Championing diversity in all its senses

The BMA has many initiatives to ensure it reaps the rewards of diversity of thought and culture, under the umbrella of diversity, equality and inclusion. Shanna Lespere, deputy CEO, and Mesheiah Crockwell, director of HR, discuss this work.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are buzzwords in the business community today, and companies have made strides in creating more inclusive workplaces where diversity is incorporated into their business plans and objectives.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA or Authority) has long embraced this ethos. Being a world-class regulator with the ability to keep abreast of the latest developments in the finance service sector is no easy feat, even for those serving the largest economies. Nevertheless, the Authority understands that one of the key elements of getting it right is to ensure a diverse workforce is in place to meet the demands of today’s evolving business landscape.

Shanna Lespere, the BMA’s deputy chief executive officer, says the regulator understood and embraced the importance of diversity long before other areas of the business and financial communities.

“We are in a slightly unusual situation at the BMA—we recognised long ago that diversity was one of our strongest assets. Long before DEI came to be a part of the broader corporate lexicon, the BMA recognised the importance of what we would call core DEI principles today,” Lespere says.

Historically, she says, the Authority’s workforce has had a great deal of diversity—something driven by the talents and specialised skillsets it needed to attract to conduct its work as a regulator.

“Today, the BMA is proud of our blended staff, which consists of highly skilled Bermudians and individuals from more than 30 different countries.”

Mesheiah Crockwell, the BMA’s director of human resources, says that while this diversity is celebrated occasionally, such as on International Women’s Day, it is more telling that it shines through every day. She highlights the prominence of female executives at the BMA.

“Women play a prominent role at every level,” she says. “This starts at the board, with a female deputy chair, and it runs through the entire organisation, across all levels of leadership and into each department, with over half of our staff being female.”

“To create a truly inclusive world, we all need to take action on equity every single day.” Mesheiah Crockwell, BMA

Diversity is the spice of life

Diversity applies to a lot more than gender alone. The BMA has a wide range of ages in its staff—from Generations X, Y and Z to baby-boomers. “This creates a powerful mix of deep experiences and expertise alongside fresh perspectives,” Crockwell says.

The BMA understands that ensuring a diverse workplace and talent pool is in place is work that never stops. “We recognise that to create a truly inclusive world, we all need to take action on equity every single day. The social and corporate benefits can be transformational,” she adds.

She describes some benefits, and points out that focusing on DEI shifts organisations from a narrow focus to a broader stakeholder aim. The HR director says it helps the BMA confront complex decision-making processes successfully.

“DEI enhances corporate culture, making it more inclusive and helping all staff members feel that they belong.”

She continues: “At the BMA, we do not want staff just to come to work each day, do their job and go home. We want people to have a strong sense of belonging, purpose and inclusion. To create an environment that fosters this, we actively invite and value the authentic voices of our diverse workforce through a wide range of initiatives.

“A great example is our annual strategic planning process. We start with an all-staff call to action, where departments host discussions with staff at every level to listen to a range of perspectives and insights on where the BMA should focus.”

These perspectives are then enhanced and followed through in regular training modules. Crockwell says: “We have targeted resilience, wellbeing, and self-awareness education as part of our newly launched training on psychological safety. We believe that regardless of your lived experiences, you should be able to freely share thoughts, opinions and ideas without the fear of being degraded or shamed.”

Further reinforcing these initiatives, the Authority has a culture influencer team (CIT). The CIT takes the form of a voluntary, cross-functional, diverse working group that supports management’s role in adopting and embracing the BMA’s aspirational corporate culture. The CIT itself is diverse, with two-thirds of the team being people of colour and two-thirds being women.

Another initiative with DEI at its core is the BMA’s Graduate Training Programme (GTP). “Our GTP has been running for more than 14 years and offers recently graduated Bermudians a seat at the table, enabling them to contribute their diverse perspectives as they learn from others within the BMA,” Crockwell says.

“Having the right DEI mindset encourages career development and planning and places an emphasis on DEI through all levels of the organisation. Our Better-Up Coaching Programme creates pathways that allow employees to reach their full potential by providing access to the specific resources and opportunities each needs.

“Our comprehensive flagship mentoring programme, Better-Up, facilitates two-way ‘idea exchange’, from the use of external, individualised one-on-one career coaching to cross-departmental secondments,” Crockwell explains.

Finally, the BMA has a targeted equity measures initiative. This was created following job losses in Bermuda as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It takes the form of a community-focused programme that helps unemployed Bermudians to be hired and trained in an entirely new set of skills.

“This is just a sample of some of the things we have undertaken,” Crockwell says. “Like other organisations, we were already implementing these types of initiatives on a smaller scale, even if it was not officially called DEI. Our focus on DEI, however, has grown and it is now one of the key approaches we will be expanding upon and continuing to weave into our organisational fabric and culture.”

“We run several successful initiatives that support the cultivation of skillsets and the development of talent for bright young Bermudians.” Shanna Lespere, BMA

Aligning diversity goals in 2024

Lespere says that despite the work already done, the BMA is not resting on its laurels—if anything, it is looking to build on what is already in place in 2024.

“As we move forward, the BMA will focus on formally defining what all aspects of DEI mean for us. We aim for this to translate into well-articulated and aligned goals that can be achieved through specific strategies as part of a more comprehensive DEI strategy for 2024,” she says.

“The BMA is proud of what we have accomplished over many years to support diversity in our workforce, to provide the right support and resources to advance equity for all, and to foster an inclusive work culture. We are looking forward to bringing the same rigour of strategy, measurement, and accountability to our future DEI efforts as we have achieved in the other areas of our operations as a world-class regulator.”

A key component of DEI initiatives is to ensure they attract the best talent, which is diverse enough to offer a range of skills and perspectives.

“The BMA relies on attracting and retaining a broad range of highly skilled, in-demand professionals in the dynamic field of finance and financial services. We take the development of Bermudian talent very seriously, and to this end, we run several successful initiatives that support the cultivation of skillsets and the development of talent for bright young Bermudians who are interested in working with us,” Lespere says.

There are many career opportunities at the BMA for Bermudians. There are various career pathways at the BMA for Bermudian staff and potential recruits and they are encouraged and well-supported at the point of entry.

“As we briefly touched on earlier, we are very proud of our GTP, first launched in 2009,” Lespere says. “The GTP has provided young Bermudian professionals with invaluable work experience across the BMA and opportunities to earn qualifications or professional designations.

“During the three-year programme, trainees gain regulatory and industry expertise by being paired with skilled mentors inside the BMA. Participants are also seconded to local industry partners or international regulatory agencies,” she explains.

“Upon completion of the programme, trainees are well-positioned to assume technical positions within the BMA. Examples of some of our success stories include Bermudians who began in this programme and became data scientists and highly-skilled supervisors.

“Many have stayed with the BMA long after graduating from the programme and have worked their way into upper management.”

Another entry point to the BMA comes in the form of a Learning and Development Sponsorship Programme. This allows the BMA to support its employees in upskilling and prioritising their ongoing development. Employees are able to pursue a range of industry-recognised designations, including highly sought-after designations related to their roles.

The common thread is that the range of programmes offered takes the form of a people-first experience which is designed to facilitate professional coaching, immersive learning, development and insights.

The programmes provided are designed to help individuals excel in their chosen fields. These include one-on-one career coaching, leadership circles, a BMA in-house leadership development series, a coffee chats series, development planning, succession planning and cross-departmental secondments.

“Ultimately, we see DEI initiatives as an opportunity to expand the company’s horizon for growth and development while cultivating diversity in all its forms and benefits,” Lespere concludes.

Shanna Lespere is the deputy chief executive officer of the BMA. She can be contacted at: slespere@bma.bm

Mesheiah Crockwell is the director of human resources at the BMA. She can be contacted at: mcrockwell@bma.bm

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