Fifty years ago Hilda Harding became the UK’s first woman bank manager. She had joined Barclays as a shorthand typist in 1934 and rose through the secretarial ranks to become manager of its Hano-ver Street branch in London in 1958.

Harding blazed a trail: today 65 per cent of Barclays’ branch managers and assistant managers are women – about 830 across the UK. More than half the bank’s workforce is female. However, in common with the rest of the banking sector, Barclays faces a challenge in reflecting that statistic at the most senior levels.

“It’s a long game – slow and steady,” says Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, head of diversity. Figures from the bank’s sustainability review last year show that 28.4 per cent of those in management grades and 13 per cent of senior executives were women.

Following a diversity “stocktake” three years ago, Barclays introduced a strategic approach to increasing the number of women in senior posts. Each business across the group now has a gender action plan setting out how it aims to attract women into the organisation, develop internal talent and improve retention rates. Progress is monitored by senior executives.

“Diversity is no longer just an adjunct to HR but is right at the heart of how we run our business,” Palmer-Edgecumbe says. “We need clear leadership on diversity from the top, as well as having diversity embedded in all our policies and procedures. The combination of those two things, along with measuring success, will make a long-term difference.”

As part of its reinforced commitment to gender diversity, Barclays last year held its inaugural Women of the Year Awards, an internal competition open to all female employees in the UK. The idea is to celebrate women who have demonstrated excellence in their professional and/ or personal lives.

Palmer-Edgecumbe says: “We are looking for people who are inspirational, who are doing over and above their day job, who are really making a difference.

“We have lots of amazing women like that across the organisation. I was on the judging panel and it was really tough to narrow them down to a shortlist.

“These women are adding real value to the business and also doing great things outside work in their communities and families.”

The idea for the awards came when Barclays became a key sponsor of the Women of the Year Lunch, which was set up in the Fifties by Lady Lothian, the writer and campaigner – just as Hilda Harding was making her pioneering move into management.

Mirroring the Women of the Year Awards within the company seemed like a good way of motivating and inspiring staff, Palmer-Edgecumbe says. “It’s a great way to showcase the work of these women within the organisation and we can use the competition to demonstrate the work we are doing in diversity.”

The awards also provide Barclays with a pool of talented and inspirational women to use as mentors and role models, a pool that will increase each year.

Gillian Reed, a distribution support director, was a winner in the 2007 awards. She says: “It has been the most wonderful experience. It meant so much that I was nominated by one of my colleagues, but the final judging panel also includes some of the most senior people at Barclays.

“It’s encouraging to work for a large, global organisation that still takes such a keen interest in the contribution that individuals make, both at work and in the community.”

A Barclays spokesman says: “Gill Reed’s inspirational leadership and infectious energy motivated her team to deliver stunning results.”

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO