Standard Chartered reveals UK & US ethnic representation targets

The Standard Chartered Bank has revealed its ethnic representation targets for both the UK and US senior leadership teams.

In the US, the bank plans to double the number of Black/African American staff in leadership positions from the current 4% to 8% in 2025. It also wants to increase Hispanic/Latino representation to 14% (from the current 10.4%). In the UK, it plans to increase Black representation in leadership from 1.3% to 5% in 2025. Overall, the bank plans to increase the total number of Black, Asian and Ethnic minorities in the UK’s top roles to 20% (up from 12.7%).

In a joint statement, Tracy Clarke, Regional CEO Europe and Americas, and Torry Berntsen, CEO and Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Americas, who replaces Tracy as Regional CEO, Europe and Americas, from 1st January 2021, said: “We believe that diversity is a competitive advantage and that companies should be accountable for ethnic representation and equality for all team members. This is about being transparent and living up to our valued behaviours of doing the right thing and never settle.”

ETHNIC REPRESENTATION MATTERS

“Having a workforce whose nationality and ethnicity are broadly representative of our markets and client base mean we can understand and support our colleagues and our clients better,” they added. “It also helps us make fair decisions, remain open and transparent, and make sure that hiring decisions are always made based on a candidate’s skills suitability for the job. Setting these goals will help us to track and drive progress.”

Diversity and inclusion are embedded in the Bank’s values and are an inherent part of its brand and culture, said Standard Chartered Bank. It also believes that its staff should reflect the diverse markets in which it operates. Today, the Bank has 129 nationalities within its workforce. Around 31% of the Board are of African and Asian nationalities and its Global Management Team comprises members from a variety of markets including India, US, UK, Singapore and Germany. Additionally, 71% of all the Bank’s market CEOs are of African, Asian or Middle Eastern heritage, confirmed the bank.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVES

The bank confirmed that it has invested in several global diversity and inclusion initiatives around the world. Here are just a few of the ones launched in the Europe and Americas region:

• To date, over 98% of the Bank’s People Leaders have completed its Global Inclusive Leadership Programme, which emphasises awareness of unconscious bias in decision making; promotes a culture of inclusion; empowers them to lead by example in role modelling inclusive behaviours; and guides them to actively consider diversity and inclusion in key people decisions.
• It has launched a How to have conversations about race toolkit, which assists colleagues, employee resource groups and People leaders to understand the historical contexts, regional complexities and how to begin the conversation on race as a starting point to drive change.
• The bank has taken proactive steps in recruitment practices to eliminate barriers to reaching a wider pool of ethnic minority candidates.
• It has launched targeted development programmes such as, mentoring, reciprocal mentoring, coaching and sponsorship.
• The bank has committed to the 10,000 Black Interns campaign, enabling more opportunities for Black students in the UK.
• It has signed up to Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter, an initiative in partnership with the UK government, designed to improve outcomes for Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees in the UK.
• The bank has partnered with Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) to support its mission of building a diverse talent pipeline for the next generation of leaders by helping exceptional US students from under-resourced backgrounds gain access to higher education and professional development.
• It is establishing partnerships with a number of racially diverse schools and colleges in the US.
• Its Origins, Nationality and Ethnicity (ONE) Employee Resource Groups focus on promoting increased cultural awareness and providing support to colleagues across the UK and the US.
• The bank leverages Futuremakers to work with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) to support the Parity Project; a programme to support young Black men who disproportionately struggle with unemployment or underemployment.
• It has launched a pilot of Futuremakers RISE mentoring programme, which will create a pipeline for talent from the banks’ communities by raising awareness of early career opportunities and providing workshops to prepare for the application process.