Women in Finance
In 2018 Danske Bank UK was proud to become signatories of two gender diversity charters: the NI Gender Diversity Charter Mark and the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter signifying the importance Danske Bank places in gender diversity and our unwavering commitment to create a more balanced workforce.
Our drive is fuelled by the knowledge that a diverse employee base is not only good for our workplace culture, but also helps us better understand your needs allowing us to serve you better.
The HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter was established in 2016 and asks financial services firms to pledge to four industry actions to help address gender inequality in the financial services sector.
- Have one member of the senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
- Have internal targets for gender diversity in senior management
- Publish progress annually
- Ensure pay of the senior executive team is linked to delivery against these targets on gender diversity
Women in Finance Charter Pledge
Danske Bank UK’s public commitment to the Women in Finance Charter is as follows:
- A target of 50% women in Grade 7+ roles by May 2021 (Achieved, now in maintenance)
- A target of 42% of women in Grade 8+ roles by December 2024
- A target of 50:50 female:male split for job applications by May 2021
- Deliver continuous outputs from Danske Gender Diversity Network – an internal working group to deliver a better understanding of quality, enhance women’s professional growth and affirm Danske’s commitment to diversity via external activities and partnerships.
- Ensure a percentage of Danske Bank UK’s Executive Committees’ performance scorecards are linked to the achievement of the above targets.
In line with the charter’s commitments, Vicky Davies, CEO Danske Bank UK, Shaun McAnee Managing Director of Corporate and Business Banking, and Caroline van der Feltz HR Director, Danske Bank UK are accountable for Gender Diversity.
When we signed up to the Charter in May 2018, we had 43% female representation at senior management level (Grade 7+). We are proud to say that we achieved 50% of Women in Senior Roles (Grade 7 +) in August 2020 and therefore we have transitioned into a 'maintenance' phase of this target whereby we will maintain this within tolerance.
We have extended our focus to Grade 8+ roles, whereby our target is to achieve 42% of Women in Grade 8+ roles and we are delighted to be on track for this. By doing this we will have an even greater impact on improving female representation in senior management roles.
We have strengthened and re-branded our Danske Women’s Network to Danske Gender Diversity network including the appointment of more male colleagues, continue to deliver key activities including driving internal and external awareness of equality and inclusion, enhancing women’s professional growth and affirming our commitment to diversity and inclusion via external partnerships. We utilise our gender data to inform on recruitment, development and career journeys enabling positive action to be taken.
Our Executive Committee continue to focus on performance scorecards to ensure attainment of the target alongside our Board Nomination Committee. As a part of its charter, it will have oversight of Diversity & Inclusion within Danske Bank at the highest level.
