In today’s world, diversity of gender and thought are key factors for business success, because different perspectives enable better decisions.

Today 60% of graduates from the University of Malta are female, but only 5% of all Board positions in Malta’s listed companies are held by women, the lowest in the EU.  Economy cannot truly prosper and compete internationally over the long term unless the remarkable talent of business women in Malta is truly set free.

Internally, the bank works to foster a climate of equality, including advancement of women in their careers, while externally it remains a passionate supporter of the cause.

Advancing women in their careers makes business sense too as it provides competitive advantage by maximising staff and business potential, it reduces staff turnover and increases employee motivation.  This also creates new business opportunities and long-lasting benefits to the community.

HSBC firmly believes that meritocracy is a guiding principle when it comes to fostering a culture based on diversity and inclusion, and over the past years the Bank has taken a number of steps to achieve gender balance in management positions.  In fact, in 2018, HSBC Malta became the first large organisation in Malta with a 50% of its Executive Committee positions held by female colleagues, appointed in all cases based on their ability.

HSBC Malta is proud to support the mission and goals of the Malta Businesswoman of the Year Awards.

Economic transformation has brought about many new job opportunities.  As a small island state, we need to ensure that all our human capital is actively and optimally engaged in the labour market.  It is also recognized that as time evolves, there will be more need to adapt over the span of one’s career, with more frequent job changes and demands for flexibility increasingly becoming a reality for both employers and employees.

As the Farsons Group recognizes the richness of diversity and inclusion, the value of equality as well as the development of all its potential as key elements to its ongoing success; it has introduced several measures to support the engagement, retention and development of all its employees. Women are represented at board level, senior management and across all levels within a Group that believes that performance and competence are what matters, and that diversity adds true value.

While progress has been made in creating equal opportunities for men and women in Malta, there remains more to be done.  Society will benefit from more female role models who inspire us to strive for a better future.  The Farsons Group is committed to supporting MBWYA precisely because it is an ideal platform to recognize individuals, women, and organisations that, through their culture and commitment to diversity and equality, have achieved significant results.

Since talent is equally distributed within man and women, gender balance is irrefutably critical in today’s workforce. It is not only the right thing to do, but it leads to stronger performance, faster innovation and better leadership inclusion.

At Nestlé we are purposefully passionate about empowering women across our entire value chain. Proudly Nestlé was included on the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI).

Currently in Malta, the male employment rate stands at 83.2%, while the female employment rate sits at just 63.4%, the lowest rate recorded in Europe when it comes to female employment. This highlights the need to focus on developing and progressing women at all stages of their career.

Here, at Nestlé Malta, 40 per cent of our Line Managers and Executive Committee are women. These numbers are the result of an embedded gender balance strategy across all of our business practices, where human resources management plays a key role. We give equal opportunities in recruiting, continuous focus in challenging our cultural behaviours through unconscious bias trainings and in our succession planning processes we make sure to have  female candidates in key roles. All these, can only be sustained thank to policies which guarantee a high flexibility in the way we work, such as agile work or teleworking.

We believe that huge progress has been made – but this is just the start. Nestlé Malta wants to continue to lead the way to create the right environment for the women to unlock their talent.  Sponsoring the Malta Businesswoman of the Year Award is one step towards that direction, while partnering with other local leaders is crucial. We ardently support the Awards’ mission to give full access to women across all spheres.