Women in finance: finova’s Pamela Chabba tells us why she feels she can truly be herself at work

by | Mar 8, 2023

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As we celebrate International Women’s Day, Pamela Chabba, Senior Product Analyst at finova shares just some of the innovative ways that the business has been working to create a culture of greater diversity and inclusivity to support the whole team. 

“As it’s International Women’s Day today, I thought it was a great time to share some of the things we’ve been doing here at finova in making some really great strides towards gender equality and to boost diversity and inclusion more broadly. These include hiring a Culture Engagement and Inclusion Manager to build and implement a strategy to that effect. Since 2021, we have seen a 10% increase in female employees which is excellent progress within a year and women now occupy 30% of tech roles at finova. We offer SaaS based open-architecture software to help lenders and brokers in the Mortgage, Lending and Savings sectors, so there are links with finance and technology. 

“The latest data from the UK government’s Digital Economy Council reveals that women comprise only 19% of the tech workforce in the UK. This highlights the pressing need for concerted efforts to increase female representation in the tech industry. 

“To make our company more attractive to a diverse range of employees, we have introduced a range of new benefits to support the team. This has included initiatives to support families, such as paid leave for pregnancy loss and fertility treatment, and a truly hybrid and flexible working policy to support all genders with childcare and other caring needs. 

 
 

“Since implementing these policies we have seen the topic discussed more openly, leading to positive conversations and highlighting areas where more can still be done. We regularly emphasise the value of diversity in our company meetings, and organise events and meetings to recognise initiatives through the year to spark important conversations in the team and raise further awareness, including Black History Month, International Women’s Day, and LGBTQ+ month, for example. But we haven’t stopped there. We encourage frequent employee feedback with questions gauging how open and inclusive employees find the company to be, and the executive team states their intent to improve this regularly. 

“At finova we celebrate difference among the team and acknowledge a wide set of religious holidays and festivals on a companywide basis. We have also implemented a flexible bank holiday policy, so that employees can take time off on the dates most meaningful to them and their families. 

“For me, finova is a company where I feel I can truly be myself. As an openly gay woman, I have not always had positive experiences within companies, but at finova, I can truly be myself without any negative ‘consequences’, and I have never felt that my differences impede me in any way.” 

 
 

“While financial services has been predominantly male dominated as a sector, I’d argue that we have seen positive change in this area over recent years. 

“Countless studies have shown that more gender-diverse companies perform better in terms of profitability, service offering, retention and recruitment. McKinsey, for example, delivered a landmark report, ‘Delivering through Diversity’, which concluded that companies in the top quarter for overall gender diversity are 21% more likely to have industry-leading profitability compared to companies in the bottom quarter. 

“This increase in profitability comes, in part, from the wider range of voices contributing ideas and solutions. Working with people with a diverse range of backgrounds, skills and experiences challenges the team to think differently and generates more creativity, with people bouncing their ideas off each other to create new approaches. The greater pool of knowledge facilitates a deeper understanding of the client base leading to better outcomes. It’s a win-win for everyone, as better outcomes mean happier clients! 

 
 

“Having a diverse workforce also builds a more positive culture which leads to better retention, as well as making the recruitment process easier. Many people consider the make-up of companies when applying for jobs, so not only does it help to develop and strengthen a business’s offering from within, but it also helps companies to grow by attracting the best talent.”

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