Standard Chartered Sri Lanka recently attained the EDGE Move Certification, the second highest level of certification from EDGE, the leading global assessment and business certification standard for gender equality. Notably, Standard Chartered Sri Lanka is the only organization in the country to have achieved the EDGE Move Certification, underscoring its leadership in fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. Crucial to obtaining this recognition is the company’s use of EDGE Empower®, the tech solution that prepares organizations for EDGE Certification®.
Key findings
The assessment highlighted several of Standard Chartered Sri Lanka’s strengths and identified opportunities for further advancement. In terms of representation, women are more likely to be hired overall, showcasing the bank’s inclusive hiring practices. Moving forward, the focus will be on creating pathways for women’s promotions, particularly into Upper and Top management roles, to ensure balanced leadership. Men and women are well-represented in core functions across all management levels, reflecting strong gender diversity in the bank’s central activities. The next step involves enhancing women’s representation in roles with profit and loss responsibility at Upper and Top management levels.
In terms of pay equity, the results of an unexplained gender pay gap analysis were not included. Standard Chartered Sri Lanka has taken proactive steps to ensure pay equity, which is commendable. A majority of employees, both women (66%) and men (72%) agree that they are fairly compensated for their work, emphasizing the bank’s commitment to fair pay practices.
When considering the effectiveness of policies and practices, the organization exceeds the EDGE Standard of 65% in all 5 areas of analysis.
Continued Commitment
Standard Chartered Sri Lanka is dedicated to building on this achievement by implementing a strategic action plan to address the identified gaps. Key focus areas include maintaining gender parity in critical role succession planning, identifying female talent at the Middle Management level and assisting them to progress into the Senior Management level through structured interventions and continuing to review any gender pay gaps on an annual basis.
Voices of leadership
Mr. Bingumal Thewarathanthri, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Sri Lanka: “We are incredibly proud to achieve the EDGE Move Certification. This recognition reflects our ongoing efforts to create an inclusive workplace where everyone, regardless of gender, can thrive. We are committed to addressing the areas identified for improvement and continuing to drive progress in gender equality.”
Aniela Unguresan, Founder of EDGE Certified Foundation: “The EDGE Move Certification achieved by Standard Chartered Sri Lanka exemplifies their intentional and prioritized approach to fostering gender equality in the workplace. This recognition indicates that the organization has not only made a committment to gender equality but has taken concrete steps to transform that commitment into action. We congratulate the Standard Chartered Sri Lanka team on their unwavering dedication to creating an inclusive environment where diversity is deeply integrated into their business practices through accountability, transparency, and independent verification. This achievement showcases how dedicated DE&I efforts can drive significant progress, setting a high standard for the industry.”
About Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered is a leading international cross-border bank, committed to helping people and businesses prosper. Combining deep local expertise with global capabilities, Standard Chartered aims to unlock sustainable, inclusive growth for the communities it serves.
About EDGE Certification®
EDGE Certification® is the leading global standard for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I), centred on a workplace gender and intersectional equity approach. EDGE Certification® is based on objective and measurable evidence of an organization’s current status of gender and intersectional equity in its workplace. Audited by an approved independent third-party certification body, it supports the integrity and credibility of data and information and gives an organization a powerful way to communicate its DE&I commitment and performance.
The EDGE Standards and the Certification System are built on four pillars that define success in gender and intersectional equity: Representation across the talent pipeline, pay equity, effectiveness of policies and practices, and inclusiveness of the culture. As an integral part of the assessment, statistics, policies and practices, and employee experience are evaluated against the EDGE Standards. Depending on the specific results of each organization, an approved action plan may need to be developed to close identified gaps in the organization.
EDGE Certification® meets organizations where they are in their DE&I journey. For the EDGE (gender-binary) assessment, three levels of certification are possible, EDGE Assess (recognizing commitment), EDGE Move (showcasing progress), and EDGE Lead (celebrating success). EDGEplus Certification (gender and intersectionality) is an add-on to EDGE (gender-binary) Certification, offering organizations the possibility to analyze data and information related to women and men as diversified groups, to deepen their understanding of, and to measure the intersectionality of gender and other aspects of diversity, such as non-binary gender identity and LGBTQ+, race/ethnicity, nationality, age, and working with a disability. EDGE Certification® is distinguished by its rigour and focus on impact, it remains valid for a period of two years. For more information and the complete list of EDGE Certified Organizations, visit https://www.edge-cert.org/certified-organizations/
