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ICan
19 December 2019 Insurance

One day at a time

The terms diversity and inclusion (D&I) are being heard a lot at present, in the media as well as in the boardroom. Insurance in particular seems to be subject to a lot of scrutiny around D&I, as it struggles to shed its traditional ‘pale, male and stale’ image.

Questions are being asked of our industry from a number of different angles. Are we recruiting a diverse talent pool, and are we keeping that talent? Do we have diverse leaders and role models for future generations? Are we developing multicultural leaders and does the wider leadership group have an inclusive mindset?

These are all valid questions that deserve an answer. There are excellent examples out there of companies that are taking it seriously, building an inclusive ethos into their business model and changing the face of insurance. But to make real and sustainable change, we need to make this approach the rule, rather than the exception. And we’re not there yet.

Who are we to talk? Well, we’re iCAN, the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network, a 700-strong network of insurance professionals which aims to promote multicultural inclusion and progression, engage with allies and celebrate the benefits of D&I in the insurance industry.

We’ve been around since 2017, and we work with companies which are starting out on their D&I journey as well as those which are setting the standard, and those everywhere in between. Our members tell us that change needs to happen, and that more needs to be done, and we’re determined to make that happen.

Basics
To set the context, and to highlight the direction we feel the industry should be going in, let’s take a look at what iCAN is all about. Almost three years ago, after coming up against the same issues time after time, a group of insurance professionals got together to consider the challenges facing black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals and those from outside the UK working in the insurance sector.

We felt our industry needed to change, and the time was right to do something about it. With this, iCAN was born. Our strategy since we formed has stayed consistent, simple, and focused on delivering solutions: developing multicultural leaders, building an effective industry network, and celebrating role models. While this won’t fix everything, we believe it provides a strong platform to enable lasting, industry-wide change.

Although simple on the face of it, to make real progress in those areas it takes single-minded determination, focus, creativity and a lot of hard work. At iCAN, we’re committed to doing just that, and we’re proud of what we’ve done so far, whether it is a partnership with a national recruitment firm to promote career paths for BAME and international colleagues in insurance, or publishing a role models book with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), or hosting a wide range of events featuring topics from the ethnicity pay gap to wellbeing and speed mentoring.

Our social media presence is vibrant, energetic and positive. We are a partner network of Inclusion@Lloyd’s, and we’ve established strong partnerships with key companies in the industry such as Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Chubb, Premfina and Zurich, who take these issues as seriously as we do. Their support has been invaluable.

Mission
The foundation of all of this is our members—an amazing, inspiring, passionate group of people who come from every part of the insurance market and who drive what we do. Listening to them has ensured that we make a lasting impact by staying true to our mission of creating a more diverse and inclusive industry for all.

Listening to the companies we work with and to the conversations that are going on around us every day have helped us to understand what the issues are.

What have we learned so far? Here are some simple rules of thumb that helped to guide our efforts, and can help you too:

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