Citibank Korea nurtures women leadership and diversity
Citibank Korea is one of financial institutions that actively seeks to nurture women's leadership and the value of diversity ― goals that its global headquarters also seeks to promote across the countries it operates in.
“Citi Women Leadership Perspectives, Dialogue in Korea” that the U.S.-based bank's Korea unit organized in late July was one such program aimed at supporting female empowerment.
Citibank Korea's interim CEO Yoo Myung-soon ― an influential female leader herself in the financial sector ― headed one of the panel discussions, sharing the secrets of maintaining a female-friendly, horizontal organizational culture, while discussing lessons learned and achievements made from diversity programs, including those inclusive of women. Citibank's Executive Vice President Valentin Valderrabano also attended the panel discussion.
“We have diversity initiatives around pay equity, inclusive leadership, and our Affinity Groups, which specifically focus on hiring, developing and retaining talent,” Valderrabano said.
Yoo also said, “The most powerful driver to systematically implementing diversity is the voice from the top. Top management's commitment and support are critical, as well as the voluntary participation of employees. When these two are combined, we can attain the best results. The good thing about systemizing diversity is that, since our customers are also diverse, it drives business performance and helps us derive customer-friendly ideas.”
Citigroup, as a global financial institution, has also embedded the culture of diversity ― where people are assessed based on their merits regardless of race, background or gender, and people with different backgrounds work in harmony toward a common goal while operating businesses around the world for the past two centuries.
In line with such a value goal of the headquarters, Citibank Korea has adopted numerous programs to ensure gender equality and work―life balance via its internal organizations such as the Diversity Committee and Women's Council, since 2006. The Women's Council, consisting of several sub-councils including Learning and Development, Networking, and Social Contribution, engages in various activities such as special lectures by women leaders, International Women's Day events, and regional networking functions to lend continuous support for the female workforce to strengthen their capabilities.
Citibank Korea has also introduced the Materiality Matters Toolkit starting from this year to further develop an environment for diversity and women's career development, and to support female employees continuously develop their career.
In addition, Citibank Korea was the first in the country to provide four-week paternity leave regardless of the number of children. Citi introduced the paternity leave policy for male workers across its global operations. (Advertorial)