Erin Magilton, risk and broking leader, Canada, WTW
“Anytime, you see someone who looks like you, has a similar background to you, it inspires you to be able to achieve something different,” says Erin Magilton, “and I think the drive to create better and more for women absolutely exists.”
Magilton, risk and broking leader in Canada at WTW, speaks from experience. She has seen significant progress in the P&C industry within her 30-year career and most definitely within the last decade.
“The profile around women in industry, gender pay equity, and DE&I discussions and initiatives has really increased over the last number of years,” she says. “It’s become table stakes for organizations.”
Important cultural shifts have raised the profile of inclusive leadership and resulted in more, and more intentional, mentorship and sponsorship programs that have changed the P&C industry landscape. Leadership training programs targeting individuals who are underrepresented, combined with advocating for women within an organization, has also led to visible change.
Organizations like the ISC Group are helping women in the insurance industry better position themselves for roles in leadership, too. Launched in the UK two decades ago, the now-global business community provides personal, professional and business development for women in insurance, focussing on networking, mentoring, coaching, and the provision of business insights to accelerate career progression. Magilton sits on its Canadian advisory board.
“Strengthening the leadership pipeline is critical for attracting more women into senior leadership roles,” she says. “It’s important to identify and to develop high-potential women early in their careers, especially from a succession planning perspective. Within organizations, that includes the need to increase board representation so there is intentionality at the very top of the house.”
Every level of leadership needs to be accountable for finding internal prospects because they could be anywhere within an organization. Oftentimes, Magilton notes, those conversations sit at a senior level. But the expectation of senior leaders should also extend to middle managers, who should be encouraged, incentivized, and held accountable to find individuals and help bring them to the top.
“Something our organization does really well,” she says, “is having very intentional programs to attract people into different kinds of learning opportunities for growth and ensuring accountability by line of business or by geography to ensure we have representation within those groups.”
Intentionality and accountability are keys to success, and Magilton is clear that progress does not happen by accident but rather by design.
“I have seen success when there is a very clear understanding of where an organization wants to be when it comes to things like gender representation and diversification, combined with accountability for making that happen. That includes placing an expectation into managerial and executive compensation in terms of the teams we’re building and the opportunities we’re affording to people.”
Magilton is confident there is much opportunity for everyone, particularly for women. There is plenty of room for new ideas and for further movement, she says.
“I’m really proud of how far the industry has come. Is there more work to be done? Of course there is. But I feel wildly optimistic about it.”
