The insurance sector is making progress towards diversity in the workplace, but women should continue pushing their employers to address "the basics," according to a panel of leading female executives.
Fiona Woolf, Lord Mayor of London, introducing the Insurance, Diversity and the Talent Gap event in London on 28 January, said she sensed that momentum was building on efforts to improve diversity in the City.
"I've always felt we've been on a wave of effort, and the wave is going to make its way up the beach. But this time I feel there's so much energy and so much commitment that if we work together and not in silos we can get it up the beach and keep it there," she said at the event, hosted by BNY Mellon and InsuranceERM.
The panellists said most progress has been made at board level, with many insurers now counting several women on their executive boards. However, while the intake of staff is roughly equal between female and male, the balance skews heavily towards men at middle and senior management level.
Trying to change the DNA of a historically male-dominated sector was never going to happen overnight, but panellists and audience members voiced frustration with the slow pace of change. Some thought quotas and targets were appropriate, while others said that the "carrot was better than the stick."
A commitment from senior executives was seen as essential for any diversity programme to succeed, but Woolf urged more attention on the "keepers of the talent pipeline" further down the corporate hierarchy. "Anybody that supervises someone else needs to be part of the agenda," she said.
Family-friendly policies and a good employer attitude were seen as important in allowing women to remain on an upwards career path; some saw womens' networks as helpful in supporting diversity efforts, but others were not so sure.
"The panellists shared frank observations, personal experiences and their perspectives as leaders in their industries," said Kate Anderson, client executive in BNY Mellon's global client management division, who chaired the event.
"That combination of insights really helped to sharpen the thinking on what is working well, and what more needs to be done to make sure that gender diversity initiatives continue in helping businesses to address their talent constraints. The result was a positive, constructive discussion with a highly relevant, practical focus, which was an ideal outcome."
The panel comprised Marcia Cantor-Grable, Prudential's group director for emerging risk and regulatory developments; Kirsty Cooper, Aviva's group general counsel and company secretary; Kathryn Morgan, manager at the Prudential Regulation Authority; Newton Investment Management chief executive Helena Morrissey; Hiscox chief risk officer Penny Shaw; and Sarah Turvill, a non-executive director at Willis.
- A full report on the event will appear on InsuranceERM shortly.