«Equal does not mean everyone receives the same pay or does the same job, but everyone has a chance to succeed, everyone is treated with equal respect and valued for their contribution.»
Rachel Whittaker, Head of SI Research at Robeco and Member of the Executive Committee at Robeco Switzerland Ltd
Interview WITH RACHEL WHITTAKER
«Stronger when equal»: We are all stronger, when equal. What does this mean for you personally?
«Stronger when equal» can be applied in all areas of life, but when I think of «stronger when equal», I think of my colleagues at work. I strongly believe that in that context, «equal» means that everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive, to progress in their career, and to have their voice heard.
Equal does not mean everyone receives the same pay or does the same job, but everyone has a chance to succeed, everyone is treated with equal respect and valued for their contribution. Operating on a level playing field creates a better working environment for all, enhanced collaboration and ultimately, we are more likely to meet or even surpass our goals.
What advice about creating a diverse and inclusive workplace would you liked to have received as a young leader?
I would have liked to better understand how unconscious biases emerge and influence workplace culture, so that I could identify and do something about it. Earlier in my career, while outright discrimination was coming under better control, the less visible but equally damaging unconscious biases were not addressed through training or even openly discussed. We learned from experience, if at all!
Today, Robeco and many other workplaces are educating all employees, even those at the start of their career, in how and why it’s important to foster diverse workplaces in which everyone is valued. It’s too important to wait until people take on management roles or even worse just left to chance.
«I admit I don’t live in a perfectly tidy house, and I favor clothing that doesn’t need to be ironed! Prioritization is key, I choose going to my daughter’s piano concert over vacuuming the house.»
How would you advise young people who want to have a career and a family? How should we raise our children in order to get to gender equality faster?
It’s hard to juggle multiple responsibilities at any time of life, so I tend to feel we should just grab every career and life opportunity whenever we get the chance.
For both women and men there is more support for combining work and family life in Switzerland than ever before. Change has been gradual, but it is significant. For women especially it is not an either/or choice between family and career anymore. Everyone experiences family life differently so I don’t have any advice for other people on how to raise their children – mine are still in primary school so are a work in progress!
I feel that the best thing parents can do is teach children about the world, our impact on the environment and the inequalities in our societies, and try to instill a sense of morality and responsibility so they can continue our work towards a sustainable world when we pass the leadership mantle to them. Realistically, I think we are still looking at a generational pace of change, but the progress we have made and the momentum we have makes me optimistic that change will accelerate.
10 years Advance, engaging for a gender equal workplace. What is your wish for progress in gender balance in the next 10 years? And how do you see the role of leaders on this journey?
I hope we continue to make progress. In my industry, and in the countries I have worked in (UK and Switzerland) a lot has changed in the 20 years since I started my career. I know I had an easier time than the women who went 10 or 20 years before me, and likewise I see younger women and men starting their careers today taking things for granted that for me were a challenge.
I am a realist and think it’s unlikely that we will ever have a perfect, ideal society. We will always need protections for the most vulnerable and to uplift the underrepresented. On a personal level, as business leaders we can work to create the workplaces that we would have wanted for ourselves.
How much time do you invest in domestic work? If you have a family or live in a partnership, is this work equally distributed? What is your preferred type of housework?
I admit I don’t live in a perfectly tidy house and I favor clothing that doesn’t need to be ironed! Prioritization is key, I choose going to my daughter’s piano concert over vacuuming the house, and as long as we have clean clothes is doesn’t matter if the drawers and wardrobes are messy.
My partner and I share the physical and mental workload of running our home and family life equally, being flexible to accommodate each other’s work schedules and the evolving needs of our children.
It’s a challenge when one of us needs to travel or we both have important meetings, but neither of us could have maintained our careers without the shared support. It makes a huge difference too when employers are flexible and understanding. This is something I practice with my team at work too.
robeco HAS CHOSEN THE «ADVANCINE» «LOVE YOURSELF» by FABIENNE MEIER
Partner companies of the exhibition could choose an «Advancine» as part of their sponsorship, which will continue to inspire employees, managers and customers after the exhibition at the company headquarters.
Discover the artwork «Love yourself» von Fabienne Meier!
in conversation with robeco
How is Gender Diversity connected with the business success of your company?
As our employees are our most valuable assets, having diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) embedded as core values in our organization is critical to our strength and credibility as a sustainable asset manager and our ability to deliver quality returns for our clients.
Gender diversity is an essential part of our DE&I policy not only because research by the Robeco Gender Equality Equities strategy shows that companies with a significant representation of women in management positions are more profitable, but also because we want to reflect the diversity of the world in which we work.
what are Your most successful measures to balance the gender representation in management?
The following are our three most important initiatives to balance gender representation in management:
Targets
We realize that we need to set clear, ambitious targets supported by actions to ensure we move in the right direction and achieve our long-term ambition to have a 50% gender balance in Robeco. Global targets are the beacons that guide us to our overall ambition. We therefore set the following gender diversity targets:
• Executive Committee: 30% gender diversity
• Senior professional and managerial level: 30% gender diversity
• Professional level: 50% gender diversity
Roadmap on Diversity Recruitment and Retention
Robeco recently launched a DE&I roadmap which describes the strategy towards building a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization. One of the goals for 2023 is to install and execute a diverse recruitment policy which enforces our gender diversity targets to search and recruit female talent. Furthermore, we aim to retain our female talent and reduce the voluntary outflow to a maximum of 4%.
Employee Resource Group: Green Capital
Our Green Capital Employee Resource Group which originated at Robeco in Switzerland aims to raise awareness for diversity, gender equality and biases across the firm to empower women at every stage of their career.
The group offers colleagues globally a platform to collaborate, connect, network and share experiences. Through Green Capital, Robeco is a Global Corporate Sponsor of «100 Women in Finance» (100WF). Since its founding in 2001, 100WF’s mission has been to strengthen the global finance industry by empowering women to achieve their professional potential at each career stage. As a Global Corporate Sponsor, Robeco employees can directly benefit from and participate in 100WF’s diverse array of initiatives to create a more diverse and gender equitable presence in the finance industry at all levels worldwide.
Whether it’s helping lift women in specific regions, raising the next generation, or providing networking for industry professionals, together we are focused on breaking the barrier.
WHY DID Robeco CHOOSE THE «ADVANCINE» ARTWORK «Love yourself»? WHAT MESSAGE(S) DO YOU WANT IT TO convey TO YOUR EMPLOYEES, Leadership team, AND CUSTOMERS?
Fabienne Meier, created «Love Yourself» to highlight the positive interaction of self-love and self-care in the context of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Robeco stands for an environment in which every person can be themselves. An environment where everyone gets the same opportunities and treatment.
We chose this Advancine artwork to remind Robeco colleagues that we work in a safe environment where we can all develop and progress equally. Beyond that, our «Advancine» should remind people of the importance of self-love in making us all stronger both individually and collectively.
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