Westpac hosted a Study Tour for GBA at its new headquarters in Barangaroo, downtown Sydney, April 30-May 1, where it shared its nearly two-decades-long successful Women’s Markets program with attendees from financial services providers with headquarters in Kenya, Costa Rica, India, France, Cambodia and Fiji.
Executives from across the bank shared how Westpac approaches being the bank of choice for women and girls in Australia and the Pacific. Head of Women’s Markets Felicity Duffy welcomed attendees, sharing key details of Westpac’s Women’s Markets customer value proposition and the impressive business results they have realized by serving women well.
Representatives from the bank’s marketing division shared how Westpac builds and maintains its brand value, including a new focus on “Being there in the moments that matter” for women such as the birth of a child, buying a house, retirement and coping with loss of a loved one. The bank also seeks to serve three additional segments: youth and Millennial, migrant and multicultural, and the growing 65+ population.
The conversation moved from specific campaigns to deliver support in critical life moments to enabling the distribution network to ensure that all aspects of Ruby — Westpac’s sub-brand for Women’s Markets — are delivered consistently and compellingly. National Manager, Business Initiatives, SME Banking & Connect Now Rachael McKenzie (who is a longtime expert practitioner teaching at the GBA All-Stars Academy) walked participants through how Westpac empowers its distribution network to serve women well, creating Champions and Ambassadors across the branch network, and consistently reinforcing the critical importance of the program to staff.
Employee engagement is the cornerstone of this, and Westpac has worked hard to ensure its 40,000 employees are happy customers of the bank and good brand ambassadors. On average, each employee has eight products with the bank. A single overall metric — employee Net Promoter Score — is used to track employee satisfaction, and the bank shared key policies behind the significant jumps in the score over the past few years.
The crowd was treated to a deeper analysis of the performance of Women’s Markets followed by a fascinating examination of two segments: women MSME owners and high net worth women. A presentation from Westpac’s internal education unit, the Davidson Institute, ensued, detailing the numerous financial and business educational offerings the bank provides. All of them can be found on the Davidson Institute website.
Westpac is ranked as the world’s most sustainable corporation by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, thanks in part to its Women’s Market commitment and in part to its extremely strong Inclusion & Diversity practices. Last year, as it marked its 200th anniversary as a company, Westpac achieved a 50/50 gender split across all levels of the bank’s management. Individuals responsible for executing the bank’s robust Inclusion & Diversity strategy offered participants a look into its key success levers, and the business case for developing and implementing such policies.
The Study Tour ended with a dinner in the Long Gallery of the Australian Museum, where attendees were treated to a private viewing of 200 artifacts from the museum’s collection. The gallery was sponsored by Westpac as part of the company’s celebration of its 200th year.
GBA would like to sincerely thank Westpac for being such an incredible leader in this field and for being such a generous host so that others may learn.
