Investing for a resilient and inclusive future of work

At Standard Chartered, we have a clear purpose - “Driving commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity”. We’re here to fuel global trade and increase prosperity for our clients and communities. Key to our success is the diversity of the markets in which we operate, the products we offer, the clients and industries we serve, and the people we employ. However, to really enable the innovation that our teams are capable of, achieving representational diversity alone isn’t enough. Inclusion is the not-so-secret sauce!

But the data paints a concerning picture - only a quarter of technology and healthcare start-ups are founded by women[1], and although female entrepreneurship has been increasing in low-income countries, women continue to face huge obstacles that stunt the growth of their businesses. Last year was the second consecutive year where women founders’ share of venture capital funding shrank[2], and there just isn’t enough focus on women in jobs relating to technology, digital and data.

Early insights suggest that it will be women and other underrepresented groups who will be disproportionately impacted in the long term by the pandemic[3].

So this was the topic that Simon Cooper and I explored with a range of inspiring leaders from across industries at our roundtable at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos last month. The expectations from businesses to address societal challenges are higher than ever before[4], and the need for us as organisations to innovate more and accelerate faster when it comes to codifying inclusion. The way we work, connect and collaborate continues to undergo massive upheaval - we are already in the future of work! As we design for this rapidly evolving future, what are some of the intentional choices organisations should be making now, to ensure that people and communities are not left behind?

Building future skills

We started out by asking ourselves - how is the future of banking and financial services evolving, and what skills do we need to be ready for it? At the core of the answer has been the significant investment in technology needed to ensure that everyone has access to skill building – in turn enabling greater inclusion. Our Future Skills Academies, covering topics such as Data & Analytics, Digital and Sustainable Finance, deliver learning directly to colleagues in bite-sized chunks based on their individual growth plans. This way they become not only better at the job they do today but can also reskill in areas where there will be greater demand in the future.

We also ensure that already underrepresented groups are targeted for upskilling/reskilling for priority roles that are predicted to grow – such as Data Translators, Cyber Security Analysts and Cloud Security Engineers. Colleagues (especially women) can learn and practice in a safe environment as well as gain accelerated exposure to the job, equipping them with the necessary skills and experience to be ready to take up roles traditionally more dominated by men. 

Away from our existing workforce, we aim to address the growing gap between education and employability, by supporting more than 300,000 young people across our markets in 2021, through our Futuremakers programme. This includes a targeted mentoring programme in the UK to support young black and minority ethnic talent to gain and sustain meaningful employment.  Last year we reached 46,000 young people globally through our entrepreneurship programmes, including female entrepreneurs in the technology sector who received support in the form of training, mentorship and access to funding. And through our global supplier diversity strategy, we are also helping build inclusive practices across our supply chains with a focus on women-owned, minority-owned, and small/micro businesses.

Fundamentally re-designing ‘work’

The pandemic changed expectations about ‘where’ and ‘when’ people work, making flexible working a norm. The focus is now increasingly on ‘what’ work people do and ‘how’ they get to deliver it.  Additionally, the ability of purpose-led organisations to appeal to the ‘why’ of diverse talent will be a real differentiator going forth – there is greater desire than ever before to seek meaning and personal fulfilment at work that is aligned to individual purpose.

As we build for this agility needed by organisations and individuals to grow and succeed in the future of work, the focus needs to transition from ‘jobs’ defining the work at hand, to a more ‘skills’ based operating model which enables the seamless flow of talent and skills to where they’re needed most – both in organisations as well as in the economy.

In a similar way to our democratising skill building, we are also democratising skill deployment. Our AI-powered ‘Talent Marketplace’ enables any colleague to ‘lend’ their skills to project-based opportunities. This means they can learn by connecting their skills, experience, and aspirations with a number of short-term project opportunities available globally, while also allowing us to rapidly deploy talent to areas where it is most needed to deliver business priorities.  

Since the pilot in 2020 in India, we have unlocked productivity worth over $2.1 million; with more than 14,000 colleagues having access to over 600 cross-functional and cross-geography experiences via the Talent Marketplace platform.

Co-creating the future

Successfully leveraging technology can be key to enhancing inclusion efforts. But we know it’s only through co-creating with employees that we can truly remove barriers and tap into a diverse range of ideas and perspectives.

It is critical for organisations to have effective, continuous employee listening mechanisms and to enable wider involvement in generating ideas and decision-making.  At Standard Chartered the focus has been on designing with colleagues, and not in boardrooms. Last year we looked for ways for colleagues to remain connected, while physically apart, during pandemic-induced lockdowns. So we reached out to our own teams to help co-create solutions on how we could enable ‘watercooler moments in a hybrid world’. Over 70 ideas were received, and the top two ideas are now in delivery phase, including the launch of a new networking platform to connect colleagues who wouldn’t otherwise meet.

These and many other aspirational themes came up during our roundtable discussion. It’s clearly a shared goal across organisations to unlock experiences and capabilities so that everyone can thrive in the future – not just a select few individuals, or people in select pockets. To succeed we must continue to work closely with our colleagues, clients, and communities to achieve a culture of true inclusion - it will take collective effort across institutions to continue to have the sustainable positive impact needed!

[1] https://www.svb.com/trends-insights/reports/women-in-technology-2019

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/women-founders-raised-just-2-of-venture-capital-money-last-year

[3] https://www.ft.com/content/49bf68bc-a785-4b59-8149-292de991a396

[4] https://www.edelman.com/trust/2022-trust-barometer