Recap on NIBA at the 2022 Dive In Festival

The 2022 Dive In Festival took place from 27 – 29 September, promoting diversity and inclusion across the insurance industry through a number of online and in-person events.

The theme for this year was #BraverCultures and included two events organised by the NIBA’s Divisional Committees.

Building inclusive company cultures

Organised by the NIBA WA Divisional Committee

Hosted by Nikita Willis, member of the NIBA WA Divisional Committee, this session saw cross-cultural consultant Tasneem Chopra OAM speak on the importance of driving diversity and inclusion, and gender and cultural equity across organisational leadership.

Tasneem has been named an ‘Anti-Racism Champion’ by the Australian Human Rights Commission and holds a Distinguished Alumni Award from La Trobe University in recognition of her impact in the diversity sector.

This virtual session attracted great engagement, with attendees from all over the world asking questions at the end.

Key takeaways from the session:

• You can’t be what you can’t see. Culturally diverse communities make up over 50 per cent of the Australian population, so it is imperative for role models in society and those in leadership to represent the diversity of society.
• If the table is full, let’s extend it. When systems fail to deliberately include, they unwittingly exclude. It is therefore important to implement actions that drive support for both gender and cultural equity.
• Prioritise an employee’s cultural add over their cultural fit. Tasneem suggested for the industry to diversify the way employees are marketed, recruited and retained. While companies often focus on recruiting employees who are a great cultural fit, employees from more diverse backgrounds can often contribute to creating enriched solutions.
• Stop engaging “at” people and engage “with”. Leaders need to ensure that their employees feel valued, energised, trusted and are paid well and fairly treated.
• Rethink the meaning of ‘allyship’. Tasneem questioned the commonly used term, suggesting that it is time to progress from being an ally to being an accomplice, a role that more consciously facilitates opportunities for diverse people in the workplace.

Special thanks to Gilchrist Connell, who sponsored the session.

Building brave workplace cultures in a post-pandemic world

Organised by the NIBA Victorian Divisional Committee

Hosted by Prudence Chang, member of the NIBA Victorian Divisional Committee, and sponsored by Meridian Lawyers, the session saw Frederik Anseel, the Senior Deputy Dean of Research and Enterprise at the University of New South Wales Business School, share his insights on the importance of creating new workplace cultures in a post-pandemic world.

Key takeaways from the session:

• The good, the bad, the ugly. The shift to remote work has led to stronger collaboration, new ways of working, and greater productivity. However, it has also caused a blurring of work and life, the loss of information exchange through informal office conversations, and an influx of meetings – challenges that have led many employees to burn out.
• The sharing of information is different in a hybrid world. Studies have found that teams have become static, more inwardly focused and shifted towards delayed communications through digital channels, creating very different team dynamics compared to before.
• The employer-employee disconnect: While some employers are pushing for greater presence in the office, employees are re-evaluating their relationship with work. This disconnect in the workplace is often one of the drivers of the Great Resignation.
• Gender inequity due to proximity bias: Studies have found that women tend to have greater responsibilities in the home and hold a greater preference for working from home. This may undermine their career prospects in certain workplaces where leaders give greater opportunities to those they see in the office.
• Moving to a new way of work. As the meaning of work has undergone rapid change throughout the pandemic, it has become crucial to re-design the workplace, and to create a new way of working based around flexibility and psychological proximity.
• Re-building connections in a hybrid workspace. Companies now need to create environments that enable their employees to rebuild relationships throughout the organisations in new ways. This includes redesigning workplaces to support flexible work, inspire mental health and create a more meaningful workplace.

Special thanks to Meridian Lawyers, who sponsored the session.

Read more on the NIBA members who organised this year’s Dive In Festival events in the October issue of Insurance Adviser.