Women in Finance Charter
Over the years, UniCredit has been consistently investing into the development of our leaders (in all the geographies where we are present) with an ambition to raise their career aspirations, empower them with the skills and know-hows to aim at and achieve more.
We involve our employees in various leadership programs and specific individual development initiatives, targeting at an equal representation of female and male participants to be able to provide them with an equal base for growing into the more senior roles in the organisation.
We accept that further progress is needed with respect to diversity and gender balance and additional targets have been set up, both at Group level and locally, such as: increasing the number of women part of the promotion process for leadership roles, monitoring the distribution of short lists and ensuring equal opportunities to women throughout the whole recruitment process.
A pledge for gender balance across financial services
In June 2018, UniCredit joined the UK HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter to give its full support to help improving gender diversity in the financial services sector in the UK and worldwide. Joining this initiative is part of UniCredit's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy that follows a number of decisive actions already taken by the Bank to achieve gender parity across all organisational levels tthrough specific initiatives related to: recruitment and talent professional development, remuneration, work-life balance, education.
About Women in Finance Charter
The Charter is a commitment by the UK's HM Treasury and signatory firms to work together to build a more balanced and fair industry. Firms that sign up to this Charter are pledging to be the best businesses in the sector. The charter engages financial services firms to support the progression of women in senior roles, signing the declaration and committing to 4 topics.
By signing the Charter UniCredit is committed to:
Nominate a senior executive accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
Richard Burton, Head of Client Solutions, is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion.
Set gender diversity goals in senior management
Our ambition is to achieve gender parity across all organisational levels and, to enable us to track our progress, an intermediate goal of 40% women representation in our Leadership team (GEC plus GEC-1) by 2025 has been set.
Link senior executive pay to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ambitions
Variable remuneration for Senior Leadership roles is based on a subset of financial and non-financial KPIs linked to the priorities and annual strategies of the Group/Division. Among non-financial measures, since 2017 a mandatory KPI on "People" is cascaded to Senior roles, including specific ambitions related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Publish progress annually against our ambitions
In terms of keeping track of progress, UniCredit monitors female representation in the Bank's workforce in the context of organisational hierarchy twice a year at the Group level through the Gender Diversity Dashboard. As part of joining the Charter, we are committed to also monitor the progress against the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ambitions and to publishing them externally. Furthermore, details on the structure of UniCredit's workforce are published annually in the Group Integrated Report.
Our 2023 Progress
At UniCredit, we are committed to empowering communities to progress and driving positive change by championing gender diversity and equality at all levels of the organisation. Our primary focus is to unlock the full potential of our people to flourish throughout their professional journeys, fostering a positive and inclusive work environment for all.
We firmly believe that by understanding and addressing employees' needs, investing in a skill-based organisational approach, and designing comprehensive training and development plans, we can effectively reach our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy, ensuring a more cohesive approach to developing a work environment focused on productivity, social, financial, mental, physical and professional well-being.
To this purpose, we are working on achieving gender parity across all organisational levels, reflecting our unwavering belief in the transformative power of gender diversity, not only within our organisation but also throughout the entire society.
As a matter of fact, we set an intermediate goal of achieving 40% female representation in our leadership team by 2025 and we keep monitoring our progress on this topic.
As of June 2023, we have already achieved 36% female representatives in these roles, marking an impressive increase of 27% since we signed the Charter in June 2018, maintaining stability compared to June 2022.
To walk the talk, as a bank we have successfully upheld a significant level of female representation at the leadership level. Our Group Executive Committee continues to be a testament to this commitment, with 54% female representation in June 2023, a remarkable increase of 8% in just one year.
We'll carry on working hard to make sure the Group is well on-track to meet our Charter target and in pursuing our gender diversity ambitions. Several initiatives to empower and support our people within our organization are already under way, such as:
- Dedicated mentorship paths;
- Leadership development programmes;
- Policies and practices that promote work-life balance and flexible working arrangements.
Gender diversity is not just a social imperative but a strategic advantage that fuels innovation, enriches decision-making processes, fosters sustainable growth, and plays a fundamental role in driving cultural change.
We will continue to foster a meaningful and impactful UniCredit Culture and implement best practices to fully achieve equality and inclusivity, where all employees, regardless of gender, feel valued and empowered, unlocking their potential to become the changemakers and act as the engine of social progress to fulfil our Purpose of empowering communities to progress.