19  December 2019
Maybank champions women leadership development in Sarawak

Recognising the importance of diversity in leadership development and to further integrate the culture of mentorship within the Group, Maybank has launched its Satellite Women Mentor Women (WMW) Council in Sarawak. This Council aims to advance women leadership across Maybank by overcoming geographical barriers and facilitating access to leadership for identified talents in the Group.

The launch was officiated by Maybank Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Nora Abd Manaf and attended by some 50 women employees of various backgrounds and talents from Maybank’s Sarawak region. With the launch of the council, the Group also plans to leverage its Advancing Women Leaders Programme (AWLP) which focuses on accelerating the Group’s Inclusion and
Diversity Agenda (GIDA) and its women’s agenda for employees.

Conceived in 2014, the WMW Council of Maybank was aimed at increasing the representation of women in the middle, senior and top management through strategic training. The council originally consisted of 13 women from across the Group that were able to draw on their professional experiences and network to support its initiatives and become effective mentors to other high potential women talents within the Group.

“The launch in Sarawak is part of many strategic initiatives designed by Maybank to empower our workforce and create a meaningful workplace experience so that all our employees are enabled and motivated to thrive. Only by developing a thriving and productive workforce, will our success be translated to higher standards of service we provide to the communities we serve in. This in turn creates a spill over effect to an elevated and dynamic customer experience for our
customers,” said Nora.

Recognising the importance of access to women mentors for budding corporate women, Maybank had designed the WMW Council not only as a platform for dialogue but more importantly to provide appropriate leadership and holistic talent development to women that enables their professional growth within the Group.

Nora added that with the expansion of the WMW council in Sarawak, Maybank intends to leverage its AWLP, which is part of a broader conversation about leadership transformation to support the progressive policies that it champions, in line with its mission of Humanising Financial Services.

The first group of AWLP participants graduated in 2018 where 35 women leaders from across ASEAN completed the year-long programme of which 22% had been promoted to higher positions since their completion of the programme.

“To rise above the ranks and become a leader in any corporate setting, it is vital to have social access and business opportunities that come with mentorship. We appreciate the different experiences a woman may face while navigating through the corporate industry and strive to provide appropriate and effective support to them to reach their best potential.

We recognise that our progressive policies often set new benchmarks across the industries and remain hopeful that they are able to drive change in the local corporate community to keep pace with international best practices,” said Nora. “We already have a similar council in our Indonesia, Perak and Johor/Melaka regions, and will be looking to extend it progressively to other locations to ensure that the opportunities will be made available throughout our network.”

The WMW Council and AWLP initiatives are one of many people policies spearheaded by Maybank. Other initiatives provided by the Group to empower its workforce, especially women include an extended maternity leave of up to 1 year with variable pay to all eligible female employees and Parental Leave Policy for child adoption. In addition, Maybank has also rolled out a Sabbatical Leave policy for all its employees. Under the policy, eligible employees are allowed to take a career break for a minimum duration of 3 months to a maximum of 24 months, with the guarantee and comfort of returning to work after their sabbatical.