Increasing diversity within the ranks of a huge institution like UBS and ensuring it becomes a lasting reality that can serve to further business, is a mammoth and multi-layered undertaking that is best accomplished in a targeted and specific manner, says Ci Ci Holloway, managing director for diversity and inclusion for the financial giant's investment banking business.
Networking is at the core of any proper diversity strategy, Holloway says, and in the three facets of diversity she focuses on – workforce diversity, workplace diversity and marketplace diversity – networking is extremely important.
It is particularly important for marketplace diversity, she says, "because it is very important that we tie diversity efforts to the business efforts of the organization."
Holloway has been instrumental in setting up several employee network groups at UBS, including a woman's network, a veteran's network, a black network and a cultural awareness network. These groups are charged with doing the necessary legwork to "identify new businesses and provide access to dimensions we have never had access to before," she says.
