Company background:
A Global Investment Bank was prioritising the management of female talent with a long-term view to increasing ratios of senior women in APAC. After a disappointingly low promotion rate of women to Managing Director level in the region in 2013, our client was determined to turn the tide to move towards their goal of 25% of senior positions held by women globally by 2018.
Key Business Challenge:
How can we accelerate the development, visibility, competency and promotion of our high potential Director-level women?
How Milan Partners helped:
To gain deeper understanding of the barriers impeding the promotion of women in this environment, we conducted a rigorous diagnosis exercise surveying participants for their experiences and insights.
Using this intelligence, we partnered with our client to develop a solution which recognised the challenges of the banking environment and equip these high-potential women to succeed. The resulting talent program was a sophisticated, high-profile development experience combining formal training, coaching, networking opportunities and access to senior leadership through a formal Sponsorship initiative.
With a series of key milestone events held in Singapore and Hong Kong spanning a 4 month period, we worked with these highly intelligent, ambitious women to challenge and stretch them to develop the mindsets and skills to step up to MD level in the next two to three years. One key element of the design was the involvement of senior leaders from the region, creating increased visibility for participants.
Coaching by video conference provided a one-on-one embedding opportunity while managing the logistic challenges and costs associated with the geographic dispersion of the group.
Outcomes achieved:
- 100% of participants rated the Talent program as effective
- 19% increase in promotion rate of women to MD level in APAC in subsequent year
- Client feedback was extremely positive: “It is great to see the shift in scores in several dimensions. Thank you for your effort and steering us along this journey.”
“The coaching session has just proved really useful. I had the chance to pitch one of my ideas last week to two senior MDs who are drafting the new multi-year business plan for the FX business. I used your “storyline” trick, starting with describing the problem, and finishing with what the ideal end state should look like. My idea was actually taken up within the top 3, and I’ll probably get to run at least some parts of that project.” – Program Delegate