The value of diversity

The Australian Securitisation Forum (ASF)’s Women in Securitisation (WIS) subcommittee has been an advocate of industry diversity for many years. Its value has never been more apparent.

ZAUNMAYR Workplace and industry diversity has become a major focal point. What are the current work areas of the ASF’s WIS subcommittee?

GAAL Like all subgroups at the ASF, there is a focus on engaging with members so the current inability to meet face-to-face makes it more challenging. We are looking at initiatives to allow us to engage members virtually, for mentoring online, public speaking for younger members and some more casual ways of catching up and networking.

CHRIS DALTON

Men have typically always worked in the office and it has been women that balanced home and work lives. We have now all had real experience of what this entails.

CHRIS DALTON AUSTRALIAN SECURITISATION FORUM

ZAUNMAYR The consequences of economic crises often fall unevenly onto those that are systemically disadvantaged in the economy, even though the advantages of maintaining a diverse workplace are well known. How can the securitisation industry and business more broadly ensure progress toward workplace equality is maintained as the COVID-19 crisis plays out?

COEROLI It is interesting that governments led by women, such as Germany, New Zealand and Finland, have generally been better at handling COVID-19 than those led by men. I think this can translate into business as well.

When I started in securitisation, there were not a lot of women in the industry. There has been a change over the past decade, including a lot of emphasis on hiring women at junior levels and then keeping them. This is of course very important so they can progress to intermediate and senior management levels in an institution.

These efforts are ongoing and it is very important they are maintained regardless of the backdrop. In times of crisis, it is important to be agile and have different points of view. When a team is dominated by people of the same background and characteristics, it is not the type of environment where one will get the best ideas.

NUNEZ I agree with this: diversity of thought will always be helpful in a crisis. As an industry, it is incumbent on us to push forward and make sure we are a diverse group. I think securitisation is doing a good job of this compared with other industries.

There is of course more to do. One area where we can perhaps focus efforts is in getting more diversity in conferences and industry meetings. The more this is encouraged, the more the younger cohort will find the area appealing and believe it is an industry they can be successful in over the long term.

GAAL The securitisation industry has shown how agile it is to be in the position where issuers have brought transactions to market while everyone is working from home. Issuers have also renegotiated credit policies on the fly even while not really knowing what the consequences of COVID-19 would be.

This shows how people can collaborate even when they are not together physically in an office. I think we need to take all these examples of how we have pivoted and use them going forward to make businesses more diverse and have people more actively involved in decision-making.

This is good across the board, but particularly for women where flexibility of arrangements can make them feel more engaged and able to contribute.

GOUMENIS Flexibility is key in achieving diversity. One of the positives of the pandemic is that we have all been forced to work flexibly. It is no longer just seen as a women’s issue. It would be great to take this forward and have it embraced more broadly so women and men are doing it.

DALTON I think the experience in the past is that men have typically always worked in the office and it has been women that balanced home and work lives. We have now all had real experience of what this entails.

I hope the future working environment in securitisation is flexible so people are not concerned about taking breaks in their careers or being away from the office.

LAWLER Flexibility is certainly here to stay. There used to be stigma around people working from home in that it was assumed they were just taking a day off. This does not happen anymore. I can’t imagine that we will completely go back to the office-centric way we worked before.

O’SULLIVAN I have loved seeing everyone working from home and having children interrupt video calls. This is real life. Working from home has been easy with technology support but sometimes it can be more draining. Often the work day extends well into the evening and weekends with no separation of work and life, so people will probably want to go back into the office at some point. But the increased flexibility is undoubtedly a good thing.