Brokerages that aren’t leading on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) face a chicken-and-egg paradox when it comes to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
CU’s 2024 Brokerage DEI Survey finds those who work in brokerages lacking diversity within senior leadership are more likely to report challenges when trying to establish workplaces that value diversity and inclusion (72%). Now in its third year, 2024’s survey received 291 responses and was made possible with the support of Sovereign Insurance.
At the same time, when diverse candidates are brought into an organization solely to boost its DEI profile, and the organization makes no further efforts to cultivate diversity, the new hires are “left unsupported because the culture is not prepared to receive them,” says Dorothy Aarons, senior vice president and senior account executive at Aon’s risk management practice during a recent Canadian Underwriter LinkedIn livestream panel discussion.
“And so, we have [workplace] conflicts, we have people moving from place to place, and employees themselves don’t even know how to deal with it.”
When asked about key challenges facing organizations wanting to build diverse workplaces, 31% of survey respondents identify a ‘lack of skilled diverse talent’ as their top problem.
Recruiting solutions
In an industry fundamentally based on social skills, panellists say the solution for a lack of diverse talent should be plain as day — build your network.
“It goes back to networking [and] going to events and understanding who’s out there from a talent perspective and the diversity that they would bring [to your organization],” says Matthew Campbell, vice president of finance, claims and strategy at Sovereign Insurance during the livestream.
By ensuring all qualified candidates, including those outside a company’s immediate social networks, are considered, organizations can identify the best talent while fostering a diverse and innovative workforce.
Seventy-seven per cent of brokers surveyed say their organizations evaluate talent based on merit, and do not need to change how they hire or promote to accommodate minority groups. But it’s prudent to ensure candidates are assessed fairly, panellists say, as merit hiring and diversity must be intertwined to produce optimal hiring practices.
“There is no way we could just hire on merit only,” Aarons says. “If [organizations claim to be doing that], why is it that we have so many more men being hired [and promoted] than women [with the same qualifications]?”
Specific cases
Effective ways exist to hire candidates from different backgrounds, abilities and experiences and are tied to processes hiring managers already do every day.
Jennifer Lau, director of broker development at BrokerTeam Insurance Solutions Ltd., shares an example of a time her brokerage branch hired a recent graduate who was on the autism spectrum.
“We wanted to be able to see if we could give an opportunity to somebody [with] that disability to be able to see if we can introduce them to the workforce by giving them an equal opportunity to work within the organization,” Lau says. “It was on a contract basis, which worked out really well for this young man.
“[We] were basing it on his capabilities, his skill set, rather than honing down on that thing that’s different about him. When it comes to work, he did exactly what he was hired to do.”
Lau says her brokerage successfully gave the employee work experience pertaining to his professional skills, while also accommodating his needs as an individual.
“We took that opportunity, and it turned out great. We would have events in our office…We’d have our company barbecue, [or a] potluck in our office, and this young man was enjoying himself and just feeling very [included].”
This article is excerpted from one appearing in the August-September 2024 print edition of Canadian Underwriter. Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/SDI Productions
