Women are put in the spotlight in the Nordics with the “Women in Finance” campaign!

“In 2020, 18% of the managers in the 20 largest European banks and mortgage lenders were women. How does it affect the banking industry?”

This is an example of the facts that have been highlighted and discussed by the Nordics teams during this inclusion campaign. The aim was to put in the spotlight 6 women who work at BNP Paribas Personal Finance and to show that banking and finance professions have no gender. Through these interviews, they open up discussion about diversity and equity at work.

The first woman introduced in this campaign is, Lena Åkerström, working as a Nordic CX Manager at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, in Sweden. She explains how she ended up working for a bank, an industry out of her comfort zone.

During her interview, Lena talks about her vision of diversity and gender equality within the companies. Indeed, according to her, having more women as bank managers can only be positive. “Increased equality and inclusive culture is good for business. Inclusive teams perform better than non-inclusive teams, and diversity enables us to take different perspectives and input angles into account”.

She also tends to consider that instead of looking at inequality as a problem, women could see it as a challenge, an opportunity. In that way, we should all replace the “we, women”, and “them men” by “us, together” and, thus, all work together to change things positively.

The second portrait presents us Eirin Skøien Runsjø, currently working in the IT department in Denmark. Moving from Norway to Denmark 12 years ago, she’s been working at BNP Paribas Personal Finance, in many different teams.

She shares her views on the “fairly equal distribution between men and women” in companies. For her, it is not so much the equal number of men and women that is important in companies, but the diversity of personalities, qualities and skills: “a high degree of diversity and mix of personalities are far more important to run a successful business. By that, I mean that you need a variety of personalities, skills, strengths and assets to be successful.” Thus, she considers that “having a woman as CEO is a statement” and that qualifications and personal qualities are far more important than gender when it comes to recruitment.

Jenny Gaffner is the 3^rd woman interviewed in this campaign. Employee Representative on the Board and Nordic Head of B2C Marketing & Communication, she also has a strong vues on the topic.

In her opinion, “the two genders complement each other and can learn from each other, which is why it is beneficial to have a gender-balanced population of colleagues.”

She also highlights how important it is, as a woman, to feel that you have equal opportunities and possibilities of evolutions within the company. And most of all, that you are considered for your skills and not defined by the fact that you are a woman.

Anne Nysum Dejrup, who works as a Union Representative and Customer Consultant at BNP Paribas Personal Finance Denmark, also agrees on that part. Indeed, she considers that “It is beyond any doubt that an equal distribution of men and women provides a better dynamic.” And more than that, she highlights the fact that we all have different qualities as human beings and we shouldn’t necessarily think of women and men separately, because “we complement each other, and when we join forces, we can achieve even more”, she said.

Maja Granborg, as an HR Director at BNP Paribas Personal Finance Denmark, expressed too her point of view on the question of equal distribution of gender in our organization. To her, having a 50/50 distribution of men and women in the company is a real asset to be proud of.

However, Maja asserts that even if things has evolved, “good intentions will not suffice; we need structural support to sustain this development”.

Last but not least: Sinika Daun, Nordic Head of Operational Efficiency at BNP Paribas Personal Finance Sweden, talks about these topics in an interesting way. According to her “diversity in the educational background of our colleagues is important.” She sees different personal experiences and professional backgrounds as a strength for the company. “Qualities such as motivation, ambition, know-how and creativity are something you bring to the company thanks to your personality and life experience, they do not necessarily come from your education.”

In other words, “Our employee composition reflects the society, and that is how it should be”, she affirms.