As the financial services industry heralds a flexible working approach, changed forever in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, financial commentators agreed the arrival of the “new normal” should lead towards greater diversity but warned some companies could fall behind in efforts to improve diversity and inclusion.
Anna Sofat (pictured), associate director of wealth at Progeny, warned progress in the industry required a “real desire” to change business practices and biases that had been in place for years.
She warned: “Certainly in the short term the imperative will be to save the business and the bottom line, and sometimes often initiatives like diversity strategies give way because they are not seen to be quite so important.
“That has already been demonstrated by the government – because they’ve got so many other things on their table, I presume, they have dropped the requirement for firms to report on pay gender gaps.”
In March, the Government Equalities Office announced employers would not be expected to report their gender pay gap data for the 2019-20 year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In normal circumstances, employers who fail to report their data could face court action and an unlimited fine, but Ms Sofat warned the temporary removal of this enforcement could have a longer-lasting impact on diversity in financial services.
She added: “What message is that going to send to the [financial services] industry, which is already the worst for the pay gender gap?
“So I am a little bit worried that at times of stress businesses will withdraw and forget about what they see as a ‘nice to have’ initiative.”
Many have commented on the ease and speed with which the advice industry adapted to working from home in the face of social distancing rules, with the professional body the Personal Finance Society last month stating the sector had responded “remarkably well” to challenges presented by the pandemic.
Sarah Waring, client and proposition director at Quilter, said the advice giant was keen to grasp the opportunity presented by a remote working pattern helping diversity in the workplace.
Ms Waring said: “We have had quite a concentration of employment in some geographic areas, such as London and Southampton, but we can now recruit nationwide for the majority of roles, which opens up the recruitment pool.
“We have had really positive feedback around flexible working, as well as remote, particularly from females who have childcare responsibilities, so we are looking at how we can use this to help to equalise the gender imbalance in our industry.”
But Ms Sofat, also founder of the ‘Are You In?’ diversity campaign movement, said she hoped the mass move to remote working seen over the past few months across the financial services sector would empower women considering interviews or promotions.
Ms Sofat said: “I am optimistic, but I think this will empower more women to ask for flexibility, to appreciate they can do a job just as well as anyone else and that wanting flexibility should not be an impediment to them holding a good job.
“Over the medium term I would hope for a better outcome for women, because there wouldn’t be an excuse that you can’t work flexibly and remotely.
“Hopefully when candidates are now screened for positions employers are far more focused on the talent than maybe they would have been before.”
Speaking at a virtual conference hosted by the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association last week, Baroness Nicky Morgan said it was “incredibly important” to ensure employees working from home had their contributions recognised in the future.
Ms Morgan said: “Just because someone is working from home, I think we have now proven they can still be as productive.
“But now it is a case of asking actually who feels they have to come back to the office, or can come back to the office, and who would actually prefer working from home — making sure that the contributions of the people working from home are recognised, is going to be incredibly important.”
The former minister for women and equalities made the comments following a worrying report published by Citigroup last month, which warned the Covid-19 crisis could force 31m women out of work across the globe. This was more than double the 13m men predicted to face job losses as a result of the crisis.
More recent research published jointly by The Fawcett Society, Women’s Budget Group, Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Economics found Black and Asian women and those from ethnic minority backgrounds were particularly vulnerable to the financial stresses of the pandemic.
The joint report also recognised additional pressures at home during the pandemic, such as maintaining children’s learning and wellbeing, were likely to disproportionately fall on the shoulders of women.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, executive chairwoman of Snoop, told FTAdviser championing flexible working for both women and men in the workplace would be key to driving economic recovery post-pandemic.
Ms Gadhia said: “It’s never been more obvious to me that using the talents of everyone will be a key part of getting the economy off its knees. It’s always been the case that achieving a balanced workforce improves outcomes, business performance and profitability.
“As such, meritocracy, providing the flexibility, technology and tools to enable both men and women to share the burden at home and to flourish at work, should be every priority to really drive post-pandemic productivity and underpin the UK’s economic recovery.”
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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