Risa E. Rustam talks about her journey as a prominent leader in Indonesia’s capital market and the importance of having mentors and supportive policies as keys to an advanced career.
Chapter: Attracting female talent
About: Risa E. Rustam is the director of finance and human resources at Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). With broad experience in the financial world, she has also worked in world-class multinational companies such as HSBC, Barings, ING, and Macquarie. Throughout her career, she was active in various working committees and task forces at OJK, IDX, KPEI, and KSEI from 1998 to 2016. She was appointed by the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of the Republic of Indonesia as one of Indonesia’s G20 Empower Advocates to promote women’s leadership and economic development. She was also selected by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) as one of its Women Leaders of 2022.
Tell us about your journey and how you got where you are today.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universitas Gajah Mada in 1988, I started my career working at HSBC for about two years, then joined Barings as settlement manager in 1991. After Barings collapsed in 1995, ING took over its equities business, where I served as director from 1999. In 2004, ING’s equities business was sold to Macquarie, where I worked as director and COO until 2016. After a short career break, I joined IDX in 2018 as director of finance and human resources for the term of 2018–2022 and was reappointed by OJK to serve a second term of 2022–2026.
Do you think it’s important for women to have a mentor to thrive in the workplace?
I truly believe that having a mentor is crucial for a career advancement, especially for women. When I was first promoted to the director level at ING at age 35, I wished I had a mentor to guide and support me to navigate through challenges. You can learn so much from a mentor that you cannot get from books, schools, or the Internet. The valuable skills and insights you gain from a nurturing and experienced mentor are extremely important to help you advance your career. There’s an easier way to achieve your career goals than having to struggle and learn everything on your own, and having a mentor is one of them, especially now when job expectations and competition for skills have become much tougher.
“You can learn so much from a mentor that you cannot get from books, schools, or the Internet. The valuable skills and insights you gain from a nurturing and experienced mentor are extremely important to help you advance your career.”
You can learn so much from a mentor that you cannot get from books, schools, or the Internet. The valuable skills and insights you gain from a nurturing and experienced mentor are extremely important to help you advance your career.
First, you must have determination. If you are a woman trying to make your mark in your career, my advice is to stay committed and build a strong support system at home so you can focus on work. It is also important to work for a company that provides good training and development for its employees because it shows that the company cares about you and your career.
Second, find a mentor. Having a mentor can help you learn things faster and easier, give you insights about things beyond your job description, and inspire you to go the extra mile and work harder to achieve bigger success in your future. You can learn a lot from their experiences.
Finally, it is essential to be committed, to give your very best and perform well at your job, to go above and beyond, especially in today’s highly competitive work environment. I always tell people that when you work for a good company, make sure you don’t just do a good job, but a great job, always be professional, and keep learning to grow and to succeed.
“It is important to work for a company that provides good training and development for its employees because it shows that the company cares about you and your career.”
What advice would you give to other companies that are looking to retain and attract more women?
Commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It must start at the top and set the tone for the company. In IDX, we believe it is crucial to assess first where we are in terms of gender equality implementation. We used Gender Equality Assessment, Results, and Strategies (GEARS) to evaluate implemented best practices and measure progress and to identify gaps that need to be addressed. By doing so, we can create policies that support gender equality and promote a more diverse and inclusive workplace culture.
Pay great attention to employees’ learning and development. In IDX, we provide our employees with a wide range of opportunities, be it with structured or informal learning, allowing time for informal learnings between employees, or conducting training programs that address the needs of each function. There is no gender-based limitation. Everybody can access and obtain the necessary training to improve their competency. We provide tiered leadership development programs for all of our employees to ensure they are ready to enter a higher career path as future leaders. Both women and men have the same rights to promotion opportunities at all levels in the company according to their competencies as well as in our performance appraisal system.
Create a female-friendly working environment. This includes gender-responsive policies, culture, leadership, and facilities. Many female talent nowadays also have a strong desire for a hybrid working arrangement because it allows them the flexibility to work remotely for at least part of the month. It helps them deal with the challenge of balancing childcare and commuting, for example. That’s why, even after the pandemic, IDX has a hybrid working arrangement with a 50–50 ratio.
Make sure there is adequate female representation in hiring practices. The percentage of male and female employees in IDX is already ideal: 56 percent male and 44 percent female. What we do is make sure when we hire new employees that we maintain a good proportion of male and female candidates.
As an industry leader and regulator and a role model for our stakeholders, it’s important that we walk the talk. I’m proud to share that this statistic really demonstrates our commitment. Thirty percent of IDX’s division heads and 37 percent of unit heads are female. Thirty percent of our subsidiaries’ board of director members are female (two CEOs and five directors).
Request a free copy of the Empowering Women: A Collection of Thoughts from Women Leaders to Advance the Workplace.
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