Ireland’s first Women in Finance Charter: process and progress

Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter was put together in April 2022. It establishes and documents the financial services industry’s intent for increased participation of women at every level, including junior, middle and senior management, as well as directorship roles within Irish financial services organisations.

The Charter itself as well as its guidance notes and templates were developed by the industry to assist companies in fostering and harnessing the talents and experiences of women in financial services, which is essential to the development of a strong “pipeline of talent”. This is intended to lead to greater diversity of thinking, lived experience, and leadership in decision-making, for the overall benefit of the business and the wider financial services community.

Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter represents a positive step forward in the attempt to level the playing field for women in the Irish financial services sector. It seeks not only to encourage more women to join the financial services industry and to create more parity between men and women, but also to track progress made towards those goals.

Naturally, these first steps still have a long way to go. However, we are seeing positive change already. Therese, Partner at Savvi Recruitment,  John, a director, and Lisa, the Operations Manager, sat down to talk about what changes are occurring and what we can expect from the Women in Finance Charter in the future.

Setup of the Women in Finance Charter

As Lisa explains, “the charter is a government-led measure to encourage gender diversity across the financial services industry in Ireland”. While it's not a requirement for companies to sign up, they can do so as a way of showing their commitment to increasing gender diversity within the financial services industry. Thus far, more than 50 companies have signed up.

A number of Ireland’s lead financial organisations have put their weight behind the charter, including some of Savvi Recruitment Consultants Clients; Irish Life, Deloitte, Elavon, FBD to name a few.

By signing the Charter, organisations are committing to working towards gender balance at all levels within their organisations and to implementing specific targets for the promotion, retention and development of women in their workforce. The charter requires signatories to publish annual progress reports detailing the steps they have taken towards meeting their targets. 

The importance of the Charter

The Women in Finance Charter is important for a number of reasons:

1. Promoting gender diversity: The charter aims to promote gender diversity in the financial services industry in Ireland by encouraging financial institutions to take action to improve the representation of women at all levels of their organisations. This includes improving the representation of women in senior management and leadership positions.
2. Improving the financial services sector: By improving gender diversity, the financial services sector in Ireland will be better able to serve the needs of all its customers and respond to the demands of a changing society. Research has shown that companies with more gender-diverse management teams tend to have better financial performance, higher innovation and stronger customer satisfaction.
3. Addressing gender imbalance: There is a gender imbalance in senior roles within companies in Ireland, as in many other countries. Women are underrepresented in senior management and leadership positions, particularly in the financial services sector. The Women in Finance Charter hopes to address this imbalance by encouraging financial institutions to take specific actions to promote, retain and develop women in their workforce.

Action within Organisations

Ireland's Women in Finance Charter hopes to encourage businesses to pay more attention to whom they’re hiring and how much they’re paying, with a special emphasis on the disparities between men and women.

“That's important from a recruitment perspective as well,” says John. “It’s about getting the most qualified candidate for the role, but if you don't have enough suitably qualified gender-balanced candidates through learning, development and mentorship, you can’t produce that balanced and diverse shortlist of candidates.”

It’s more than recognising that women make good candidates as well, though. Parity also requires recognising that the realities are different for men and women. Thankfully companies have more inclusive policies across all genders. They have recognised employee requirements regarding the likes of pregnancy, maternity cover, parental leave (maternity and paternity) and even IVF – all of which, unaddressed, take their toll on careers at the partner and director levels. 

Leadership in Achieving Balance

Ireland's Women in Finance Charter will also help to increase perspectives in the boardroom. As John points out, having women at the senior management table “is not just going to increase your productivity, it's going to increase your all-round holistic view from a risk and compliance perspective”.

In this way, Therese says, the charter is designed to bring more women into the financial sector, and to advance the careers of women who are already working there.

Savvi Recruitment is helping to drive change by adhering to protocols to prevent bias, and creating adverts that bring women to the table and create fully vetted, gender-equal lists of candidates. We hope that Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter is but a first step in the direction of closing the gender gap once and for all.