Agenda

This session will look at the best practices to increase and improve gender diversity on boards. It’s important to recognise, of course, that broader gender inclusion at all levels of the company is critical. Companies can drive board inclusion by preparing their female executives for future board participation: placing them in roles with profit-and-loss responsibility, ensuring they have committed mentors and sponsors, and equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to confront the governance and strategy issues that boards typically face. Let's explore the possibilities.

As companies strive to become more agile and customer-focused, organisations are shifting their structures from traditional, functional models towards interconnected, flexible teams. This session will really test your skills when it comes to facilitating innovation within your teams and exploring the benefits of thought diversity.

Women are the single most underutilised asset in our societies and economies. Therefore, we believe it is important to create an ecosystem of change. In this session we will explore why it is uniquely important to foster female role models from an economic as well as personal perspective. We will confront the need for female leadership with the status quo in organisations. We will be addressing questions such as “Why do women get stuck in the quagmire of middle management?” and “What needs to happen for them to get to the top?”. Fortunately, we can share positive momentum from accelerators eventually resulting in more gender balanced corporations. The session will end with one resolution that will help each one of you to identify what action will help to progress your career and, maybe, take a seat at that top table.

There has been a lot of discussion in the industry around the impact of the millennial workforce on the way we do business. This session will look to explore the effect of millennial trends on gender diversity at work and some of the potential measures to address or leverage emerging trends.

Anneka will talk about the power of differentiation and the beauty of uniqueness. This spans far beyond just gender. She will reflect on her own personal experience and will engage in a lively dialogue to discuss tools to explore the competitive edge of both yourself and the company that you're working in.

In this session, Daniela will tell her story of becoming a leader in a big-four environment, a magic circle law firm and her return to the financial industry. In this dawning age of humanisation, Daniela will show that diversity can help to shape innovation and transformation to build corporate success. She will prove that we need to encourage and support women to find their personal path to leadership.

This session is your opportunity to really get to know fellow attendees and make some valuable connections. It will be fast-paced, but hopefully help you break the ice just before the coffee break!

Financial services faces challenges from every direction, with change desperately needed to improve its image and culture, and the efficacy of gender and diversity initiatives and policies. The next 10 years are key to transforming the industry, but how can the change required, be delivered? We have reached a stage where we must take responsibility for the change needed and make our own impact, rather than waiting for others to do so, or looking for policy-based solutions to what is a much bigger problem than a policy could ever fix. It is time to roll up our sleeves and to get out of our comfort zone to make the difference so very much needed.

Financial organisations are challenged managing expectations and demands of all their stakeholders in a constantly changing environment. A permanent haste is taking over. Work life is out of balance, absenteeism grows.

Women in Finance feel exactly what is going on in their company and in their life. They have all the capabilities to change. Why is making a transformative change for ourselves or within our organization so difficult? And how can we break this negative spiral, and turn it into a positive one? Monique challenges her audience to find answers to these questions by combining her business experience with yoga & mindfulness techniques. First slow down, then accelerate.

Fed up with being a people pleaser but don't know how to stop? In this workshop, you'll discover how to say no, how to set boundaries to protect your health and your sanity and how to break free from the expectations of others in work and life.

In the highly competitive world of finance, most of us are unaware that we are judged within seven seconds on how trustworthy and competent we are; and that our body language can have four times more impact on the first impression we make than any other factor. Just as a picture can say more than 1000 words, we can derive more from non-verbal communication than what is said. But how aware are we of our own ‘business body language’? What is our impact on others and how can we read the body language of others? It is not just about the conversations you conduct, but about the way you conduct them.

Week after week, there are always articles about the lack of women at the top within the banking finance sector, not just within Europe, but on a global scale. They repeatedly point to the same statistics and lack of progress on the underlying issues. Why is this still a problem in the 21st Century? Everybody knows the business case for gender diversity and inclusion, the discussion we now need to have is how do we implement strategies and achieve success?

How do you inspire one of the largest and oldest financial organisations in the world to make women a business priority? Why are money and technology the key frontiers towards a new currency of equality? Based on her personal story Olga will uncover the layers and importance of confidence.

The banking sector is currently facing enormous changes. The growth of technology and digitalisation and automation developments are affecting not only the way banks are functioning, but also the way the workforce operates. Sarah Gelhard, with an auditing background, will explore why the future workforce will need a different skill set in order to leverage the increased use of AI and robotics. Sarah will use the example of audit firms and look at how organisations will need to rethink the talent they attract, develop and retain. It will become clear that diversity and different mindsets will play a crucial role. Diversity of thought will bring a variety of creative ideas to the table leading to new product innovation, improved processes, and increased quality, as Sarah will prove.

There are specific characteristics that good leaders have in common:

• Decisiveness
• Transparency
• Speed of action

However, research shows that great leaders come in all shapes and sizes – with many different styles and communication strategies. This discussion will highlight how successful leaders have honed their skills while respecting individual values. We will look at plans for identifying & overcoming personal leadership gaps, approaches for self-promotion, and strategies to develop your business as a whole all while learning about seeking leadership experiences & coaching that build on individual strengths.

While reporting on overall organisational diversity is essential, communicating how diverse banks are at the top should also be a key priority. Highlighting how balanced the workforce is may be all well and good, but the benefits could be undermined if this is not reflected at senior management or leadership level. Many banks may have come a long way in boosting female representation at board level, particularly in Europe, where several countries such as Norway, France and Italy have mandatory quotas for female board representation but how do we tackle diversity as a whole?

How would the financial ecosystem look like if we were to design it today using tomorrow's technology? Is there anyone who doesn’t want systems that are more efficient, reliable, available and easier to use whilst meeting the demands of the digital nomads who are starting to join the workforce. Veronica will discuss how technology will genuinely impact the future of finance – types of jobs created and lost, what technical skills will be needed to succeed, what are organisations and institutions doing to source/upskill talent. What will the impact of all of this be on women? These are just some of the questions that Veronica will pose... showing that steps must be taken to stay ahead of the competition.

As an industry, banking and finance needs to be bold for change. It is all about the next generation and the need to inspire them. It is up to us, those who are currently shaping the future of work, to revolutionise the industry and fight to press for progress. Join this session to hear the importance of motivating yourself and colleagues, not just for the present, but for the future.

So, you love your family and your work, but wonder, is it really possible to “Have it All”

The answer is YES! Join this workshop to discover simple yet powerful strategies to help you create both a thriving family AND career!

In a world where everything and everyone have a digital connection, crimes are growing in subtlety and sophistication and are becoming much harder for firms and the law enforcement authorities to detect. Tightening regulation, growing demands by customers for integrity in firms’ financial dealings and increasing criminal sophistication are combining to create an upheaval for the financial services sector. Current approaches remain a patchwork of fragmented, inefficient and, ultimately, ineffective efforts designed around compliance. This workshop is to discuss the current status with heavily enforcement actions towards the future in tackling financial crime with next-gen solutions and discussing different design models such as public private partnerships.

Key takeaways:

• Exploration of the current status of the financial services industry and financial crime
• A look forward towards tackling financial crime with next gen solutions RPA and AI
• Discover the international view on trend towards public-private partnerships

In the world of leadership, soft skills are truly integral to the success of those wanting to move up within an organisation. Data shows that intelligence often gets you through the door for a job, but emotional intelligence is what helps leaders to step up more quickly. When an employee moves into management and leadership, their responsibility becomes less about doing the work and more about managing the people. This workshop will explore how you can develop and focus on growing emotional intelligence, how to handle your emotions and how to become more empathetic in your approach to others.