May 2019 Big Question: What reporting mechanisms do you have in place to help employees feel safe and secure in the workplace?

Sharon Juleff HR director at LV= General Insurance

“Ensuring our people feel safe and secure is extremely important to us which is why we’ve worked had to provide them with many different ways to talk to us if they have any concerns. It’s also important that our people feel comfortable enough to speak up.

”If someone wants to raise an issue, they can discuss it with a number of people, including their line manager, HR business partner, our Employee Relations team, Employee Consultative Forum, Mental Health first aiders or Culture Champions.

“There’s also the option to send an email to our Culture or Diversity & Inclusion mailbox. We also know that for some people it’s important to remain anonymous which is why we have a Speak Up line and Whistleblowing policy as well. We take the safety and security of our people very seriously and if we find that harassment or bullying has taken place, we treat this as misconduct or gross misconduct under our disciplinary policy.”

 

Emma Phillips, Head of Human Resources at the Association of British Insurers

“We place a premium on creating an inclusive workplace and specify that employees are expected to behave in a respectful, open and collaborative manner towards colleagues at all times, and call out behaviour which is not inclusive. We’re a small organisation with an onsite HR team, dedicated to being easily available to any staff with concerns or issues they want to raise.

“Given that we work so closely with member firms, we were also keen to join the many insurers who signed the Inclusive Behaviours Pledge last year, which reinforces policies we already had in place. Ninety-eight percent of staff recently agreed that ‘At work, individual differences are respected, irrespective of things such as race, gender, disability, and sexual orientation’.”

 

Sheila Cameron, chief executive at LMA

Sexual harassment is simply indefensible in any workplace and all instances should be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. We, like all other industries facing this issue, must continue to deal with any reports of harassment, head on. Both victims and witnesses of any form of workplace harassment must be encouraged to come forward. Victims and witnesses must have confidence in the robust and fair processes and procedures put in place by the leaders of their companies, and those leaders have a responsibility to ensure their workplaces are safe from any form of harassment.

”In recent years the Lloyd’s and London insurance market has taken enormous strides to advance the diversity and inclusion agenda, particularly through the annual Dive In festival, which attracts thousands of market practitioners to participate each year, as well as other important initiatives such as the Inclusive Behaviours Pledge, which was signed by a large number of insurers, brokers and market associations.”

 

Phillip Gennoy, chief HR officer at Allianz Insurance

”We operate a zero tolerance policy to bullying and harassment of any kind. Our code of conduct, the behaviours we expect and our People Attributes are communicated, trained and easily accessible. We also have an inclusive workplace where employees are empowered to raise issues with their colleagues, a manager, HR or through the formal grievance and complaints procedure. Where appropriate we also work with the union and other employee representatives to create a safe space for confidential conversations. Allianz takes all allegations of harassment seriously; we will respond promptly to complaints and take action when inappropriate conduct has occurred. Having procedures in place to deal with issues as they arise is important to ensure a safe working environment for all.”

 

Steve Collinson, head of UK HR at Zurich

“We have a number of well-established ways that employees can report concerns to us – anonymously or otherwise - and we actively encourage our people to do so. But having a mechanism for people to report concerns is only a starting point. Helping people to feel safe to do so, and making a commitment that they will be heard, is vital. Over the last year, we have trained every people manager at Zurich UK in best practice in handling concerns and how to spot the signs that there may be an issue – so that we can tackle inappropriate behaviour ‘at source’ where appropriate. We’ve also educated all employees on how they can and should expect to be treated when working at Zurich. At the same time, we led the charge to launch the Inclusive Behaviours Pledge, making clear how we expect employees to be treated when outside of our workplace, and what others who interact with our people should expect too. Creating a foundation for safety is so much more than a helpline or a grievance procedure and it’s the responsibility of all of us to get right.”

 

Terry Laville-Farrant, UK HR director at Aon

 ”At Aon we work hard to create a culture of inclusion. We set out clear expectations around behaviour in our Diversity and Inclusion policy and global Code of Conduct, and also via the culture that is driven by our leaders. Any acts of bullying or harassment constitute serious or gross misconduct under our disciplinary policy, and are dealt with accordingly. We actively encourage colleagues to raise this kind of behaviour, whether it has happened to them directly or they have witnessed it happening to someone else. Their first port of call is their line manager, and we regularly remind colleagues that other reporting options are available which include speaking to HR, our Employee Assistance Programme Helpline, that offers confidential counselling and advice, as well as our Ethics Helpline.”