WIBF President – TACKLING THE GENDER GAP | THE POWER OF THE NETWORK

Last month we saw major financial institutions, including our corporate members RBS, Barclays and Lloyds sign up to a new voluntary charter aimed at getting more women into senior roles in the finance industry.

“The charter contains four voluntary proposals designed to improve companies’ gender balance, following recommendations by Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO Virgin Money. Companies pledge that they will:

• Appoint an executive responsible for gender, diversity and inclusion
• Set internal targets for gender diversity in senior management
• Publish gender statistics annually on their website
• Link the pay of senior executives to delivery against these targets.

What do you think? I would be very interested to hear your views on this – email me at [email protected]

You can play an essential role in ensuring that women are recognised for their achievements in your workplace by nominating your colleague, your manager or your team for a WIBF Award for Achievement.
Spread the inspiration, share the innovations; by placing their head above the parapet YOU are doing the job that needs to be done to tackle the gender gap in a meaningful way. Look at all the great women you work with.
Nominate them. Now. Nominations close on Friday 8 April. You can nominate online, where you will also find full guidance notes.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – THE POWER OF THE NETWORK

As you know, the power of WIBF is in our network and I was delighted to see that network in action on International Women’s Day, at the launch of Fin4Fem (an educational programme focused on sourcing finance created by ENTIQ and the UK Business Angels Association). WIBF put ENTIQ in touch with Marion Leslie from Thomson Reuters (and winner of the 2014 WIBF Award for Achievement) resulting in Thomson Reuters’ sponsorship of the excellent event.
That is the strength of the network; it creates useful links throughout the industry. The event highlighted how badly women do in accessing financing and how much Fin4Fem is needed. Claire Cockerton, CEO & Founder, ENTIQ said, “”Women’s Day 2016 marked the launch of Fin4Fem, our innovative programme that helps female founders become more confident fundraisers. After an insightful evening that saw seasoned innovators and investors share their experiences, we are looking forward to welcoming the first group of women that will benefit from the course in April.””

WHY SO MANY THIRTYSOMETHING WOMEN ARE LEAVING YOUR COMPANY

The conclusions of this great piece of research published in March by the Harvard Business Review came as no surprise to me. It is a fallacy that women leave organisations primarily due to family and flexibility demands. They leave for other reasons, such as pay. The report concluded that firstly, women care about pay and secondly, women and men leave organisations for similar reasons. This should really advise corporate retention strategies, as gender appears to have little impact on an individual’s reasons for leaving an organisation.

AWARDS LUNCHEON AND GALA RAFFLE

I do hope you will join us for the annual Awards for Achievement Luncheon at the London Hilton on Park Lane on Friday 10th June. You can book tickets for the Awards Luncheon here. Our popular charity raffle at the Awards Luncheon is in aid of Rosa – the UK fund for women and girls. You can buy tickets online (and take a look at the prizes up for grabs).
Go on, do support this great charity by buying a raffle ticket and being in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize. “