Letting actions speak for themselves
Our society is as multifaceted, colourful and diverse as perhaps never before. As a private bank, we have been in the middle of this history for more than 300 years and are experiencing the same developments. For example, today in Germany more women than ever before are in employment. And yet gender equality still has a long way to go, although there has been much movement in recent years.
We have already taken a number of measures to implement our own ambitious goals. They are designed to anchor equal opportunity and our unconditional commitment to it in our company permanently. Here we present a few of them.
We are genuine. We are colourful. Everybody is welcome. From our attitude and our ambition we have derived our claim to diversity. What this means for us and how we fill our ambition with life is explained by Anja Heßeler, Diversity Officer at Bethmann Bank, in a video interview (in German).
We foster networks – our Circle for Female Leaders was established as a platform on which female executives at Bethmann Bank and ABN AMRO Germany are able to network and exchange information and ideas.
A mentoring programme has been established within the ABN AMRO Group and thus also at Bethmann Bank. As part of this programme, mentors support mentees in their development. The programme aims to develop the multifaceted potential among our employees in the best possible way, irrespective of gender, religious belief or ethnic origin.
A platform exclusively for female staff of Bethmann Bank and ABN AMRO which provides information on financial and women's issues as well as putting on its own events: Through our global Women on the Move network we promote exchanges between our female employees, for example through events with the Impact Hub Berlin such as “Frauen in Führung” (Women in the Lead) or “Investieren (in sich selbst) als Frau” (Investing (in yourself) as a woman” or through talks by experts on topics such as behavioural finance.
Working with an external partner, we regularly conduct surveys on equal opportunity among our staff members and present their results in a report. The report compares not just the responses of surveyed women against those of surveyed men but also the results of younger against those of older employees. The results of the surveys form the basis for in-house training courses and workshops.
By signing the Diversity Charter Bethmann Bank has committed itself to promote the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work. Together with more than 4,000 other businesses we form part of this network where we exchange ideas, for example, on how to strengthen and enhance the awareness of equal opportunity both in-house and externally. Through ABN AMRO we are also part of the European Diversity Charter.
