September 2019 www.womanthismonth.com 22 showcase The discussion reiterates the importance of a comfortable work environment for employees to be positively productive. The Standard Chartered framework and policies are designed to help employees maintain a work-life balance to enable them to achieve their career goals with corporate support. A Contemporary Corporate Culture “Standard Chartered has formally introduced flexi-time, work-from-home and part-time policies which have a clear process and documented guidelines to follow. They are available for everyone, not only female employees,” says Ruth. “Not only do we grant a long maternity leave of 16 weeks, but line managers of expectant employees have to complete a maternal assessment to ensure that the type of work is suitable to their condition, with regard to health, safety and comfort. We also give 10 days of paternity and compassionate leave which goes above the minimum required by the labour law.” Zoe says: “A woman returning from maternity leave will have a meeting with her line manager to assess and choose if she is ready to start with a full workload or take it slow. It’s an important process.” As per Noora, the bank greatly focuses on diversity and inclusion, so there is no discrimination when it comes to gender, culture or background. She says: “In my team, both men and women take the option of working from home on specified days of the week. This way, men also have the opportunity to be hands-on fathers and husbands when they can.” The ladies agree that the bank doesn’t need employees to be physically present on the premises at all times, except if they are in customer-facing roles, as long as productivity is not compromised and work is delivered as per deadlines. PLAYING THEIR A-GAME What does it take for a woman to make it big in the banking sector? Hard work and dedication, of course, but there’s more to it than that. In a candid têteà-tête with Behnaz Sanjana, five of the top boss ladies at Standard Chartered Bank – Bahrain, speak about how the culture of the bank brings out the best in employees and share their experiences on pertinent topics vis-à-vis women in today’s corporate milieu. RUTH SIMUYEMBA Head of HR, Bahrain 11 years at the bank ZOE KARALI Head of Compliance, Bahrain and GCC 10 years at the bank
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