What does diversity bring to the business?
Increasing staff diversity definitely boosts Societe Generale's performance as a global economic player. We simply need to mirror the society in which our customers live. This helps us capture and anticipate their expectations on every business or geography we address.
More than that, the intelligence and creativity of truly diverse teams helps us maintain an innovative mindset throughout the organisation. This shows through our products and corporate projects. Only the combination of everyone's skills will increase our capacity to identify threat or opportunity signals and therefore tackle environment changes.
Plus, the banking industry is no exception to other industries: it currently faces hard times. It is therefore essential to support the motivation of our employees and encourage their loyalty to the firm. In that sense, diversity is key to retain talent and attract new ones. Fairness of opportunities, gender equality, and variety of geographical origins – among other diversity features – have to be considered carefully so that employees feel comfortable with their workplace.
What are the priorities of Societe Generale in terms of diversity?
At group level, we focus on gender mix development and non-French employees' promotion. We aim to facilitate their career paths so that those profiles can make it naturally up to the top managerial positions. Various levers are activated to that effect, such as social networks for women. Societe Generale offers specific training to top managers based on potential discrimination awareness and unconscious biases.
Having said that, we also work on other forms of diversity such as disability, social inclusion, senior employees, or sexual orientation.
What does diversity mean to you?
I personally feel much concerned about the multicultural side of diversity. I have been working for more than 10 years in Canada and Australia with Societe Generale. Those countries are the perfect places where one can find effective multiculturalism, both outside and inside the firm.
As a manager, I have experienced how much stronger teams can get when capitalising upon a range of various people in terms of origins, culture and age, and so on: we get collectively more agile and creativity spurs. The energy brought into the business is simply fantastic, and this is all to the benefit of our customers.
All in all, I am deeply convinced that promoting diversity does not only mean instigating positive values, it also paves the way for business growth.
Why did you decide to host the European Diversity Conference?
Societe Generale is very proud to host the European Diversity Conference as it is a global event gathering top rank professionals. We would like to offer both our guests and staff a genuine opportunity to share experience and practices on diversity issues. This conference will be a great moment to work and network.
The target is obviously to take diversity one step further inside each of our corporate or governmental worlds. In that perspective, no doubt that Square Peg Media, the organiser of this conference, will make a difference. Their expertise on diversity topics is so far fully acknowledged.
• The European Diversity Conference is a unique opportunity to meet diversity leaders from across the continent to discuss best practice, and to hear from inspirational speakers on gender, disability, multiculturalism, LGBT in the workplace and age: generation X and Y. For more information, click here.
Content produced and controlled by Square Peg Media, supporter of the Diversity Hub.
