The Diverse Work Force of

Bank Limited

Prepared for
Nishat Moumita
Course Instructor, Human Resource Management
Section: A

Prepared by
Afnan, Tasmia
ID: 09-13533-1

18th October, 2010

 The world's local bank

Company background:
HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world.
Headquartered in London, HSBC has an international network comprised of over 9,800
offices in 77 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas,
the Middle East and Africa. The bank’s 253,000 employees are located mainly in the UK
(56,000 employees), the US (43,000), Brazil (28,000), Hong Kong (26,000), Mexico
(20,000) and France (14,000). Admirably, HSBC acknowledges that it operates in
countries that present a range of social, ethical and environmental challenges.
HSBC is structured according to its consumer groups, providing a comprehensive range
of financial services, including: personal financial services; commercial banking;
corporate, investment banking and markets; private banking; and other activities.
HSBC clearly identifies its top priority as the financial return to its 200,000 shareholders.
However, the bank also states that, ‘our goal is not, and has never been, profit at any
cost…tomorrow’s success depends on the trust we build today.’ Thus CSR, defined by
HSBC as the management of stakeholder expectations, is considered an important
strategic objective to allow the bank to continue to be successful in the long term.

HSBC global locations

Diversity:
A belief in diversity is central to HSBC Bank plc's culture.

The world is a rich and diverse place, full of interesting cultures and people who should
be treated with respect and from whom there is a great deal to learn. Their business is
about people and everyone is unique. Customers drive their business and their employees
deliver to customers.

HSBC is the World's local bank.

They know that employing and managing diverse people gives them a more rounded and
balanced organization and makes them more adaptable to new situations. This is not
simply about gender, ethnicity, disability or age: it is about open mindedness, embracing
non-conformity and creating balanced teams. Respect for individuals of all types will
inspire loyalty in both employees and customers, which will have a direct line of sight to
the achievement of business goals.

HSBC is a global organization that understands their local populations and values the
diversity of the markets that it operates in. It needs to reach out to all parts of
employment and customer markets, existing and potential, for maximum productivity and
value. It is by going beyond matters of compliance that valuing and managing diversity
becomes a competitive differentiator, enabling us to leverage the opportunities that this
can offer.

This strategy is based on the premise that the most important competitive differentiators
are the quality of individual service they provide to their customers and the way we treat
its employees. It connects with Managing for Growth, the brand, Clear Water and the
people strategy.
HSBC’s Valuing Diversity:
HSBC is committed to diversity and employment equity. At HSBC, Diversity is central
to their brand. Valuing diversity is what makes them different from their competition. In
a world where uniformity dominates, they are building their business in the belief that it
is difference that creates value. They know that progress and success is reliant on having
a mixed and diverse workforce.

Diversity is not simply about gender, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality or age; it is
about respecting individuals and treating everyone, customers and colleagues, with
dignity. They deliberately recruit from a broad cross-section of society and encourage
their people to share their unique backgrounds with others. They do not accept
stereotypes and look for the value in everyone. Their robust policies demonstrate the
values that they are known and respected for by their employees, customers and
stakeholders.

Their long-term, global presence has given them a unique ability to understand and
appreciate diversity in all its forms. Creativity, innovation, teamwork and productivity
flourish at HSBC in large part because it insists that every employee and customer be
treated with fairness and respect. Valuing Diversity helps them to sustain and increase
this unique advantage.

Program components:

• Valuing Diversity Council

• Executive Commitment
• Alignment with Business Goals/Strategies
• Policies and Practices
• Training and Development

Valuing Diversity Council

The HSBC Valuing Diversity Council includes a cross-section of employees from

varying functions, levels and geographic regions within the organization. Council
members are actively involved in developing, implementing and monitoring the
company’s Valuing Diversity initiatives.
Executive Commitment

Their Executives are committed to Valuing Diversity. They provide leadership and
support to diversity related initiatives and actively promote accountability, co-operation
and buy-in from all employees at all levels.

Alignment with Business Goals/Strategies

They increase awareness, acceptance and successful implementation of diversity related

initiatives by maximizing opportunities to present, align and demonstrate the links that
these initiatives have with business priorities.

Policies and Practices

They have a range of policies and practices in place that complement and support
diversity at HSBC. Things like Religious Leave and Workplace Accommodation make
for happier, healthier and more productive employees, so they are always exploring
opportunities to add to or improve upon their diversity initiatives. Feedback and
suggestions from their employees are an important resource for them.

Training and Development

To increase employee awareness and understanding of diversity, a series of diversity

related modules are incorporated into their internal training programs. These help to:

• Improve the knowledge and skills of their employees and managers

• Guard against stereotyping and other potentially negative forms of presumption
about others
• Enhance everyone’s ability to manage, empathize and communicate with
coworkers or customers from a variety of backgrounds.
Employees and diversity:
With some 253,000 employees in 77 countries, HSBC makes a significant impact. The
employee section of the report includes information on diversity, health and safety,
learning and development, employee engagement and global resourcing. This review
focuses on the key issues of diversity and employee engagement.

a. Policy
HSBC has developed a group-wide strategic human resources plan – ‘Managing for
Growth’ – but many other policies and initiatives relating to issues such as diversity and
HIV/AIDS are developed at the local level. It would be of interest in future reports for
HSBC to elaborate on this approach.
HSBC has adopted a broader definition of diversity as an issue that is not only about
gender, ethnicity, disability or age, but also about ‘open-mindedness, embracing non-
conformity and creating balanced teams’. HSBC has developed a Global Diversity
Toolkit which is published on the bank’s intranet and provides local managers with ideas
that have worked well in other parts of the world. It is unclear, however, whether all areas
are required to develop and implement a diversity policy.

b. Programme
In 2004, HSBC carried out a global survey to identify internal barriers to increasing
gender diversity in senior management and possible solutions. HSBC is transparent in
disclosing the survey’s key finding that while 70% of male senior managers interviewed
thought there were equal opportunities to advance regardless of gender, only 34% of
women at senior grades agreed. Further, women account for only 17% of HSBC’s ‘talent
pool’ of high-potential employees. Clearly, this shows room for considerable
improvement and there are signs of progress, notably the establishment of a senior
women’s business forum. HSBC has also committed itself to develop a plan to address
perceived and actual pay differentials between men and women.
HSBC conducted an employee satisfaction and engagement survey in 2003/4. Employee
engagement is made up of three components: job satisfaction, intention to stay at HSBC
and a willingness to recommend HSBC as a great place to work. Some 70,000 employees
responded to the survey, with an average level of engagement of 68%. HSBC’s goal of
completing a similar survey every two years is excellent but the bank might also be
encouraged to expand the survey to gauge employee attitudes in other areas, including the
bank’s environment and community initiatives.
c. Performance
HSBC provides statistics on gender and age for the last two years, and on the ethnic
background of its employees across five regions. Figures show the ratio of male to female
employees, including at executive level, to be roughly equal. Just under 70% of
employees are between 25 and 45 years of age. Employees’ ethnic backgrounds reflect
the majority group within that region – white employees make up 88% and 63% of the
total in the UK and US respectively, while 96% in Asia-Pacific are Asian, and all
employees in Brazil are Latin American. The only diversity target relates to increasing
the proportion of women in the bank’s ‘talent pool’. The report offers no indication that
steps are being taken to redress other imbalances.

Benefits:
HSBC bank Designed to meet the diverse needs of employees at various life stages.
People have a lot of viewpoints and having people from many backgrounds and places in
life brings a lot of those viewpoints into the mix. In some situations, a lot of viewpoints
give us a lot of options. Plus, since there are many different viewpoints and environments
in the workers, there are many opportunities and benefits in diverse workforce. The
various advantages of having a diverse workforce are the following:

• It helps motivating employees.

• It enhances the innovation and creativity of employees.
• It creates flexibility in the organization.
• Immediate access to problem solving.
• Easy transfer of knowledge.
• Better marketing structure.
• Innovative work environment.
• Immediate outcomes.
• Fulfillment of social responsibility.
• It helps attract and retain employees.
• It increases employee networks and assistance services.
Bank and Employer of Choice:
• A respect for diversity helps them attract, understand and retain customers. The
profile and demands of the customer markets are changing. To maintain and
improve their position in these markets they must understand their diversity

• A commitment to diversity helps attract and retain talented staff. We want the best
people to help meet our business priorities and we want those already working for
us to realize their full potential. Focus on diversity helps us discover potential
employees and untapped skills

• Diversity demonstrates that we are a socially responsible organization. Image and

brand value is enhanced when we are seen to treat employees, customers,
communities and shareholders the way they want to be treated. Reputation and
image is a valuable asset, and strong stakeholder relations will have a positive
impact on bottom line results

• Embracing diversity puts us in an excellent position to face the future with

confidence. It helps develop decision-makers that see opportunities, have the
courage to innovate and who are able to lead change. The ability to think
differently and openly, to see beyond established parameters, becomes part of our
competitive advantage

• Commitment to diversity needs to be demonstrated by leadership in words and in

actions so that people throughout the organisation can learn by example and
understand that this is an integral part of good management practice, not an
optional extra.
  Problem from diversity:

• HSBC Bank face problem in attracting their key employees, as

people have their own choice that where they will do work or not.
Sometimes they intentionally change the organization when they
feel insecurity about their job because diversity increases
competition.

• HSBC always looking for the most talented people in their

organization, but in the context of their educational system this is
not always possible to get the right or actual training.

• Sometimes HSBC focuses on the flexible employment, so thus

they are making compromise when they get actual talent with the
expected experience or educational qualification.

Conclusion:

HSBC is the World's local bank. They know that employing and managing diverse
people gives them a more rounded and balanced organization and makes them more
adaptable to new situations. This is not simply about gender, ethnicity, disability or age.
It is about open mindedness, embracing non-conformity and creating balanced teams.
Respect for individuals of all types will inspire loyalty in both employees and customers,
which will have a direct line of sight to the achievement of business goals.