An important aspect of successful job applications and interviews is being able to demonstrate personal development. For too long at the Bank, the opportunities to broaden skills and experience were granted on an informal basis to those who either knew about the opportunity or were recommended by a colleague. This tended to further reinforce homogeneity in senior leadership. In 2017, to level the playing field we launched an internal “opportunities” board. This connects people who need help with a short-term project to those able to offer it. Since we launched the site two years ago, 700 opportunities, from speech research to short-term holiday cover have been advertised across the organisation. The Bank has also created a ‘high potential’ talent pipeline, which has 50% female representation, and coupled this with new approaches to development support. Our new sponsorship programme connects a high potential candidate and senior colleague to help sponsees identify assignments and opportunities to hone their skills and increase their experience. The pilot consisted of 19 colleagues, 84% of whom were female at the scale just below senior management. Building on this success, we have extended the programme and 80% of colleagues in the second phase are female. As well as sponsorship the Bank recognises that mentoring (both formal and informal) can have a positive impact on an individual’s confidence to progress their careers. That’s why we launched our One Bank Mentoring Scheme in 2017 and ensured it is open to all staff.
In the light of the trajectory of recent decades, what can we say about the future of the Spanish economy in the medium and long term? To tackle the future from a useful perspective, I shall follow Epictetus’s recommendation for gaining knowledge of the world. The stoic philosopher divided worldly matters into two: those that depend on us and those that do not. This classification is useful because, when talking about the future of the economy, it is worth focusing on those things that depend on the behaviour of economic agents and all those who intervene in framing economic, regulatory or supervisory policies, without wasting time regretting what we cannot change or influence. Among the things beyond our control is, for example, the external environment, including the European economy which is so important for Spain, since our influence on developments in the rest of the world is very limited. It is also important to realise that the starting position of the Spanish economy with its strengths and weaknesses, which is the basis for predicting its short-term trajectory, is a given and we can do nothing to change it. As indicated at the start of my address, I do not wish today to dedicate my time or yours to analysing the economic situation or predicting the course of the economy in the coming months. Rather, I shall focus on those determinants of the future of the Spanish economy in the medium and long run that really depend on the behaviour of all economic agents.