As the world commemorate the 2021 International women’s day (IWD), SunTrust Bank, has held a training session on personal branding and communication etiquette for the female team members.
The event which held at bank’s headquarters in Lagos on Monday, was virtually attended by team members in other parts of the country, including Abuja, Uyo and Port Harcourt.
Soyem Osakwe, a strategic communications consultant, who facilitated the session on personal branding, urged women to identify the value they offer and build a brand for themselves beyond work.
She advised participants to articulate their achievements and project their voices as leaders in their various fields.
“A lot of women struggle talking about their accomplishment and successes. But I am happy that more women are building their personal brands and they are being intentional about it,” she said.
“Organisations must find ways to train and retrain all staff members, including women, on the importance of being strong employee advocates for themselves. You can have influencers but at the end of the day, you need strong voices at every level within the organization. People trust individuals more than they trust brands”, Osakwe added.
In her remarks, Ini Abimbola, a business leader and board advisor, said women need to rise above self-doubt, poor confidence, body language and lack of presence.
Abimbola trained participants on various etiquettes ranging from communication to eating and public appearance.
She urged organisations to invest resources in training employees, including women, adding that bias should also be eliminated at workplaces.
“Nigerian women are not lazy, they are very hard working in all facets. We are pushing but it can only get better. We are still seeing a lot of stereotype and bias, especially when women want to get into leadership positions,” she said.
“It is important for organisations to invest into their people and open opportunities for them to learn a lot outside of what they do.”
Speaking at the event, Raliat Oyetunde, the Head of SME, and regional head in Lagos and Western Nigeria, said the bank prioritises women as over 50 per cent of its senior management team members are women.
She said the bank is in partnership with female Uber and Bolt drivers to support their businesses by providing collateral-free loans, among other benefits.
Oyetunde urged women to challenge the status quo and avoid being intimidated by stereotype.
“What the two speakers have spoken about are things that we experience as women. Let’s go out today and challenge the status quo. Create an image, have a brand that us synonymous to you alone,” she said.
The IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge. A challenged world is an alert world. More than ever it is a call to Individually to be responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.
It is a time we can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
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