HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter
HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter
The Progressive Building Society has signed the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter which has a key priority of harnessing the talents of women in financial services.
It marks the sector’s collaborative efforts to drive meaningful and permanent changes in the representation of women in financial services, to ensure women everywhere are able to fulfil their potential. In signing the Charter, the Society has made the following pledges to improve gender diversity.
Pledges
The Society will set internal targets for gender diversity in senior management.
- Continue to facilitate, to the fullest possible extent, a range of flexible working initiatives that encourage women to stay and develop their careers within the Progressive Building Society and
- Maintain current female participation levels at management (74% female participation) and Senior Management Committee (38% female participation), improving these where possible, in line with recruitment practices to ensure continued strong female representation;
- Launch an in-house leadership development programme and support and encourage female participation with a target of at least 50% female participation, building on their skills sets for the future;
- Increase the number of women who have access to Society sponsored membership of the Women in Business NI forum from 8 to 20, providing access to training, networking and mentoring opportunities to support future career and personal growth.
Progress
The Society has made strong progress against its pledges having increased the number of women in managerial roles and having appointed a female manager to the Senior Management Committee which has resulted in 50 female/50 male representation at this level.
Recent female leadership opportunities within our Branch network took the form of two females moving into Assistant Branch Manager and Branch Manager roles.
The appointment of females to high profile roles within the Society serves to illustrate the quality of leadership roles that are attainable for female staff. These women are strong role models for all of our female staff and demonstrate that there are opportunities for career growth from entry level up to the highest level within the Society.
Over the past three years, a number of Society staff have attained or are working towards ILM 3 Leadership & Management with female participation at 79%. Of the female participants, over 20% have taken up a new position within the Society. The Society’s investment in leadership training has encouraged women to seek new roles through increased confidence and by enhancing their skills sets. The Society has greatly benefitted from this female talent pipeline.
The Society had further enhanced its maternity package to encourage women to return after maternity leave and develop their careers. 100% of women on maternity leave have returned to their jobs with the Society.