IN FOCUS INTERVIEW WITH THE EDITOR :
ALEXANDER HARRISON , COUNTRY CEO , SINGAPORE & HEAD OF CORPORATE BANKING , ASIA PACIFIC AND MIDDLE EAST , BARCLAYS
Since 2014 , Barclays have supported our diversity and inclusion efforts through sponsorship , content , best practice expertise and a stream of senior professionals who have volunteered their time to drive important discussions in the leadership of our Women in Business and D & I committees . Being a keen advocate for diversity myself and overseeing the D & I committee for many years at the Chamber , during June ’ s Pride awareness month I enjoyed a discussion with Alexander on Barclays ’ progress in the D & I space through a year of heightened emotions , and why it continues to shape the company ’ s key values .
Lucy : Barclays has always led the way in D & I within the banking industry , being the first bank in the UK to employ a female branch manager and , some years later , the first to feature same sex couples in your advertising . How did the company achieve that whole-company cultural acceptance of D & I as one of your key values ?
At Barclays , we believe that creating an inclusive and supporting culture is just the right thing to do , and we also recognise that it ' s the right thing to do for business . It gives us a far better understanding of our people , how the employee landscape is evolving and developing , what people want and expect from their employers . That ' s really rapidly changing as we focus on talent attraction and retention , creating an environment where people can bring all of themselves into their workplace . I also think it ' s critical because it enables us to really understand our clients , our customers , and the global communities within which we operate in , enabling us to try and do the best that we can to serve those communities .
By building a culture of D & I within Barclays , it simply enables us to make better choices for us and our people , and a stronger business for our stakeholders . Ultimately , it ’ s just the right thing to do .
Cultural development isn ' t something that you do overnight , it ’ s a long journey . For Barclays , building a D & I strategy and implementation started many years back and in 2014-15 , we became the official D & I partner of the Chamber . We ' ve been a hugely open advocate for LGBT + support , timely as we speak because it ' s Pride Month . We recognise that D & I is a journey , and we will continue to evolve our understanding around D & I and the importance of it , and educating ourselves along the way with areas around unconscious bias and removing bias from our thinking .
I think the other key point to reference is intersectionality ; how people ' s individual identities can overlap . I think that ' s really at the forefront of where D & I is moving towards ; really recognising that intersectionality around how people identify themselves needs to be fully understood to be a better employer and support our communities . Because when these issues become compounded , it means that some people can be hugely disadvantaged in society and in the workplace environment . I think that ’ s important , through our pillars we underpin our support to understand and appreciate that context .