Overcoming Biases To Succeed In The Banking Industry

Tan shares how she strikes the balance between leading 7,000 people and her personal life.

SINGAPORE

Unspoken expectations and unconscious biases often weigh down on women building up a career for "I have witnessed how unconscious bias such as societal and cultural stereotypes can impact someone's career, especially for women in the finance industry. During the early days of my career, there were only a handful of women in leadership and senior management roles in the industry," Tan, who is UOB's Head of Group Personal Financial Services, recounted to Asian Banking & Finance.

"Thankfully, this has since changed in the banking industry. But there is still an unspoken expectation of the multifaceted role of women in Singapore, to juggle our careers whilst ensuring our responsibility to our families are fulfilled." Tan added that it is important to acknowledge these challenges that women continue to face so that leaders could create a work culture that supports all employees fairly in their personal and professional lives.

Being a woman in the banking industry

If anyone would know the struggles of a woman juggling both career success and her personal life, it would be Tan. At work, she is head of over 2,000 people in Singapore and 7,000 staff in total across the region. She leads the bank's consumer banking business and is responsible for serving the financial and lifestyle needs of UOB's clients across the wealth continuum spanning from Personal Banking to Wealth and Privilege Banking and delivering tailored and progressive solutions to meet consumer's savings, spending, borrowing, investing, protection and legacy planning needs.