Gender balance and mental health high on agenda for global insurance: Dive In event survey

Inclusion is a client-facing issue, say 94 percent of respondents in a survey ahead of this week’s Dive In event.

Dive In, the global festival for diversity and inclusion (D&I) in insurance, kicks off around the world tomorrow in more than 30 countries. High profile names such as Sir Trevor McDonald, Frank Bruno, Reggie Yates and Esther Rantzen will be speaking at events this year and showing their support.

In a research survey of more than 5,000 of event attendees, 94 percent said that inclusion is a client facing issue. Employees of all levels from over 30 countries also identified the most pertinent areas that the insurance industry needs to focus on, in order to build more inclusive workplaces as: gender Balance (54 percent), mental health (47 percent), culture & ethnicity (38 percent), and family and care responsibility (28 percent).

Festival organisers said the event's mission is to enable people to achieve their potential by raising awareness of the business case and by promoting positive action for diversity in all its forms.

Building on last year’s campaign of developing ‘awareness into action’, this year invites participants to consider ways to make an impact, under this year’s theme of ‘inclusion impact’.

Pauline Miller, head of talent development and inclusion at Lloyd’s, said: “More advanced markets have known for some time that D&I is not just a ‘nice to have’ but a commercial imperative, yet this research has made it clear that this is also the case all over the world.”

She added: “While addressing gender balance may be seen as the ‘first step’ in a company’s D&I journey, the research has shown that it is not the only step, as festival goers call for more work to be done in other areas such as mental health and culture and ethnicity.”

Sponsors of this year’s event include AIG, Aon, Aviva, AXA, Lloyd’s and Willis Towers Watson.

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