Barbara Chapman, CEO ASB
Barbara Chapman is delighted that ASB was the first NZ bank to be awarded a "Rainbow Tick" certificate following a diversity and inclusion audit. The term Rainbow covers people who are LGBTI, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex.
"We've got a Rainbow Tick, and I'm actually really really proud of that," says Chapman. "We're the first bank and I think we're the largest company in New Zealand who have done it and it's been something that the team have wanted to do."
The Herald spoke to Chapman about diversity.
What is your approach to diversity and where does it sit in your strategy to drive ASB forward?
From the top down there's still not enough traction going on in gender diversity. We're doing as much as anybody else. I don't think we're missing anything. But the results are still really really low.
From the bottom up, we do think we've had some good outcomes and changes around LGBTI diversity. We've had a very active group called "Unity" - a very inclusive LGBTI group. Of all the diversity areas we're working on, that's the one where we're making the most impact.
We were accredited with the Rainbow Tick. We've been through the audit process, came through pretty well. There's one or two things we need to focus on - small things like being mindful of jokes in the workplace. So we're putting some training modules in to make sure that the areas they've found we needed to work on, we've done.
The LGBTI community here feels strong, feels empowered, supported and are ready to stand up and go "okay, here's what needs to be done to make this a better workplace for us".
How do you make the LGBTI group feel included within the bank?
It's not a level playing field, there are some really good areas, there are some areas that need work, just getting in there and supporting them and making everybody knows what we stand for is inclusion. That comes with its risks.
There is a portion of society and some of them work for us, who are very anti-inclusion around LGBTI communities and have been reasonably vocal in it. I've had my fair share of people telling me we shouldn't be doing this. But I can't think of any reason why we shouldn't be doing this.
As a CEO, why would I not want to have every group in this organisation feeling like they were included, could come to work and be themselves, engage effectively with their colleagues. People make up 50 per cent of our cost, so anything I can do as CEO to make the workplace better for our people, it just goes without saying - you do it.
Has addressing LGBTI awareness meant a change in behaviour for your managers?
We had one member of the Unity community come into our executive community and take us through the LGBTI language and what it all means. And you've got to admit, someone coming and talking to an executive team of a bank is pretty hard-going, but actually it was a fun and interesting session. He's a guy we respect, and he made it really accessible for us, but after that one of my direct reports came up to me and said "this just feels so right".
It's so great we can have these conversations. It feels like it should be, no awkwardness, it's really open, great conversations. I think it's brilliant.
How did the Unity Group evolve?
There's a Unity group at CBA (ASB's Australian parent). We were fortunate to have one of the stronger members of that group come across the Ditch and work for us here.
That started the groundswell, and a few people came to me and said "look, do you mind if we kicked this off?" and "how do you feel about getting involved in the Rainbow Tick programme?" which they don't have in Australia. [I was] absolutely all for it. What more can we do?
You'll see we picked up sponsorship of the Falcons, the gay rugby team that went to the Bingham Cup. That was part of our DNA to support community initiatives. I didn't want any sense of Rainbow-washing, for self-serving purposes, so giving back to the Rainbow community helps us there.
We've also done a piece of work with Rainbow Youth, so we're very much trying to integrate that community into just the way we are around here.