Top 3 ways Canada’s insurance brokerages promote diversity

Regardless of how far along Canadian brokerages are in their efforts to build diverse workplaces, they are in general agreement about the best ways to get there.

And that’s the case even among firms that acknowledge they haven’t yet made significant progress on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, said 322 respondents to a Canadian Underwriter online survey that was fielded in Jan. and Feb. 2023 and made possible with the support of Sovereign Insurance.

When asked about what actions brokerages could take to increase diversity, respondents’ Top 3 responses were promoting diverse talent to senior levels (38%), hiring diverse talent at senior levels (36%) and developing specific recruiting strategies for diverse groups (36%).

Other top tactics cited by respondents included:

• Having the company publicly promote its DEI values, priorities and commitments – 31%
• Having senior leaders specifically mentor diverse talent – 28%
• Implementing mandatory diversity and anti-racism training – 27%
• Developing retention strategies for diverse hires – 22%

The key, said one female respondent at an urban brokerage, was “strong mentoring.”

As in last year’s survey, though, numerous verbatim responses opined that merit-based hiring would organically forge a diverse workplace. “Hire or promote the best person for the job regardless of their race, gender or physical abilities!” said a respondent at an urban brokerage in Eastern Canada.

Or, in the words of a Millennial respondent out West: “Hiring people based on talent alone is the best action. A company that hires to make up numbers to look good isn’t really promoting diversity. Diversity is about seeing people for what they offer regardless of background.”

Brokers nationwide also showed near-universal belief in the benefits of working in a diverse and inclusive environment. And, again, this was the case for firms that considered themselves to be leading on DEI, not yet started on DEI initiatives, and every place in between.

Of the Top 3 cited benefits, 58% of respondents said diversity and inclusion create a positive workplace culture, 52% said it provides more diverse perspectives, and 47% said it helped them better understand their clients and others that the brokerage served.

Rounding out the Top 5, respondents said a diverse and inclusive environment ‘creates a sense of inclusion for employees and clients’ (46%) and ‘increases tolerance toward people who are different’ (43%).

More than 70% of brokers working at firms that indicate they are not yet leading on DEI said they’re experiencing challenges building an inclusive workplace. That’s up from 64% in the 2022 survey.

The Top 3 cited reasons were a lack of diverse talent (39%), the fact that it’s not a priority (25%) and a lack of resources or skills (21%).

Verbatim answers spelled out some specifics about the shortage of diverse talent.

One respondent at an urban Ontario brokerage said, “We find it very difficult to find any talent in our industry, let alone branching off to find more diversity.”

A commenter out West was even more blunt: “The biggest issue in my area is that only rich white people can afford to live here.”

Fully 85% of brokers said their organizations have diversity plans, and 55% of respondents said management was the driving force behind those plans. Other diversity drivers were middle management (14%), clients (12%) and other employees (11%).

Feature image by iStock.com/AndreyPopov