Women in finance
We wouldn’t have it any other way
From day one, we’ve set out to disrupt the banking sector. Our goal was to shake things up and create something dramatically different from the norm. But it wasn’t just about giving our customers a bank that was truly unique, it was about treating our people differently too.
That’s why we’ve designed our employment policies and roles to appeal to all. Every position in our bank, no matter the department, is open to everyone. Gender doesn’t even come into it when we’re making a recruitment decision; it’s about what you can bring to the table.
So, when the government reviewed the representation of women in senior managerial roles in financial services in 2015, we’re happy to report that we were already streets ahead of the competition.
The review made four recommendations to the industry:
Firms should have one member of the senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
Firms should set internal targets for gender diversity in senior management
Firms should publish progress annually against these targets in reports on their website
Firms should have an intention to ensure pay of the senior executive team is linked to delivery against these internal targets on gender diversity
The HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter is designed to get firms to commit to implement these recommendations, and we signed up straight away.
Having created a culture of inclusivity at Atom, we’re proud to say that we are targeting all the important conditions of this charter, and will measure our success against it using the following benchmarks:
What we’ve done so far
We have brought recruitment in-house to take greater control over hiring campaigns, and increasing our reach into our local communities
We’re supporting regional initiatives that drive an increase in gender representation across industries such as engineering, technology and physical sciences
By actively promoting flexible working and family-friendly benefits we’ve become known as an attractive family-friendly employer
We endeavour to ensure we meet the needs of our diverse workforce beyond gender
We encourage and support our people in their careers
We’re working on initiatives to help grow and promote women to move up the organisation
We’ve nurtured close links with other challenger banks to support each other and attract more women into the world of finance
Since signing the Charter we have seen our female representation at Board level rise to 60% (from 23.26% in 2019). This has increased from 42.85% in 2021. As of 15th September 2022 our overall female representation at senior level is 32.72% which has increased positively from last year, we are confident that we will meet our target of 45% female representation by our target date.
We believe we are on track to meet our Charter targets by our deadline of 2025 and continue to prioritise them right across our business. We understand that a more diverse and inclusive business would lead to better outcomes and experiences for our customers.
We have a targeted programme of work to increase the gender balance in our sectors however this focuses on not only the workplace but also in encouraging more females to study STEM related subjects, this has been further developed this year with the launch of our internship programme. We know that the output of activities will take several years to materialise however will have a positive impact on our industries.
Any questions?
Atom is a big happy family, and we’re determined to keep it that way. So, if you have any questions about the way we’ve implemented the Women in Finance Charter, just get in touch and we’ll chat.
