Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Working in the financial field, particularly the bankingsector, is not only challenging, but also interesting for Vietnamese women asit affects many aspects of their personal lives as they pursue higherpositions.

Moreand more women are taking part in banking work now since the businesses aregrowing stronger in Vietnam and around the world. 

DangChau Giang, head of Small and Middle Enterprise (SME) Marketing and CustomerService Department at VPBank, said that many female employees work for banksnow, and more and more are promoted to middle management as they tend to bemore careful and have unique ideas.

“Itprovides decent jobs, decent incomes, and also an interesting experience. Inthis field, women are more careful and even more decisive,” Giang added.

Researchon listed companies in Asia and China conducted by International FinanceCorporation (IFC) showed that companies with at least 30 percent of women onthe board of directors see rates of return that are 2 percentagepoint higher than companies with all male boards.

“Weknow that diverse leadership teams make better decisions. Diverse teams have abetter ability to assess risk and a stronger record of innovation, leading tobetter business results,” Amy N. Luinstra, Gender Lead in East Asia Pacific ofIFC, said.

Butnot many get to senior positions and the board of directors. Women account forapproximately 60 percent of banks' entry-level workforce, and as they progressalong the career ladder, women hold one-fifth of top executive positions.  

“Weface a lot of pressure. As entry-level employees, we have to finish our taskson time. As managers, we have to reach business targets without violatinginternal regulations and creating conflicts,” Giang, who has 17 years ofexperience in banking and 11 years in management, said.

“Ingeneral, the workload is always high so it is normal for employees to go homeat 7 – 8pm. Not to mention if you work in sales, you have to go out often tointeract with customers.

“Thismakes things difficult for women, especially married women, as they can notspend time with their families.  

“Ifthey cannot manage to strike a balance between personal lives and work, theymight struggle and it prevents them from reaching higher positions.”

The‘leaky pipeline’ of women in leadership is hurting the banks, Luinstra said.

Anotherkey factor influencing female workers’ ambitions in pursuing leadership rolesis the working environment.

“Ifyou work in organisations which are open to changes, new ideas and initiatives,you also have a mindset for changing and improving your value,” Giang said.

“Employees,especially women, who work in that environment are motivated to grow and strivefor new challenges.

“Andof course, female employees will have a feeling of being satisfied if they workin quiet and safe environment. They might easily be pleased with their currentjobs and positions.”

Thiswill be a challenge for both banks and women themselves, Luinstra noted.

“Tofind solutions and answers for these questions, IFC is cooperating with theState Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to promote innovative, impactful initiatives toopen doors for women into leadership positions in banks,” Luinstra said.

Thepartnership includes three phases. The first is to research the current status ofwomen and men in banks, what barriers prevent more women from being inleadership and what are some promising practices among banks.

Inthe second phase, IFC and SBV will sponsor an awards programme to acknowledgeindividual high achieving women in banking as well as prominent banks workingto promote gender equality in their hiring and promotion practices.

Andthe last phase is a peer learning platform that brings togetherprivate-sector banks to exchange knowledge on the best practices in talentdevelopment, leadership and succession planning, and creating more flexible andinclusive workplaces for women and men. 

Genderdiversity in leadership brings another advantage, Luinstra added.

“Whenthere are more women in decision-making roles in finance, they tend to lendmore to women-owned businesses, who are currently underserved by banks in Vietnam," Luinstrasaid.

"Thiscontributes to the growth of the economy as whole and is good for the bank. Inemerging Asia, loans to women-owned SMEs had a 3.2 percent non-performingloan (NPL) ratio compared to 4.5 percent NPL for the SME segment.”/.