Women in Finance Programme – Lloyds Banking Group

In 2024, the Lloyd’s Banking Group’s Finance Division transformed its traditional talent development programme to place a stronger emphasis on technical upskilling, alongside collaboration and external insights. Historically focused on interpersonal skills, the updated programme introduced modules centred on emerging technologies such as generative AI and the Metaverse, reflecting the growing importance of tech proficiency.

In partnership with the established women’s network, the division also launched a five-part podcast series, addressing a wide range of topics relevant to career growth and development. This initiative aimed to broaden participants’ perspectives and engage them in meaningful conversations. A key feature of the programme was the inclusion of external guest speakers, bringing fresh insights from outside the organisation.

What were the key drivers behind the decision to shift the focus of your development programme to include technical upskilling in areas such as generative AI and the metaverse?

Courses and programmes relating to interpersonal skills i.e confidence are already widely available; we wanted to create something that focussed on the more technical/digital side of skills.

How did you go about selecting external speakers and forming relationships with external networks? What criteria did you use to ensure they would bring value to your participants?

We used speakers recommended by trusted sources – who were already senior leaders within Finance – and our audience could relate to.

What specific challenges did you face in encouraging participants to embrace a career in tech, especially in an area where gender diversity is still an issue, and how did you address these challenges?

We spoke a lot about leaning into the unknown and embracing curiosity/growth mindset and how tech/digital is unavoidable for us all if we want to progress in our careers. We also demystified/remove the fear as best as we could e.g we used live examples of where Gen AI was already being widely used (for example, room decoration apps)

How did the collaboration with the women’s network and the podcast series enhance the learning experience for participants, and what role did it play in creating ongoing engagement?

It was a great collaboration between an already established Women’s Network in Finance (Finance Female Leadership Network); again, all these speakers had established careers in Finance that our participants could relate to. They offered tangible advice and spoke candidly about how they progressed into senior leadership.

How does this programme align with the wider DE&I and digital-first business strategy at Lloyds Banking Group, and how has it contributed to the organisation’s gender diversity goals in tech roles?

Like most industries, the gender representation within the digital/tech space is vastly skewed towards men. Having a programme that focussed on women progressing their careers in a digital/tech era hadn’t been done within our Finance Division before. We’re already seeing it make an impact to our gender goals – at present, we’ve achieved 4 promotions into senior leadership.

What lessons did you learn from the implementation of this programme that you believe would be valuable for other organisations considering a similar transformation of their talent development initiatives?

Considering the future of the workforce / strategic direction of the organisation. The women don’t need fixing! But they need insight and guidance into how to navigate the company.