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CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF BARCLAYS IN SINGAPORE
This year, Barclays is proudly celebrating a significant milestone – its 50th anniversary in Singapore. Since its establishment in the heart of Southeast Asia back in 1973, the bank has grown from strength to strength to become one of the leaders in corporate and investment banking, global markets and private banking in the region. Beyond its commercial success, Barclays has created a supportive and inclusive environment through its vibrant Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) – enabling all colleagues to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work and feel empowered to thrive in their personal and professional lives. Read on to learn more about Barclays’ ERGs and how they have contributed to Barclays’ success in Singapore.
WORKING FAMILIES RESOURCE GROUP
The Working Families Resource Group (WFRG) is part of Barclays’ Multigenerational agenda, and aims to make Barclays the employer of choice for working families by providing a supportive network for Barclays colleagues who are parents, parents-to-be or carers as they balance the challenges of family, life and work. The WFRG run regular speaker events, webinars and seminars for colleagues, and share useful information on working family-related topics. The WFRG also partners closely with Human Resources – some key successes from this partnership are implementing gender-neutral parental leave policies and Bring Your Child to Work Day, which is a popular initiative among colleagues.
EMBRACE, THE MULTICULTURAL RESOURCE GROUP
The Multicultural Resource Group (or “Embrace”) supports diversity and inclusivity across all cultures, faiths and people. Embrace’s vision is to celebrate and enable all colleagues to thrive in a multicultural environment, as well as make a positive impact in the wider community.
Throughout the year, Embrace organises events to celebrate various cultural holidays such as Lunar New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali. Through panel discussions, games and food tasting sessions, colleagues can gain deeper insights into different cultures around the world. Barclays marked World Day for Cultural Diversity in May with a global flagship event across its various locations. Colleagues can participate in activities and learn more about topics such as how culture influences mental health. Embrace also actively partners with various charities in Singapore to promote its cultural diversity and inclusion agenda, most recently raising funds to support a Malay orphanage.
“Singapore is a cultural melting pot, a place where people of different ethnicities and cultures call home. At Barclays in Singapore, our colleagues come from all around the world, making our organisation a truly vibrant and diverse environment. As Barclays celebrates 50 years of success in Singapore, we will continue to champion and embrace inclusivity of all races, faiths and cultures in the workplace and community.”
Joanne Chan (she/her), Chief Financial Officer APAC & Executive Sponsor for Barclays APAC Multicultural Agenda
REACH, THE DISABILITY, MENTAL HEALTH & NEURODIVERSITY RESOURCE GROUP
As a founding member of the ‘Singapore Business Network On DisAbility’ in 2015, Reach Singapore is committed to making Barclays the most accessible and inclusive bank for its clients, partners and colleagues. Reach’s agenda focuses on disability, mental health and neurodiversity. Some key highlights include:
• Fundraising through the annual Charity Quiz with a total proceeds of over S$100,000 donated to Autism Association Singapore, Dementia Singapore and Dyslexia Association of Singapore from 2015 to 2019; Reinforcing awareness through the celebration of the abilities of persons with special needs at The Purple Parade 2019
• Community engagement at the Singtel Carnival 2019 and 2022, Singapore’s largest event dedicated to children with special needs
• External collaborations with various Charity Partners: Home Nursing Foundation, Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore, Singapore Association for the Deaf, TomoWork
SPECTRUM, THE LGBT+ RESOURCE GROUP
Launched in Singapore in 2011, Spectrum is open to all colleagues, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Spectrum’s key workplace achievements include partnering with HR to introduce the Transitioning at Work guidelines and LGBT+ inclusive employee benefits. This year, the network has held two marquee events to raise for the LGBTQ+ community in Singapore:
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (May 2023)
• In recognition of the intersectionality between gender and LGBTQ+ issues, the network organised a coffee appreciation workshop to raise funds for T Project, the first and only social service and shelter for the transgender community in Singapore
• The initiative raised close to S$9,390 to support the transgender community with transport, food and housing needs
PRIDE Month (June 2023)
• To celebrate June Pride month in Singapore, Spectrum distributed pride-themed cupcakes, temporary sticker tattoos and limited-edition Barclays rainbow logo t-shirts
• Colleagues donated to LGBTQ+ organisations such as T Project, Action for AIDS Singapore and Oogachaga
WIN, THE GENDER RESOURCE GROUP AND EMERGE, THE EARLY CAREERS RESOURCE GROUP
Win is the Gender Resource Group that aims to engage all genders across the organisation to attract, develop, promote and retain cisgender and transgender women at all levels of Barclays. It partners with other ERGs to drive diversity and inclusion, and break down power imbalances, discrimination and inequality. Win creates spaces to drive role model behaviour where men can share opportunities, celebrate accomplishments and offer sponsorship and visibility. Win is also a longstanding partner and corporate member of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) of Singapore. Emerge is the Early Careers Resource Group that promotes multigenerational inclusivity and upskilling emerging talent by enabling cross-generational relationships.
Emerge Brighter, Win Together
In celebration of Barclays’ 50th anniversary, Emerge SG partnered with Win SG to launch its flagship Reverse Mentoring Programme in Singapore earlier this year, successfully matching 25 mentor-mentee pairs. Reverse Mentoring flips traditional mentoring by creating opportunities for senior leaders to be mentored by junior colleagues in the bank, to gain fresh insights and different perspectives to help shape their leadership style for future generations. The junior colleague is also able to benefit from the engagement by building visibility with senior management and gaining valuable tips and advice for career and personal development. During the launch event, mentor-mentee pairs met for the first time, and discuss desired objectives for the six-month mentoring relationship. The initiative demonstrates Barclays’ commitment to deepening engagement, connecting colleagues across all corporate levels and developing careers.
“Making Barclays a great place to work goes beyond the workplace – it is equally important to support colleagues of all life stages to flourish in their personal and professional lives. The Working Families ERG has been key to advocating and effecting positive changes for colleagues balancing family, life and work.”
Samuel Lim (he/him), Senior Relationship Manager APAC & Executive Co-Sponsor for Barclays APAC Multigenerational Agenda
“Barclays’ goal is to be an employer of choice for all generations. Our aim is to cultivate a multigenerational environment where colleagues of all stages in life feel confident to bring their unique experiences to work. Our ERGs are the driving force of this agenda – pushing for more supportive workplace policies, as well as connecting senior and junior colleagues across the bank.”
Yun Zhang (she/her), Head of Macro Trading, APAC, Global Head of MTN & Structured Notes Trading and Global Co-Head of Hybrids Trading, APAC Executive Co-Sponsor of the Multigenerational Agenda Multigenerational Agenda
ENVIRONMENT NETWORK
Barclays’ environment networks play a critical role in supporting our goal to become a net zero bank by 2050. The network educates colleagues on the unique challenges and nuances of climate change, while also actively contributing to the core business objectives to ensure the bank makes the right business decisions for its clients, colleagues and communities. Barclays was the first bank to establish a global Sustainability Impact Investment Banking group back in 2019.
BE WELL CHAMPIONS
Barclays is committed to giving colleagues the tools and support they need to be their best self. The Be Well programme is a wellbeing initiative that provides colleagues the resources and tools to best care for their physical and mental health. From tailored expert guidance to events, Be Well is a one stop shop to support Barclay colleagues in meeting their personal and professional goals. Be Well champions are Barclays colleagues who champion health and wellbeing across their teams and networks.
GRADUATE, APPRENTICE, INTERN NETWORK (GAIN)
GAIN is the network for Barclays graduates, apprentices and interns, open to current and past early career programme colleagues. First created in September 2021, GAIN is a vibrant global community that hosts exciting events, shares inspiring content and helpful online tools to help young colleagues build their knowledge and network. The community serves as a platform to connect and share the opportunities that Barclays has to offer and support junior colleagues in their career progression.
“The Barclays Singapore ERGs work tirelessly to drive the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion agenda across the bank. I’ve seen first-hand how effective the ERGs are in promoting awareness, creating internal networks and supporting individuals across all the pillars of DEI. Our colleagues’ passion and dedication are an inspiration to us all, and they make our workplace a more equitable, diverse and fun place to be. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we still have a lot of work to do but we should be proud of the success that we’ve had and I look forward to seeing more progress on our DEI agenda in the years ahead.”
