The ‘W’ Initiative of Access Bank Ghana, Zambia and Gambia have collaborated to empower over 1000 female stakeholders in a symposium under the theme ‘Strategies for advancement in the workplace: upskilling for professional growth’ for female staff and customers.

The virtual event brought together participants from across Africa to gain insights into relevant resources that would enhance their career growth, and equip them to maximize performance, whiles providing them with an exciting platform to interact and engage industry experts.

Speaking at the event, Zonal Head for Retail Banking at Access Bank Ghana, Josephine Eva Arthur shed light on the mandate and goal of the ‘W’ Initiative and said Access Bank is committed to the holistic cause of women. “Access Bank’s ‘W’ Initiative is an all-inclusive banking and lifestyle initiative dedicated to women in Ghana and across Africa. We seek to provide women access to information, finance, markets, networking opportunities and other privileges that enhance their lifestyle as well as help them build their families, career, and businesses.”

Josephine also noted that, Access Bank’s ‘W’, aims to build the capacity of women professionals and support them with financial products to meet their lifestyle needs.

Speaking on the theme, Managing Partner of Five Six Five Limited Maame Ekua Gaisey, spoke on the importance of building personal leadership skills and values and the bearing these skills have on one’s career growth. She explained that it is important people lead themselves and take charge of their personal growth, even when they are not in leadership positions, as it helps them when they eventually get there. She touched on pertinent skills that enhance professional growth such as the ability to influence, ability to listen and ability to engage others, and encouraged participants to hone these skills.

CEO of African Brand Warrior, Fatima Alimohamed spoke on ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and how women can consciously overcome this at the workplace. She highlighted some ways in which the syndrome is exhibited such as extreme lack of self-confidence, feelings of inadequacy, constant comparison to people, anxiety, and difficulty in accepting compliments among others. She bemoaned the fact that women are sometimes made to feel they are suffering from imposter syndrome when in fact, policies, systems, and structures are the bane. Fatima said women need to reaffirm their strength by continuously reminding themselves they are very capable in every sphere they find themselves.

A financial literacy advocate and educator, Chansa Arhunmwunde also spoke on different aspects of professional grooming and etiquette. She touched on networking and social media, online presence and social media etiquette and workplace ethics. She noted that to succeed as women professionals in the workplace, women need to engage in active listening, respectful communication, network with integrity and master conflict resolution.

Mamkumba Sanneh, a Human Resource Expert, emphasized the need for Corporate Institutions to promote training and development of employees, and encourage mentoring both internally and externally, to optimize productivity at the workplace. She also urged women to invest in professional growth because of the wide gap in talent pool post COVID. In view of this, she added that women need to set concrete goals to improve their performance.

‘W’ is an Access Bank award-winning initiative that inspires, connects, and empowers women to be resilient through four main propositions namely ‘W’ in Business, ‘W’ Quintessential, ‘W’ in Tech and ‘W’ Health.