3.2 International Women’s Day 2023. How can men get involved in supporting women?

All men, from entry-level positions to executives, must actively engage with each other and their female colleagues. Change will not happen if we rely on a few inspirational leaders; it needs to be a groundswell of support.

"Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone's responsibility."Ban Ki-moon, Former SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations.

Trade Finance Global (TFG) is happy to champion International Women's Day 2023, highlighting the stories and success of women across the trade, treasury and payments (TTP) industry and beyond.

While promoting these women and their stories is the first step, the ultimate goal is to change the underlying structures of the industry to reach gender parity.

Reaching this goal is attainable but requires a collective effort from all parties involved.

Women supporting other women is vital to achieving gender equity, but this dynamic has always existed.

The next step is finding a way for men to get involved and champion the march to gender parity.

TFG gathered women leaders to discuss their experiences and strategies to get men more involved in promoting women in trade, treasury and payments.

Setting the tone - the role of culture in promoting gender diversity

According to a Deloitte study, men held 81% of C-suite positions and 95% of CEO positions globally in the financial services industry in 2021. While the ultimate goal is to increase the number of women in these positions, change has to stem from these male leaders.

Many roundtable attendees agreed they could sense the equitable nature and overall company culture from the first interview.

One participant said, "you just get a sense of this stuff."

One roundtable attendee said the company culture was immediately apparent when she asked for a flexible working arrangement.

The male executives supported her, "There was no awkward silence. There was no; we'll have to discuss that. We'll think about that later. Instead, it was, this can work for us. We can make it work."

This type of inclusive culture ultimately pays dividends for the company.

The roundtable participants agreed that leaders who support women employees and create a genuinely equitable workplace see a rise in loyalty and productivity in response.

Male leaders must step up and "exhibit equitable and inclusive behaviour and are not ashamed of it, [I] think then it speaks volumes and spreads further around the organisation."

Not all women face the same challenges

For far too long, the conversation has only revolved around women in developed countries who face the challenge of balancing motherhood and a career. But this excludes many women from different backgrounds.

Research is limited in developing countries, but in the U.S. and U.K., 44% and 37% of women surveyed said they don't want children (figure 1).

How do we support women from different backgrounds with other needs?

One participant said, "We need to start by at least identifying the key challenges that many women face and have embedded policies that support them, and then we can respond to differing needs."

Embedded policies providing a framework for women to feel comfortable are essential for workplace equity.

Creating an open and transparent company culture can solve many of these issues.

One person said that creating this transparent environment can help normalise women's struggles, "I would love to see an environment where I can say, I can't come in today. I've just started my menstrual cycle, and it's incredibly painful. I'm really sorry; I have to work from home."

But not all women face the same challenges.

A participant asked, "Why can't I just say I need a half-day?"

Some women often need to disclose why they must take time off work, putting them in uncomfortable situations - this reinforces the fact that one policy cannot fit all.

The TTP industry needs to adapt accordingly.

It's not just a problem for mothers; it's an everyone problem

*Box "I have a recently divorced person in my team who has custody of his children. He needed to come to me and say, 'How will we organise my team? I need to be at home during the afternoon because I need to pick them up from school. I need to be with them. If I don't do that, they will take custody away from me.' This is a problem that everyone faces." *Box

Mothers and fathers face familial stresses in the workplace, but real inclusivity means understanding the problems of employees without children, partners, or LGBTQ employees.

These people will face different challenges in the workplace and require other solutions. The key to making equitable progress for everyone?

"You have to speak up. Luckily, we have more women in leadership positions. As more women reach the top, they highlight these issues to the board and executives. They're talking with men about discrimination, about parental leave."

Male mentorship: Unconscious exclusion

"The majority of men that I work with have no ill intent. They don't think they discriminate; they think they're inclusive."

But the problem lies within the unconscious behaviour of male executives.

The roundtable agreed that mentoring is one of the most effective ways to help younger employees.

However, often, male executives offer out-of-work mentoring through pub nights or sporting events. "Suddenly, they want just to be boys, and then I have to try and recreate that relationship."

When the participant mentioned this issue, the executive immediately regretted the environment they created. Providing the proper feedback is important, but men must be aware of the culture they are building and spreading.

But the data doesn't back this statement.

More qualified women than ever are in the industry, which will naturally lead to a higher proportion of promotions.

For example, "Rwanda had 30% quotas for electing female members of Parliament. Over the years, the quota was removed. Now they elect 56% of women anyway because then they see that women are doing an amazing job and how diversity makes a difference."

Time and time again, women aren't hired or elected because they are a woman; they are hired or elected because they are qualified.

However, some men still feel increasingly insecure and challenged by growing diversity.

One roundtable participant said, "The numbers don't give them any reason to feel that way. That's the basic starting point. Just remind them of a few statistics, and you'll find that their case does not work."

Don't just talk about equity. Do it.

One of the more complex challenges is finding ways to hold companies accountable for their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Moreso, there needs to be a system to ensure DEI initiatives are not box-checking exercises, filling a role with a woman just to hit a specific benchmark.

fill certain roles, but they must facilitate for those women to be skilled and be the right women, rather than just doing it because they're female."

Importantly, these targets must have financial and nonfinancial metrics. Companies and executives should "feel the pain if they don't push the strategies that support that objective."

Companies have publicly spoken about DEI policies, but things won't change until they feel the financial or social pressure to implement them.

Every man has to engage

Gender equity has certainly made improvements in the past few decades. But there is a long way to go still. Sometimes, it feels like women take two steps forward and one step back in the workplace.

One participant said, "I find that the agenda on diversity shifts depending on leadership, then that person moves on…there is no consistency in the effort."

All men, from entry-level positions to executives, must actively engage with each other and their female colleagues.

The change will not happen if we rely on a few inspirational leaders; it needs to be a groundswell of support. „

As more women are hired and promoted internally, this phrase is said far too often.

One participant said it is essential to clarify, "A company should strive to find X% of women to

CARTER HOFFMAN

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 reveals that despite progress made towards gender equality in education and health, the gender gap in economic participation and opportunity remains essentially unchanged.

The report states that at the current rate of progress, it would take another 132 years (figure 1) to close the global gender gap.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated the gender gap, with women disproportionately affected by job losses and economic insecurity.

One area where gender inequality is particularly pronounced is in financial inclusion, where women are more likely to be excluded from formal financial services, limiting their economic opportunities.

To accelerate progress, we need innovative solutions, including digital financial services and financial education programs tailored to the specific needs of women.

At Trade Finance Global’s (TFG) annual Women in Trade, Treasury and Payments, we spoke to several prominent female leaders across the industry.

This wide-ranging roundtable discussion - explored global financial inclusion, gender lens investing, and how to get more women into senior leadership roles at major firms.

Gender lens investing: the economic benefits of investing in women

Participants unanimously agreed that investing in women is a real business case, which will ensure that more financing goes to this underserved market segment.

Despite research showing that investing in women-owned businesses positively impacts economic growth, many financial institutions fail to adequately target such businesses or create financial products tailored to their needs.

In many countries, womenowned businesses - particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - face challenges in accessing financing. These challenges, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, limit the potential of these businesses to grow, create jobs, and thrive in the economy.

One possible solution that the World Bank has trialled provides micro-loan programs to women who lack access to traditional banking services, helping them start small businesses.

While these programs and much of the rhetoric on the impact of investing in women-owned enterprises focus on developing countries, it is crucial to recognise that investing in women is relevant to all advanced and emerging economies.

Gender lens investing and other strategies for improving financial inclusion for women

Another emerging practice for removing gender inequalities across the financing landscape is gender lens investing.

Gender lens investing refers to considering gender and its impact on investment opportunities and allocating capital to businesses and organisations that promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Advocates can further support disadvantaged women by combining gender lens investing with micro-investing approaches.

Source:

Research has demonstrated that this can be an excellent way to support female entrepreneurs in developing markets, particularly in informal business areas where they may not have access to traditional financing options.

According to the OECD, supporting the development of digital payment systems can help women entrepreneurs in developing markets overcome the challenges of carrying cash across borders and putting themselves at risk of attack or robbery.

By providing these entrepreneurs with safe and reliable payment systems, they can more efficiently and safely conduct business transactions and manage their finances.

Finally, it’s essential to embrace and bring women into the formal banking sector, which can help to break down the barriers that prevent women from accessing financing and other financial services.

Introducing women to banking can be achieved through initiatives such as Visa’s financial literacy programme, Practical Money Skills, whose outreach efforts help underserved communities and bridge local organisations and community groups.

While gender lens investing has many demonstrated benefits, it has some potential downsides.

One of the challenges is that if the focus is solely on gender, it may limit the mainstreaming of the investments and create specific funds, which could have a smaller pool of funding available than mainstream investments.

Additionally, there is a risk of negative screening, where certain investments are excluded based on gender considerations, which can lead to a narrow investment portfolio.

To overcome these challenges, it can help to have women in prominent leadership positions across the industry.

Strategies for helping early-career women progress to leadership positions

While progress moves towards gender equality in the workplace, a recent report from Deloitte highlights the ongoing underrepresentation of women in top corporate leadership positions, with women occupying only 20% of boardroom seats globally.

Participants at TFG’s roundtable agreed that nurturing the talent pipeline is crucial to getting more women into the boardroom.

Several initiatives can help women early in their careers develop the skills, experience, and confidence to reach and excel in senior leadership positions.

One approach organisations can take is providing mentorship and coaching programs to support women’s career growth.

Mentoring programmes benefit women - pairing junior women with more senior female leaders who can provide guidance, advice, and support on a personal level whilst also using their influence in the organisation helps create opportunities for other women.

Organisations need to ensure that the excellent female leaders who have already broken through to senior roles are visible so that early-career women can see what is possible and have role models to look up to.

Providing opportunities for women leaders to speak at conferences and events can be one way to highlight their achievements.

Companies must also instil policies that ensure women don’t feel penalised for choosing motherhood in their careers.

The best way to promote this is to offer flexible work arrangements, parental leave, and other policies that support work-life balance for both men and women.

One final suggestion from the discussion was to have goals and targets for gender diversity in hiring and promotions, which can involve setting targets for the number of women in leadership positions and tracking progress towards those targets.

Many of these approaches may require firms to develop a different organisational mindset. They involve actively prioritising gender diversity and creating a culture that values and supports women’s career growth.

This type of change is not always easy.

6 Tactics For Creating A Gender Inclusive Company Culture

Developing an organisational culture that respects and actively encourages gender equality is vital to nurturing the next generation of female business leaders to take that first step and enter an industry that has yet to shed its outmoded ‘old boys club’ existence entirely.

Here are some practical suggestions for organisations and the individuals within them to achieve this goal.

ƒ Open up entry-level jobs to more women: Companies should ensure that entry-level positions are accessible to women, allowing them to get a foot in the door and kickstart their careers.

ƒ Be deliberate about hiring, training, and promoting women: Companies need to be intentional about hiring, training, and promoting women. They should set specific goals to ensure that women are included and are progressing at the same rate as their male counterparts.

ƒ Provide visibility and space for women to thrive: Companies should give women in the workplace visibility and an area to thrive. This will ensure that they are not overlooked, and it will help to break down the misperception that women are not as creative, firm, or committed to their careers as their male counterparts.

ƒ Have more women at the top: Having more women in leadership positions will help to accelerate the progress of young talent and boost the careers of other women in the company. It will also help to break down the perception that trade finance and other male-dominated fields are not for women.

ƒ Launch programs that support diversity: Women in leadership positions should be responsible for launching programs that support diversity and take care of the young talent in their organisations. This will help to create a more inclusive workplace and boost the careers of women in the company.

ƒ Be brave and speak up: Sometimes, it is about being brave and being in a room full of men. Women should not be afraid to raise their voices and highlight the need for additional female voices in leadership and other positions. This will help to break down barriers and create a more inclusive workplace culture. 

3.4

More than just checking a box. Are quotas the way forward for promoting gender diversity?

Implementing quotas into hiring practices is a long-standing and controversial idea to increase the speed of this process. Even amongst TFG’s roundtable, opinions were divided about using quotas to enforce gender diversity amongst teams within the TTP space.

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair”Shirley Chisholm.

Progress does not happen when a society sits by idly.

Women’s progress in the workplace, family life, and the world in general only marches on when we all participate actively.

It requires courage to think outside the box and break the status quo by introducing new ideas and initiatives to empower women worldwide.

Some of these initiatives will be industry-specific, some must include individuals from all walks of life, and some will be a product of their time.

The world saw how COVID-19 changed workplace dynamics and had varying impacts on groups worldwide. The key to progress is flexibility and adaptability.

And the reality is that only some initiatives will work. But that is part of the process. Progress is not linear, and it takes many attempts by all members of society to find the right path forward.

To find out which initiatives have been successful, which have not worked, and how the trade, treasury, and payments (TTP) industry can support women in the workplace, Trade Finance Global (TFG) held a Women in Trade roundtable discussion with female leaders in the TTP.

Gender tokenism - how genuine efforts lead to genuine results

Simply going through the motions of highlighting women in the workplace will not produce results.

One roundtable participant said: “when a woman is invited to speak because you’re a woman rather than because you’re the expert, it can reinforce a negative stereotype.”

These types of “gendertokenism” efforts are examples of companies that want to check the box instead of supporting female experts in their field. Often, there is lots of public communication around these initiatives or speeches, but “what lacks is the follow through.”

One participant said, “You need to see a genuine leadership commitment to have gender parity, to implement a gender diversity approach through all levels of the organisation, including at the leadership level.

Because if employees see only males in those senior positions, they won’t buy into the organisation’s strategy.”

A way to start this process is by “allowing women to have their voices heard in the same way men do.”

Quotas: Is there a correct answer?

It is well-accepted that gender equity is not progressing at an acceptable speed. The WEF’s Global Gender Report shows that, at our current pace, we will not reach gender equity for another 132 years.

Implementing quotas into hiring practices is a long-standing and controversial idea to increase the speed of this process.

Even amongst TFG’s roundtable, opinions were divided about using quotas to enforce gender diversity amongst teams within the TTP space.

One participant, who does not support quotas, said a colleague told her, “I’ve got here on my merit, and actually, that was much harder for me. The last thing I want is for somebody to think that I’ve got to this position to tick a box or to fulfil some statistic.”

But another speaker said data regarding gender, racial, and sexual orientation representation shows a different picture.

Another roundtable member said, “Every time somebody talks about women in corporate boardrooms, where’s that number? We’re down at the bottom. Every time they talk about women in senior positions, we’re down at the bottom. Every time we talk about black people, minorities, people from the underserved or LGBTQ+ community, we’re down at the bottom.”

Ultimately, there was a consensus that if quotas are not the way forward, companies need to use data to track gender statistics and create “specific goals and conscious efforts to be more inclusive and give women a fair opportunity.”

Using data to drive conversation and force action can be the catalyst for real change. One participant said you don’t need to implement quotas to force change. “If executives don’t achieve agreed-upon goals, they don’t get their bonuses!”

Elevating women’s role in decision-making roles

A theme that arose in the roundtable is that not everything is black and white, things often are nuanced. A male was recently appointed as president of a prominent international organisation. How did the roundtable attendees feel about this?

“I think he is going to be terrific, he was the best person for the job.”

Importantly, numerous women on the search committee were involved in the entire process. The key is creating a companywide culture of inclusion and understanding.

“Women in those leadership positions are important in sending a signal throughout the organisation, not only to employees internally but to external stakeholders.”

The impact of COVID-19 on women’s progress

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how the world works, which has benefits and negatives.

On the one hand, studies have shown that women-dominated industries were more adversely affected by the pandemic compared to male-dominated industries and that gender pay has increased since 2020.

On the other, workplace flexibility is making it easier for women to balance a work-life balance. Mothers can now care for their children with less concern about interrupting their careers.

Yet, this may have a negative impact on women as well. Studies have shown that women have increased their percentage of childcare since the onset of COVID-19.

However, the panel noted that this conversation changes when discussing women in developing countries.

One roundtable participant said, “COVID-19 did some really difficult things for women in developing countries, notably with the digital divide.

Kids who weren’t at school and so talented young girls didn’t have access to computers couldn’t just go to school virtually.”

According to UNICEF in January 2022, more than 616 million students remain affected by full or partial school closures. In lowand middle-income countries, learning losses to school closures have left up to 70 per cent of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53 per cent pre-pandemic.

This type of discussion between industry experts in both developed and developing countries can help build sustainable and fruitful connections. While women face different challenges depending on their careers, family status and region, promoting women is a unified global effort.

Equity at large: how to involve all women

Empowering women is a task that involves every member of society; women, men, girls, and boys.

At TFG’s Women in TPP event 2023, “pass it along” was a unanimously agreed motto by the participants.

For men, it starts with accountability.

One participant said, “We discussed gender partnerships with women and men. Men becoming allies. Men must step up and be brave enough to call out the behaviour of those around them. It shouldn’t be the women doing all that work; men need to come forward.”

Additionally, the TTP industry must actively reach out, support, and inject capital into women-led enterprises.

One roundtable attendee said that she had a client who worked for a sizeable export-oriented firm. In the ten years at this company, the client had never received a call from a male bank executive.

Proactive outreach is vital to making women feel welcomed and included in the workplace.

But to truly reach society as a whole, one participant said education is the biggest key. The attendee said that women in developed and developing countries all need access to better education.

The march towards gender parity starts with all of us, from CEOs of global institutions to local hospitality workers, to school teachers. Without a unified effort, gender parity might take another 132.

3.5