Whether it was the requirement to report on the gender pay gap that crystallised the scale of the imbalance in the workforce; the mounting waves of disquiet over the horrors called out by the #MeToo movement; growing momentum over Lloyd’s D&I programme; or just years of research that prove that diversity pays; but the penny finally seems to have dropped.
As an industry, those of us who have signed up to the inclusive insurance pledge now have the opportunity to prove that as more diverse companies we are better able to win top talent and improve customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision making.
In the US where I am from, there is a linear relationship between racial and ethnic diversity and better financial performance. According to McKinsey, for every 10% increase in racial and ethnic diversity on the senior-executive team, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rise 0.8%. Racial and ethnic diversity has a stronger impact on financial performance in the US than gender diversity, perhaps because earlier efforts to increase women’s representation in the top levels of business have already yielded positive results.
In the UK we have further to go on addressing the gender balance, so the gains are bigger. Here, for every 10% increase in gender diversity, EBIT rises by 3.5%.
So - are we pulling our weight in this joint enterprise to become more diverse and better performing market?
Like many others – we are to quote the phrase ‘on a journey’. We are gold sponsors of the Lloyd’s Dive In initiative, we are training our own D&I leaders internally and we are actively building diversity into the senior team – witness Rhonda Buege’s recent appointment as Head of Specialty, Delphine Leroy’s as country manager France, and Amandine Motte’s as CFO in Luxembourg. But note, we have filled a new leadership role in London with an internal male candidate – we are absolutely not replacing one bias with another.
Now is the time to get this right – not just individually but collectively. Complex problems like this often require the kind of multi-faceted solutions that diverse teams excel at. In my view, diversity is not just a gender or ethnicity issue. It’s a business issue.
By Dave Brosnan, CEO, CNA Hardy