Our leadership is committed

Our Group Executive Committee has set the goals of gender-equal pay, gender-equal representation and integrating gender equality and diversity into our business for the whole organisation. Our managers are responsible for guiding their businesses toward the bank’s shared goals and are evaluated based on it. Managers receive recurrent training and awareness-raising to be up to the task. We are a proud signee of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and work within the Nordic CEOs for a Sustainable Future network to advance diversity and inclusion in the Nordic region. 

We have zero tolerance towards discrimination and harassment

Swedbank is an inclusive organisation where everyone has a place and is respected – no matter their gender, age, sexual orientation or identity, religion, ethnicity or disability.

There is an absolute zero-tolerance approach for discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and bullying at Swedbank. We have in place a clear policy, procedures and guidelines on how to prevent these things from happening and how to act if they have happened. Managers are frequently reminded through training, workshops and regular communication on their responsibility for cultivating a respectful culture in their teams and how to behave if unsuitable behaviour occurs. It is a requirement both for Human Resources and managers to start an investigation, even based on rumours. Information is available to all employees on the company policy and on how to act if any discrimination or harassment takes place. Everyone should be safe at work.

Equal pay is the bottom line

Our efforts for equal pay are extensive – men and women working the same job should be paid the same, and the goal is a 0% gender-equal pay gap for the whole organisation. This principle is integrated into every process in the compensation and benefits area. We have a set salary system where we compare the salaries of men and women in similar positions; no gaps are tolerated, and adjustments are made when necessary. We measure and monitor the situation on a regular basis and implement preventive measures during annual salary review and salary-setting. Our work to diminish the statistical gender-pay gap lies in all our efforts to ensure gender balance in leadership and areas dominated by either gender, as well as creating equal opportunities for development.

We promote equal opportunities for women

Principally, everyone within Swedbank has equal opportunities for training and development. We specifically track gender equality when putting together talent and development programs to ensure equal representation. It is also a focus in succession planning and development, and if we see a lack of female talent in some area, we take extra action to develop more women, e.g. in the Credit Academy, which is a female talent development program in the credit area. Our top female potentials also participate in several high-level external development and mentorship programs.

We aspire towards a diverse workforce

We are the bank for the many and believe that a diverse workforce helps us offer better products and services to our clients. We also do our best to make sure we are not discriminating against anyone during recruitment or employment. Special initiatives for greater diversity are nothing new for us. Job at Last is an internship program offering a first work experience in Sweden to foreign-born people with academic backgrounds and to people with disabilities. In the Baltics we have had projects to bring greater age diversity to the organisation, as well as create jobs for people with disabilities. To further promote a diverse workforce, we offer work-time flexibility to facilitate for employees practicing different religions. For example, this helps our employees who want to celebrate specific holidays. At many premises, we also have private rooms that can be used for praying.   

Swedbank has also established an LGBTQ+ employee network, welcoming both community representatives and allies. The network raises awareness and helps an LGBTQ+-friendly environment to flourish within and outside of Swedbank.

Equality is part of the way we do business

Swedbank Robur is the third-largest shareholder in Sweden. We appoint a member to the nomination committee in approximately 90 companies where the funds are a major shareholder. Our work in the committees always has the goal of increasing gender balance on the boards of the companies in which Swedbank invests.

As the bank for the many, we employ marketing practices which aim to be inclusive towards all, and take special care to weigh our marketing and branding from the viewpoint of diversity and make sure not to reinforce any negative stereotypes, but rather to break them.

We take responsibility in our communities

Swedbank is a vocal advocate for gender equality and diversity in all its home markets, participating in networks as well as driving our own initiatives. This has especially been in focus in the Baltic countries, where Swedbank is a driver of gender equality issues, whether it comes to sharing our equal-pay practice with government institutions and other companies, or talking about female leadership in society by organising networks, conferences and public initiatives. 

We hold ourselves accountable

We have gender equality targets in place for the whole organisation, which we regularly follow up. We have a central diversity and inclusion activity plan, based on the "investigate - analyse - implement" improvement activity follow-up principle, and complementary activity plans for our business areas and countries. The area is led by the Group Head of Gender Equality and Diversity, with additional Diversity Managers in each home market. Progress is measured on an annual basis and disclosed in the Annual and Sustainability Report. We take part in several gender-equality indexes and reports (Bloomberg GEI, Equileap, AllBright) to benchmark with other companies and share our successes and challenges in peer networks.