SCTI boss on what D&I success should look like

SCTI boss on what D&I success should look like | Insurance Business New Zealand

Diversity & Inclusion

Until then, the insurer is doing its part as a diverse and inclusive workplace

Diversity & Inclusion

By
Terry Gangcuangco

Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI), a Rainbow Tick accredited employer, is doing its part as a diverse and inclusive workplace while the journey towards true D&I (diversity and inclusion) success continues.

Diversity and inclusion at SCTI

According to chief executive and Elite Woman Jo McCauley (pictured), importance is placed on diversity and inclusion at the travel insurer.

“We started our diversity and inclusion committee in March 2021; we’ve now got a very active committee in our organisation,” McCauley said in an interview with Insurance Business. “And for us it’s very important that we embed that into our recruitment processes and into our training processes as well.

“So, we have training modules for all of our team on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And also we have just been reaccredited for the Rainbow Tick again. So, we managed to achieve accreditation in six months, which we were so proud of, and then we’ve just gone through the process again of reaccreditation.”

For SCTI, being certified sends the message that the insurer is a safe and welcoming place.

“We believe we have a very diverse workforce, and we believe that we provide a very inclusive environment,” McCauley said. “It’s really important to us.

“And if I look at our leadership team at Southern Cross Travel Insurance, two out of six of us on the leadership team are part of the Rainbow community. Three of six of us are female – the CEO is female, the head of digital’s female, and the CFO’s female. So, we regard ourselves as a very diverse team at the leadership table as well.”

D&I success

In McCauley’s view, however, the true manifestation of success in the D&I space is when we no longer turn the spotlight on our differences.

“I don’t think very much about my gender in the context of leadership; I’m a leader,” the CEO told Insurance Business. “And I feel if we keep talking about female leadership too extensively, it sort of becomes a point of difference…

“Success will be when we don’t have to talk about this anymore. I think success will be when we don’t even have to talk about differences in ourselves as leaders.”

That isn’t to say, though, that it’s not important to recognise successes from female leaders until then.

“I started my career back in the very early 2000s, and I do think I’ve seen an incredible level of change in terms of it becoming a lot easier for female leadership,” McCauley said.

“And certainly for employees having children, and I don’t just speak about women having children. Employees having children has become something we can actually positively talk about, compared to how it used to be.”

What are your thoughts on diversity and inclusion? Share what you think in the comments below.