ACCA’s Helen Brand shares why equality in business is key
On Monday it was International Women’s Day…a day which should be celebrated all year round as it’s where globally we celebrate women’s achievements while calling out inequality and the work that still needs to be done. To mark the occasion, ACCA’s chief executive Helen Brand has taken part in a Q&A to share with Morning Wire readers some insights on how she became one of the few female leaders of a global accountancy body and the challenges she faced.
How did you start your career?
When I was a student Exeter University, I was involved in many things. You have to throw yourself into as much as you can. Sports, journalism, politics – I tried everything as well as my degree. I was shocked when my peers asked me to be the Student Union president, which was something I never contemplated. I hadn’t come from a political background, but I found myself knocking on doors, asking people to vote for me and gather people around me to advocate on my behalf. Then aged 21, I found myself full-time in a student president position with 60 staff running bars, cafes and I clearly remember one day sitting down with the vice chancellor and treasurer of the university, advocating for a day nursery for students who had children.
There were so many reasons I might not have chosen to become the Student Union president, but taking that risk and going for it gave me that confidence. I always feel out of my comfort zone in many situations, but I know how to get through it and seizing that opportunity very early on in my career was a fantastic foundation for what was to come.
When you took risks right at the beginning of your career, with no roadmap, how did you know that was the right decision for you?
A wide network of friends and mentors helped with my decision and a number of people around me were significantly older than me. And I think they displayed confidence in me, which gave me the confidence. I also think university is a safe environment to be taking those sorts of risks. You should also make the most of the benefits of youth. I always try to remind myself of that younger risk-taking person, because I think that’s very helpful throughout your career.
What was a significant challenge you overcame in your career?
It was more about getting stuck. I moved into a director position when I was 30. The chief executive changed, my original mentors left the organisation and I was sitting around the table with all men, by myself, all significantly older than me. And I could remember thinking ‘I’m not learning anything’; I was managing conflict and dysfunction. The lightbulb moment was the thought ‘I can actually go somewhere else; I don’t have to keep banging my head against this brick wall.’ And that’s when I looked around and found a very interesting opportunity and went for it. I think it’s important not grinding yourself down forever and ever in a position that’s not going to change. And you aged 30, with a long career ahead of you, are not obliged to save that organisation. I do worry when people are so miserable, but keep doing the same thing. You have to make a change to get out of that cycle. And it was that move that led to me becoming chief executive of ACCA.
Did you have a grand plan?
No – I most definitely didn’t have a grand plan and I still say I wished I knew what I wanted I wanted to do when I grew up. But what I did know was that I was always going to work really hard at whatever I did. I can’t ever give less than 100% for something I want to do. So it was always going to be about something I valued and enjoyed, because if you’re working that hard it always has to be for something you value. I’ve always had a great interest in internationalism, other cultures, people, development and inclusion and that’s been a driving force behind what I do. Business plays a fantastic role in genuinely giving people the right opportunities for themselves.
So seize those opportunities, feel comfortable with what you’re doing, feel productive and that you’re learning.
What tips can you give for maintaining a worklife balance during Covid-19?
My role as chief executive is very global, which usually involves travelling a lot, meeting people all over the world. And one of the very important parts of my role is progressing relationships. And recently that’s had to be done in a significantly different way – not just delivering the work you were doing before, but under a lot of stress…and having to recognise that with the people you’re talking to and the people you’re leading, including our members and students and it’s been a very different and challenging environment. What I have seen is amazing resilience from people and commitment to do what we set out to do as an organisation. ACCA’s purpose is to be a force for public good, and a lot of people can see that. Okay, we’re not on the frontlines saving lives as such, but we are on the frontlines saving people’s livelihoods and ensuring people will prosper through the pandemic.
Why is equality such an important topic on a personal level?
What kind of world do you want to live in? To me, it’s always been strange that people base their judgements on very superficial characteristics, rather than on your interaction with that person. And at ACCA, the organisation was founded on the principle of inclusion back in 1904 – when the profession was for the privileged and the wealthy and the people who founded ACCA wanted it to be on the basis of merit. We’ve always had a very diverse workforce, membership and student population. And we welcome members and students from any part of the world. The qualification and organisation is accessible to them, which is fantastic.
However, when the Black Lives Matters movement came to the fore last year, we really re-examined and questioned whether we were doing enough. We put a whole plan in place to help our members and future members with inclusion and what they needed to be doing for their businesses. And as an employer, we ran listening sessions to hear about the changes people wanted.
And out of that, we have established three inclusion communities around ethnicity, LGBTQIA and well-being, which have been forming ACCA’s policies and informing our executive team. And more importantly, systematically we’ve started to collect data on these characteristics which will allow us to take action. For any business, if you don’t have the data you can’t measure progress or your achievements. We’ve been reporting on the gender pay gap for a number of years now and this year we’ll be reporting on the ethnicity pay gap in the UK, which will identify the areas where we need to take action. It’s a never-ending commitment to do this well, which involves listening and engagement.
This year’s global theme for International Women’s Day was #ChooseToChallenge and while we continue to champion women’s rights, we must also stand together to challenge all biases and stereotypes faced globally by marginalised groups on a daily basis. So while we celebrate all we’ve accomplished, we need to remember that the work towards genuine equality – something ACCA has championed since its creation – is still urgently needed.