Insurance Times Awards 2024: QBE’s commitment to diversity and inclusion helps embed ‘sustainable cultural change’

1. Why did you put yourselves forward for the Diversity and Inclusion Excellence category?

At QBE, we recognise the value and importance of diverse thought and experience, so driving us towards a more equitable, accessible and inclusive workplace for all is the key priority of our Inclusion of Diversity team.

We are completely focused on delivering meaningful action to create change, recognising there is no silver bullet, but working with our people to understand what positive progress means to them.

We take a broad approach to what we call Inclusion of Diversity, looking beyond representation to understand and improve how our people really feel in our workplace – their sense of belonging.

Our focus on belonging has reinforced our commitment to encouraging diverse thought at QBE and is aimed at giving everyone the opportunity to perform at their best.

Our approach to inclusion ensures that everyone is with us on this journey and by measuring and supporting a diverse range of characteristics – including but not limited to gender, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, and sexual orientation – we aim to build a workplace that is inclusive for all.

2. What do you think makes your entry stand out and why should you win the award?

To drive our people’s sense of belonging, we look at the benefits we provide our colleagues, the narrative we use in our communications, our approach to career performance and progression and enable a culture founded on psychological safety.

To address belonging gaps, we have delivered no less than eight ‘belonging initiatives. These initiatives focus on embedding sustainable cultural change and are designed to have a long-term impact on our company culture.

We are also conscious of our responsibility to shift the wider market for future generations with initiatives such as our Schools Partnership programme, now in its fourth year, which offers ethnically diverse students in Leeds and London the opportunity to pursue careers in insurance which may have been previously out of reach or unconsidered. QBE is planning for a more inclusive and resilient future.

3. What would winning this award mean to you and your firm?

We hope it will lead to more companies in the insurance industry improving their systems and structures to create a meaningful cultural shift. Our inclusion strategy focuses on connecting the marketplace and recognising that driving inclusion is not something we can do this alone.

We want to increase awareness, which in turn will lead to proactive agendas for Inclusion of Diversity.

An award win gives us the opportunity to connect with other organisations who are also leading the way and aspire to and hope it will motivate others to do what they can to improve equity and belonging in the workplace.