Maybank recently won two awards at the National Women in Leadership Summit and Exhibition 2016.
Organised by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) and the National Council of Women’s Organisations (NCWO), Maybank was among local and multinational companies in Malaysia to be acknowledged for their exemplary commitment to diversity and inclusion at the workplace.
Maybank was one of the five companies to receive the ‘Empowering Women’ award in the ‘Workplace Gender Equality Recognition’ category.
The second award, an individual award named “Beacon of Light” award was presented to Maybank Group’s Chief Human Capital Officer, Nora Abd Manaf. The awards were presented by YB Dato’ Sri Rohani Abdul Karim, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development.
The ‘Empowering Women’ Award recognised Maybank’s consistent efforts in implementing a women empowerment strategy and championing gender equality initiatives in areas of leadership development programmes, including coaching, mentoring and executive development. The ‘Beacon of Light’ award recognised Nora for her inspiring efforts and achievements in pushing the diversity and inclusion agenda in Maybank, the financial industry and other sectors.
“We are truly humbled to receive these awards. At Maybank, we see diversity and inclusion as critical, ethical and a business imperative. We’ve always believed that it’s only when we start embracing the diversity of our people, that we’ll become stronger as one team,” said Nora. “Some 54% of our global workforce are women. Our women representation in Management positions have grown from 38% in 2009 to 47% in 2015, while the proportion of women in Top Management positions increased from 15.68% in 2009 to 35% in 2015. These are indicators that our initiatives focused on driving greater diversity at the leadership bench have been impactful.”
On the individual recognition, Nora thanked the panel of judges for recognising the role of women in the betterment of women community in organisations. “I’m honoured to be given this recognition. It is important that as women leaders, we take the lead in empowering our women to be confident of their capabilities and realise their career aspirations, while believing it’s possible to find the right balance in juggling different roles.”
She added that this recognition will inspire her to accelerate the pace of achieving what the country is committed to, aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“The UN 2030 goals is a real game changer given that we will move beyond gender issues, to see a future that is truly equitable to both gender. We need to start today as it is just 14 years away! It is only when both women and men share this same aspiration, that we can create the change that we want to see in our society,” added Nora.