Women have been urged to gear up with the right capabilities, attitude and skills in order to be able to take on the challenges that equal opportunities at the workplace would present so as to ensure that they achieve their full potential.
To commemorate International Women Day 2021 (IWD 2021), FBNBank, through its FBNBank Women Network, held a Forum to discuss issues pertaining to the advancement of the cause of women at the workplace under the same theme as the IWD 2021 celebrations, “Choose to Challenge.” The Forum, which also allowed for virtual participation featured a panel of four resource persons and over 200 attendees.
Speaking at the Forum, FBNBank Ghana’s Country Head of Technology and Services, Mrs. Rachel Adeshina, who is also the Chairperson of the FBNBank Women Network (FWN), said, “through the platform provided by the FBNBank Women Network, we have displayed our commitment to maintaining the status quo of equal opportunities for women, particularly at the workplace. The pillars of the FWN in particular, ensure that our women find a seat at whatever table they aspire to be at, armed with the right skill-sets in order that they can contribute greater value for success. What we need to see now is for us, women, to determine how far we want to go and to build our capabilities in order that we can be up for the challenge. That is the choice we, women, have to make and nobody can do that for us.”
The FWN is a platform introduced by the Bank’s parent company, First Bank of Nigeria, to promote access to equal opportunities for women at the workplace. It offers female employees capacity building and personal development through its six pillars which are: Career Management, Networking Programmes/Projects & Events, Counselling-Support-Welfare, Financial Planning & Empowerment, Mentoring-Coaching-Sponsoring and Personal Branding. These are aimed at empowering them to contribute meaningfully wherever they find themselves.
Addressing the participants, the Special Guest, Mrs. Comfort Ocran, a member of the Board of the Bank of Ghana, said “Women must be ready to take up opportunities when they come up without looking at the challenges. We all have different skill-sets and priorities so your place is where your knowledge, skills and priorities place you. Wherever you find yourself, based on your choices, you must be prepared to discharge your role very well. Yes, you will need support as you go along. However, in any given situation you will need to prove through your actions that you are worthy of that support.”
Women make up about 48 per cent of FBNBank Ghana’s staff population. The Bank also has a strong female presence across all levels of personnel including senior management and the board. Over the years, the Bank, through the FBNBank Women Network has driven an agenda of encouraging and empowering women in the Bank to take advantage of the equal opportunities available. The celebration of the International Women Day is a key item on the Bank’s annual calendar as it offers an opportunity for both the Bank and its staff to reaffirm their commitment to deliver on the issues related to gender parity and to assess their performance over the past year.
Commenting, FBNBank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Victor Yaw Asante said “we need our women to keep on aspiring. This is why, as an institution, FBNBank has provided a system which makes it possible for women to achieve their full potential. We are deliberate about this because we recognise that what should be is not what is. Given what we have put in place, the responsibility is on our female colleagues to take up the challenge because there are no hurdles because of gender.” “The first call is yourself. Feeling sorry for yourself and staying low because things are not happening your way is the wrong way to go about it. The special challenges like motherhood should never be the end of dreams.” he added.
This year, FBNBank Ghana, as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, will be giving its female staff several opportunities to exhibit their leadership, diversity and capabilities in a wide range of activities. The FBNBank Women Network will be delivering these under its six pillars in order to offer its members a great capacity building experience.
