this, larger and more established banks are struggling to adjust their representation at pace. Which is why, at Allica, we don’t just see improving representation in our workforce as the right thing to do, but an opportunity to gain a competitive edge, too.

Allica’s diversity stats

Of course, it’s important that we are transparent about our affairs, and we recognise that Allica still has a lot of work to do. However, improving our diversity is a key business objective, and I’m pleased that we made great progress in 2021:

• Ethnic minority representation grew from 32% to 40%

• Female representation went up from 36% to 42%

• Women in senior leadership roles increased from 11% to 28%

• Our tech and data team went from 15% female to 30%

And this is just the start.

Proactive measures

Alongside our recruitment policy I wanted to call out two more initiatives which, I believe, encourage diversity and give Allica a strong competitive advantage.

For one, top-level accountability. Our executive committee is targeted and held accountable for improving diversity within the business, and the results directly impact the annual bonus of all employees. From the top down, the entire company is actively working towards this objective.

Secondly, flexible working. The nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday work schedule can be alienating to many lifestyles – most notably, parents. Allica is embracing hybrid working, and we encourage all our managers and employees to have open conversations about working patterns that suit them best and we do whatever we can to accommodate them.

It’s only by taking proactive measures like these that we can really impact equality and diversity in the workplace. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger, too.