Diversity and inclusion are more than reputational issues. They are an operational imperative, especially in engineering. As banks tailor technology to meet unique customer needs, they need to understand the diversity of cultures and experiences in their domestic and international markets. Building this capacity for empathy, understanding and cultural acuity is every leader’s responsibility, starting at the top.

In any business, especially one as globally competitive as banking, everyone is looking for advantage. So, it’s important to look at your own organisation and know your strengths. This is exactly what I see in Scotiabank’s Global Heads of Engineering, because three of the five are women: Martine Lamoureux, Demetria Ruggiero-Barbera and Stella Yeung. Until now, I’ve never witnessed a majority-female engineering leadership working in financial services in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

As engineers in the financial sector, we use problem-solving skills from our professional discipline to solve problems in banking. I see an advantage in having a leadership team made up of people with different backgrounds who are applying their technical knowledge and employing human empathy into our strategic thinking. 

Unlocking the full potential of the talent in our institution means developing a talent strategy that is culturally diverse, globally dispersed and empowers female leadership.

There is a growing body of research into the many ways that inequity and discrimination cause harm and prevent many people – and communities – from reaching their full potential. It’s true in banking — but it’s true in any economic sector and in our day-to-day lives, too. We also know that it takes more than bringing attention to discrimination to end discrimination. It takes a sustained effort over time, and, in financial services, that means creating diverse teams. When we do that, not only do people feel a sense of inclusion and belonging, but those same teams also make institutions stronger by drawing a wealth of ideas and innovations from diverse life experiences and perspectives.

The future of technology in our industry will not be solely written by the demographic groups which have traditionally been overrepresented in leadership positions. Things are simply moving too fast in our industry for narrow thinking. Logically, this is what you get if your talent and leadership team draw from similar-lived experiences. Diverse perspectives foster the innovation that is needed for success in business at a global scale.

Leveraging diversity

Like every organisation in the financial services sector, my employer, Scotiabank, is on a journey to do more to fully address equity and discrimination. And we are committed to doing that work. For us, that means enabling a diversity advantage to be a smarter bank, one that addresses the diverse needs of its customers. After all, those we might call “customers” or “end users” are human beings – there is no challenge in design or engineering more complex than understanding why people make certain choices. Factors influencing trust and ease of use can include family and community history, as well as the person’s own hopes and apprehensions. That is why our bank’s global engineering organisation purposefully spans country borders and cultures.

In fact, it seems to me that leaders with an engineering mindset can adapt their traditional methods of problem solving to address the immediate imperative of leveraging diversity to business advantage. While diversity and inclusion requires the application of somewhat intangible, or so-called “soft skills,” leaders must also develop a strategy that is perceived as authentic, deliberate and monitored for tangible progress.  

For example, Martine Lamoureux, Global Head of Engineering, Operations and Corporate Functions benefited from a deliberate leadership choice made years ago. A Chief Technology Officer offered a sponsorship opportunity that enabled Lamoureux to establish a new group and grow it from 200 people to 2,000. That advancement in her career trajectory continues to pay benefits for the bank today. It’s an example that reinforces the shared obligation of sponsorship. “You own part of your career, so the individual should seek to gain insight from the relationship with a sponsor. Raise your hand and accept new challenges,” says Lamoureux. “As sponsors, senior leaders can and must make the investment in promising careers to add value to their experience which, in turn, strengthens and diversifies the bank’s leadership talent.”  

In short, diversity is an operational leadership priority, not just an HR responsibility.

This includes taking a hard look at traditional career paths or leadership programs to ensure they are equitable and still relevant to evolving business needs. Most importantly, leadership by example sends a powerful message on the value of mentoring, coaching and embracing the value of diversity.

Diverse teams = idea incubators

Engineering executives are tasked with solving some of the toughest and most consequential challenges for the bank. We approach our work with an outsider’s perspective. That’s why we’re here: to examine the industry from a different angle, find novel solutions and identify unrealised opportunity. So, we should be leaders in attracting a diversity of ideas and championing leadership talent wherever we see it. 

In 2022, most large, established business organizations can point to “trailblazer” success stories in leadership. Such leaders are justifiably respected for their resilience and unique perspectives. However, the ultimate recognition of their success will be to make their type of story more commonplace. The footpath they trail blazed should become one that has fewer unnecessary, barriers for the talented and the ambitious who follow, regardless of gender or background.

Demetria Ruggiero-Barbera, a Senior Vice President and one of our global heads of engineering (who led a team awarded RBI's Security 2020 Innovation of the Year), sees it as part of her job to accelerate the pace of gender equity. Ruggiero-Barbera champions women in technology and is also an Executive Champion for the Technology Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. “When I started my career and was looking up, I didn’t see many women or people who looked like me. As a leader, I’m committed to inclusion and diversity and really making space and programs needed for women. And we know that it’s not just mentorship, but sponsorship that really changes the course for women in any organisation.”

When it comes down to it, do we want our future leaders looking up at the organisational hierarchy and asking, ‘Why don’t I see people like me?’” I know that our bank needs engineering leaders who are, instead, looking out at the world and seeing where the bank needs to go.

The big cultural change

To create such a culture, banks need to empower executives to, in turn, empower diverse, female leaders.

Stella Yeung, for example, joined Scotiabank in 2013 and subsequently moved through progressively senior roles from Director to Vice President and now Senior Vice President and Global Head of Engineering, Global Banking & Markets, Data and Analytics. Her awareness of customer experiences is informed by her exposure to different cultures in Europe and Asia early in her career, and well as her experience as an immigrant. She participated in a week-long senior leadership program, iLEAD, which further built on this by allowing her to directly experience the impact of high-quality banking in one of our target global markets. Stella and her cohort visited Scotiabank business customers in Peru, including a woman business owner who started her own trolley cart business selling just a handful of items. The woman, also a widow and mother, succeeded in growing her business to a 50-foot store. “Scotiabank isn’t a young bank. It has a 190-year-old DNA, yet we’re encouraged to think globally about the positive impacts we’re making in the community. This was an uplifting example of the powerful role banking can play in a person’s life,” says Yeung.

In another example, a Women in Tech program in Mexico offers workshops, seminars and classes that purposefully places female leaders at the front of the room.

For many financial institutions, diversity and inclusion has been an ongoing focus of strategies to attract, nurture and retain top talent. With the accelerated change of the pandemic era, this priority has become more critical. Public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 also created an environment that advanced the remote working model.

 Approaches to attracting talent can’t remain tethered to the world of 2019. We’re no longer just recruiting in any one market. We’re competing for top talent with companies across the globe. Those who have already taken a global and diverse approach to nurturing engineering talent in banking will have a head start in this race, which is ultimately about fostering innovation at a global scale. The shift to working from anywhere fits with the existing goal of developing products and services that are global in scale but can be customised to local market needs.

 To further this type of internationally driven innovation, in August 2021, Scotiabank established regional hubs in Ottawa and Vancouver, key markets for Scotiabank’s Canadian businesses and home to highly skilled and diverse digital and technology talent. Beyond Canada, ScotiaTech in Colombia is made up of top local talent who work seamlessly with the rest of the global engineering team to influence today and tomorrow’s banking. This ScotiaTech group is a model for the rest of the bank in building a truly innovative, inclusive and high-performing team.

Representation fuels aspiration

People – all the talented people out there of different identities and backgrounds – are critical to designing financial tools and services that meet customer needs around the world. Financial institutions that do not embrace and leverage the advantages of diversity, equity and inclusion will find themselves losing the battle for talent and catering to a shrinking customer base. Talented people want to commit themselves to building a career in a bank where they see themselves represented in leadership. They want to make an impact. They want to be part of its success. They want to lead that bank for every future.