Standard Chartered Sri Lanka has been certified at the second highest level of the three-tiered Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) Certification – “Move: Showcasing Progress”, marking a first for Sri Lanka. The Bank’s EDGE Certification, the process of which was supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work programme, helps recognise its strategic commitment to creating a gender-equal workplace that benefits employees, customers and partners.
Launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2011, EDGE, is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for evaluating corporate commitment to gender equality. Supported by IFC, a licensed partner of EDGE Certification, Standard Chartered Bank’s workplace gender equality performance was assessed and evaluated against global and industry benchmarks. This certification recognises the Bank’s People and Diversity & Inclusion Strategy to be a strong and effective institutional framework of policies and practices that showcase progress in equal representation, pay equity and equitable career flows.
Additionally, Standard Chartered offers several programmes that promote equality in the workplace, introducing a fair pay charter, employee support groups and mentoring programmes among others which led to achieving 50:50 gender balance in the workforce, 100% maternity return rates and 50% new women recruits. The Bank’s participation in the two-year IFC-DAFT Women in Work, SheWorks partnership, further enhanced these endeavours.
In some of the key highlights noted during the validation process, Standard Chartered was highly commended on areas such as equal access to leadership development opportunities, strong framework of policies and procedures, inclusivity of the work environment, balanced gender composition in management positions and flexible work conditions.
Further to being Great Place to Work® certified for the third consecutive year in 2021, the Bank was recently named one of the 10 ‘Best Workplaces™ for Women in Sri Lanka’ for implementing multiple initiatives to support the advancement of women in the workplace.