Encouraging women to work

Nine big organisations, including Bank of Valletta, were awarded the Equality Mark this year. Simonne Pace finds out what it takes to retain employees’ trust, honesty and happiness.

We are talking about skills, so if we do not create a flexible environment, people will leave, and if people leave we lose skills- Simonne Pace

The number of women employees occupying the role of branch managers at Bank of Valletta has increased from 17 per cent in 2006 to 23 per cent in 2011.

Women in managerial roles have also increased, from around 28 per cent to 33 per cent.

“The bank has always believed in equality and commitment to employees,” says Noel Scerri, executive head of HR at BoV.

BoV, together with eight other organisations, has been recognised by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality as an equal opportunity employer and was recently awarded the Equality Mark.

This is a formal recognition of the bank’s core values, which include gender equality, family-friendly measures and protection against any form of harassment.

The Equality Mark is also a commitment to providing employees with equal access to opportunities and career development.

In promoting gender equality and work practices, organisations can access the full talent pool and maximise on new business opportunities.

Elaine German, who works within the bank’s Human Resources department, says she is one of the many women who benefit from a host of family-friendly work practices implemented by the bank.

Her working hours have been reduced on her return to employment from a period of unpaid leave after having had her two children. She was involved in setting up the bank’s sexual harassment and equality policies.

“Female participation numbers (at the bank) are quite high,” Mr Scerri points out, with women making up 900 of the 1,600 employees.

In terms of flexibility and work schedules, there are staff members who work 20 hours, 25 or 30 hours, while there are others who choose to work a normal 40-hour week.

BoV employs around 120 people who work 30 hours a week; another 50 work 20 hours or less.

“These flexible work practices were introduced because we think they are important for our people as well as the organisation since they help retain skills,” Mr Scerri explains.

“With temporary labour, you need to plan well in order to account for the shortage of hours. This might create some operational difficulties, but we need to look beyond this.

“We are talking about skills, so if we do not create such an environment, people will leave, and if people leave we lose skills.”

Over the years, the bank has introduced a bundle of family-friendly measures for its staff, such as maternity and paternal leave, adoption and fostering leave, career breaks, reduced hours, flexible work schedules, leave for taking care of sick family members and bereavement leave, among others.

After maternity leave, women employees can choose to stop working for a year or two without pay. Employees can also decide to embark on a one-year career break, after which they can have their job back.

“It pays to keep your staff happy. As long as our customers areseen to, we are very flexible with employees,” says Mr Scerri.

“The sexual harassment and equality policies were created from scratch,” Ms German explains.

“If employees feel they are being discriminated against, the policy is now tangible; they know what steps to take to deal with the problem. Through this policy management also knows how to tackle a case of discrimination. The policies are there for everyone – across all grades,” she adds.

As part of its commitment to provide work-life balance options for employees with caring responsibilities, the bank subsidises employees who choose to send their children to child care centres and summer schools.

Training and staff development are given priority and all staff, irrespective of background and gender, are encouraged to seize the opportunities that arise.

“We do not think in terms of whether the employee is a man or a woman, and all training is conducted during office hours. This makes it easier, especially for working mothers,” Mr Scerri says.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about merit. Women are given the same opportunities as men. In fact, more women are joining the bank,” he adds.

Statistics show that BoV front offices are brimming with women employees – their level of service seems to be much better in this type of industry.

What is the most important quality when recruiting staff?

Mr Scerri answers without hesitation: “It’s attitude from beginning to end. If people have the right attitude, they will make it.”