Winner of our Excellence in Banking Award, Camille Papillard, Head of Financial Intermediaries & Corporates EMEA, Securities Services, BNP Paribas describes some of the initiatives that are committed to changing the gender diversity dynamic.
How do you feel about winning this award?
I am honoured to receive this award. I have had the privilege of working alongside some amazing peers in my career and this award highlights the extraordinary work performed by women in the industry. I hope that I can continue to collaborate with leaders in our industry to increase access for talented women.
Additionally, this underpins BNP Paribas’ diversity agenda and I am excited to be part of a commitment that will go some way in supporting the progress of women at our bank.
Which of your achievements are you most proud of?
My current role gives me the opportunity to take part in the creation and roll-out of powerful solutions leveraging BNP Paribas’ integrated banking model, such as the successful implementation of our execution-to-custody offering in EMEA. Using BNP Paribas’ open architecture, clients can now execute trades via BNP Paribas and other participating brokers while benefiting from seamless integration with Securities Services’ leading custody offering and global reach.
What do you personally want to achieve to further support diversity in the workplace? My main objective remains to help create an environment that is respectful of everyone.
Gender equality and multiculturalism are integral parts of Securities Services’ DNA and are reflected in numerous HR initiatives, e-learning, staff- development programmes, etc.
I try to lead by example by encouraging everyone in my teams to express themselves, demonstrate and share their skills and expertise and by participating as much as possible in initiatives related to diversity and inclusion, such as the #JamaisSansElles commitment in favour of gender diversity – which consists in refusing to take part to public discussions if there are no women involved. I am also personally involved in BNP Paribas’ “1 million hours to help” programme, which allows employees to use part of their working time to help benevolent organisations build a more charitable, eco-friendly world by mentoring young adults through a local NGO called Proxité.
How are you seeing diversity impact the industry?
Greater diversity and inclusion is benefiting our sector in several ways and will act as a significant driver of growth, due to fostering of talent and the ability to draw from a wider pool with more capabilities. The business case is clear, and we are seeing a stronger sense of openness and willingness in transparency to report on the topic and implement initiatives. On gender equality, BNP Paribas is setting more ambitious targets than the law: 40% women by 2025 within the Group ExCo, Senior Management Positions, 50% women among the Talent programme and 50% of women in our graduate programmes. Enabling disability inclusion is another priority of ours, and in the UK for instance we are partnering with a recruitment agency for hiring people with Autism Spectrum Disorder who can do really well on certain IT tasks for example.
What still needs to change for the better?
The road remains long and winding, and there are many steps towards the objective of equal opportunities, pay and professional promotion.
Initiatives must increase at all levels of companies (recruitment, training, career development…) as well as upstream by promoting equality in education and access to employment.
Diversity and inclusion are a deep part of our culture at BNP Paribas and initiatives such as Projet Banlieues and l’Ascenseur in France or Posse in the US are vital to create a stronger culture of belonging.
The more we champion and inspire, and provide honest feedback, the more it will allow us to nurture talent.
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