Although the recruitment rate in the finance industry is impressive, the attrition rate- the rate at which people leave- is also high. This is further increasing the cost of recruitment and retention of finance employees causing big problems for this sector (De Bandt and Davis, 2000).
Many academics argue that diversity and work life balance is one of the major motivating factors to stay within finance industry organisations. However, there are some sobering statistics that show these aren’t being prioritised. A study was carried out by Oledejo et al. (2012) on Nigerian finance industry organisations. It showed that women represent only 12% of management positions in the banking industry in Nigerian banks! It was also found that the job satisfaction level of women employees in the banking sector is further influenced by discrimination in education, training, right to inherit, own property and inequality to promotions (Oledejo, Samuel and Dorcas, 2012).
More baffling statistics include: according to Rutherford, in many countries women represent over 50% of the workforce in the financial services industry and yet women only occupy fewer than one in five roles at executive level. Women working in financial services face significant barriers that prevent, slow down or even halt, their career progression.
Data from the 30% Club reveals that women’s probability of progression from middle to senior levels of management relative to their male counterparts is worse in financial services compared to any other sector.
Women in financial services often do not have access to support, role models, mentors or sponsors – making it harder for them to navigate what is already a challenging career path.
Mentorship has often been instrumental to employee retention, higher employee success rates and promotion readiness. To address this imbalance financial firms should ensure formal mentoring and a place of collective support for female talent entering the field. Here at netwomen.co we have memberships available for companies, businesses, firms to provide all of these things for female employees.
By investing in the Netwomen.co community, we will redefine the career paths for women to share knowledge and experiences on our platform to connect and learn, so we can change the leadership landscape and work to close the gender and ethnicity gap to make a sustainable difference. Our aim is a 50/50 gender split and a level playing field.
Find our more info and get involved here: https://www.netwomen.co/
We also offer an inclusive leadership program which is ideal for Talented leaders responsible for leading teams who want to progress in their careers and for organisations who recognise the issues and care about bridging the gender gap.
Find out more and register ASAP here: https://www.netwomen.co/
Women suffering in silence within these organisations need support now! Or maybe you yourself are one of them. Regardless if you are a woman or an ally, we hope you will join our cause and we are looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Sources
Netwomen Website, (2022). https://www.netwomen.co/
De Bandt and Davis, (2000). Competition, contestability and market structure in European Banking Sectors on the eve of EMU. Journal of Banking &Finance, 24(6), 1045-1066.
Oledejo, K. S., Samuel, O. O., and Dorcas, A. (2012). Gender Gap and its Implication on Management Practice: A Lesson from Nigerian Banking Sector. Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 1(10), 69-79.
Rutherford Website, (2022). https://www.rutherfordsearch.
