Lack of diversity in insurance can't be fixed overnight — it's a work in progress

The dial is slowly shifting for diversity and inclusion in the insurance industry, but is still lagging far behind other sectors due to the lack of flexibility in workplaces and initiatives to support change.

This is the view of Vivian Leinster, chief people officer of MS Amlin, who explains some of the changes she has been advocating within the organisation and the wider insurance industry over the past few years.

She believes that the biggest change has been the increase in gender pay gap disclosures. This, she says, has opened the door to a more equal pay market and allowed people to discuss interventions and remediation with a positive intent.

"The latest gender pay gap reports have highlighted that there is still an issue with regards to gender equality in the workforce, particularly in the senior levels of the organisation," she says. "According to the statistics financial services are behind a number of other sectors in terms of diversity.