DIVERSITY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Singapore - Diversity can be a double-edged sword when you have over 70,000 employees comprising of 125 nationalities speaking over 170 languages globally, but that's not how Standard Chartered sees it.
Jaspal Singh Bindra, its group executive director and chair of the bank's group diversity and inclusion council, sees diversity as "a natural strength" for the bank even though "there is rarely one-size-fits-all solution". Furthermore, the business case for work diversity in the bank is strong. He says, "Research has proven that companies with greater diversity outperform those that are less diverse."
The biggest challenge Bindra says the bank had when creating an inclusive work environment in all its 70 markets was addressing diversity and inclusion "locally". He explains any diversity programme a company wants to roll out has to first be "relevant" to local employees. How the bank addresses the challenge is through its diversity and inclusion country champions. Bindra says, "Champions come from all areas of the business and are responsible for driving global and local initiatives on the ground, working alongside their country CEO and the management team."
Selecting and hiring talent based on their strengths alone is another integral part of the bank's recruitment and onboarding process, says Bindra. While the bank does not adopt hiring quotas or criteria to fulfil its diversity or inclusion value, many metrics are used to assess the progress around these values within. Bindra says, "We closely monitor overall representation and appointment rates for example, from a gender and nationality perspective."
Compensation-wise, Standard Chartered's performance management process and reward philosophy is carefully designed to "incentivise employees to demonstrate not just an understanding of but an appreciation for cross cultural thinking". Thus, reinforcing the organisation's inclusive culture, says Bindra.
Another innovative programme Standard Chartered uses to engage all diversity groups is improving its multilingual capabilities for its international workforce. All mandatory employee training programmes are now translated into the core languages used in the bank, says Bindra. This includes Thai, Chinese, Bahasa Indonesian and Korean. Other languages training are also available in other markets, Bindra adds. "For example, in Qatar, Arabic lessons are available to our international employees."
Employees who are interested in improving their English language skills can likewise participate in the bank's global online English language learning programme. Alternatively, they can develop their language skills by joining English conversation clubs in each country and this is where diversity is again being demonstrated, Bindra says. "In Indonesia, the club is led by one of the bank's visually-impaired employees."
Jaspal Singh Bindra will be speaking at the second annual Conference on Fair Employment Practices on 7th April 2010, jointly presented by the Singapore Tripartism Forum and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP). For more information please visit www.feconference.sg.
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