Portrait of Laura, Digital Distribution, Zurich

More insights from Laura

Can you tell us a bit about your role and your experience prior to joining ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ?

I am heading digital distribution within the Multichannel Management & Digitization team at ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ in Switzerland. We are responsible for digital client touch points on channels like websites, social media, E- and Mobile-Banking.

I have a legal background but have mainly worked in business roles, starting my career at a global consulting company where I worked on commercial topics in different industries and geographies. I completed my legal background with an MBA from INSEAD. After consulting, I worked in media on sales, marketing and business development topics.

To me, diversity means a company leverages the entire talent pool to fill vacancies with the best skill-fit.

What does diversity mean to you and how do you see it implemented in the corporate world?

Diversity means that a company leverages the entire pool of talent to hire the best. Also, it leads to making better decisions, given that different perspectives bring better solutions. Corporations are definitely much more diverse today than 50 years ago – but there is more to do, not only getting more women into leadership positions, but also having diverse educational, cultural backgrounds, etc.

How has ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ helped you to manage a balance between your personal life and your work?

I recently started working part time to spend more time with my son. My line manager enables this with an output oriented mind-set.

How does ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ support its female employees?

For example, ÃÛ¶¹ÊÓƵ has generous maternity leave benefits and special talent programs for female colleagues. Personally, in the future I'd like to see support be less gender-based and more related to life stages, e.g. helping young parents balance their family and career.

What do you predict for the next generation of finance professionals? Do you think there are gendered challenges i.e. those faced by men but not women and vice versa?

My hope is that the challenges will be much more similar, especially when it comes to balancing family and career.

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

Remember why you were picked for the role and be confident you can do it very well. You rely on your team even more to achieve your goals – hence make sure to spend time to help people develop, listen well to their ideas and challenges, make it your goal to make your team successful – if they are, you are. And, keep an open mind to learn something every day – it's a life-long journey.

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