Best practice in diversity and inclusion
With an aim to share best practice in diversity and inclusion, Aon South Africa, AIG, Allianz, Chubb Insurance, Marsh and Willis Towers Watson participated in the fourth Diversity and Inclusion (Dive In) insurance festival. This year the festival saw more than 50 events across 27 countries, unified in the theme of #time4inclusion.
Initiated by Lloyds of London, the global festival was launched in 2015 in the United Kingdom. Since then it has been celebrated in London, Perth, Zurich, Bermuda, Amman, Tokyo, San Antonio, Wellington and a number of other cities.
Moving from awareness into action
Inga Beale, CEO of Lloyds said, the growth of the Dive In Festival reflects an important culture change across the global insurance sector, with diversity and inclusion now at the top of boardroom agendas.
“This fourth Dive In Festival demonstrates how far reaching the initiative’s influence is, enabling our sector to join together to celebrate individuality and difference, in whatever form it takes. This year, the Dive In Festival theme of #time4inclusion highlights the critical shift that needs to happen across the sector, moving us from awareness into action. The world is changing rapidly, and in the next decade the skills required by professionals in the insurance sector will look very different to today, as the impact of the digital revolution escalates and establishes new demands on insurance professionals,” said Beale.
“As a sector, insurance has come a long way, but it is now time to take action to ensure that talented individuals, whatever their background, see our profession as an inclusive place where they are empowered to succeed,” said Beale.
Time for inclusion
This year’s festival touched upon the importance of diverse and inclusive workplaces, providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change. Each year the event is driven by a theme and for 2018 “Time for Inclusion” was the focus with a strategic look on technology, talent and customer base.
The event boasted themes including differing ability and disabilities, transformation, gender in the workplace, intergenerational dialogue and diversity winning work behaviors.
A panel of industry experts and leaders discussed topics around the proposed themes addressed, including why there is a need for diversity within the industry and the benefits of diversity and inclusivity.
Gender diversity
Lezanne Botha, Senior Specialist in the Insurance Regulatory Framework Department of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) said there is generally more discrimination in the retail space than the financial services sector because the financial sector is professional, and people are skilled. However, the challenges of gender related discrimination still do exist in South Africa.
“When it comes to gender diversity people tend to keep their professional and personal lives separate. Some fear discrimination so they keep their preferences to themselves. In the professional environment, the focus tends to be on the task at hand, rather than the individual. However, there needs to be a strong understanding of the experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community so that it is accommodated in the insurance space. To really bring change we need exposure and education. People form perceptions based on things they themselves do not even know,” said Botha.
People with disabilities
“When we are young we are told not to ask or question someone with a disability. When we go into the workplace it becomes an issue of employment equity agendas or a perception of what challenges people with disabilities may pose to the workplace,” said Justene Smith, Disability Expert and Occupational Support Co-ordinator.
“The big barriers to disability come from stigmas, stereotypes, ignorance and prejudice. We are still not in a culture that accepts disability. It is seen as an employment equity issue, a tick box transaction. Businesses need to actively address transformation from a genuine concern. We need to stop ticking boxes of compliance,” continued Smith.
“We can adapt our attitudes. We need to see, acknowledge, embrace and change our environment and culture,” said Smith.
It’s time to be open minded
Motivational speaker Frank Magwegwe talked about diversity and inclusion in his personal transformation journey. He traveled an incredible journey from being homeless to CEO to Entrepreneur.
“The biggest fight homeless people face is the fight to remain visible in a world that fights to make you invisible. Because of stereotypes, homeless people lose empathy. As society and individuals, we could do so much more to include the people who are excluded. The power of diversity is understanding an individual's walk of life and journey. If you don't understand a situation and you don't have context of the situation then you lack diversity. Seek diversity and try to understand individual situations. Embrace diversity in day to day experiences,” said Magwegwe.
“The brain is not wired for inclusion. When you speak the same language as someone else, your brain operates efficiently. If it is a different language, your brain has to work harder. The brain settles into similarity which is called ‘sameness’. Until you are aware of something, you are not going to be aware of the idea of celebrating difference. The more complex society gets, the more your brain goes back to ‘sameness’. So, we have to learn to override old patterns to bring in new pattern,” said Timothy Maurice Webster, Author of four bestselling books.
“Individual leaders have to create an environment that overrides biases and ‘sameness’ to allow differences and new ideas to come in,” continued Webster.
Professor Cecil Bodibe, Author of Salt and Pepper said now is a time of great promise. “We need to work through our stereotypes, racist behaviors, unconscious biases and the many excuses we have that affect our relationships, business dealings etc. It is a time to be open minded.”
“When there is respect and recognition we can create great workplaces. We have to begin to understand our biases etc. Real inclusion is in the details, for example, assigned restrooms. When we become aware of the fact that each individual is unique and when we recognise this uniqueness, we have inclusion. Empathy is a great tool. Great workplaces will not just happen. It requires effort” concluded Bodibe.
Editor’s Thoughts:
It was clear from the discussion that if we really seek to understand individual situations and recognize uniqueness, and acknowledge, embrace and change our environment and culture, we can have diverse and inclusive workplaces. Do you agree? If you have any questions please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me - myra@fanews.co.za.
