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BIBA Amplifies the Diversity and Inclusion Agenda
In its recently published 2022 Manifesto ‘Managing Risk’, BIBA became the latest industry body to put its weight behind the drive for greater diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the financial services sector.
BIBA comes out as strongly supportive of the FCA’s D&I agenda, with the proviso that what’s required of brokers needs to be proportionate to their size and resources.
A recent IHRS article on diversity and inclusion looked in detail at how bodies like the FCA and the PRA are attempting to drive the D&I agenda forwards - and what this means for firms like yours. Spoiler alert: it means you need to be moving forward with a positive D&I agenda as a matter of urgency.
It’s clearly significant that BIBA has devoted an entire section of its manifesto to emphasising D&I’s vital importance in today’s general insurance market. The broker trade body also makes clear that it buys into the increasingly well supported view that embracing D&I offers firms significant practical benefits, rather than simply being ‘the right thing to do’.
The manifesto emphasises that BIBA accepts the FCA’s assessment in its discussion paper Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector – working together to drive change that D&I correlates with “positive outcomes in risk management, good conduct, healthy working cultures, and innovation.”
As BIBA says, “The industry needs varied life experiences – race, social background, sexual orientation, age, religious, educational to list but a few areas – and to be able to show that it is inclusive and tolerant of those differences.” BIBA is simply encouraging its membership down the road to D&I. The FCA, on the other hand, is rapidly edging towards D&I enforcement.
It may still come as a surprise to some people in the insurance sector, but younger people in particular, when looking for a new role, actively prioritise potential employers with a diverse and inclusive corporate culture. Given the increasingly fierce competition for talent we are currently seeing right across financial services, there’s a strong case for pushing forward with a proactive D&I agenda - if for no other reason - as a way of attracting high-calibre new recruits.
Regardless of when and how the regulator begins taking a more interventionist approach, it makes sense to focus on bringing greater diversity your workforce sooner rather than later. BIBA’s manifesto says it “aims to create a diverse and inclusive environment to help members attract and employ broking talent made up from all areas of society with the necessary skills to respond to the varying needs of the individuals and businesses they serve.” This highlights another key incentive for embracing diversity and inclusion: the improved ability it gives firms to win new clients by better attuning themselves to the needs and expectations of a broad cross-section of today’s increasingly diverse society.
Among the other areas in which BIBA says it wants to help its members make progress, is in the creation of more apprenticeships. It’s easy to see that offering apprenticeships dovetails with making progress on D&I. In reality, of course, a concern for diversity and inclusion is not something separate or discrete from other HR considerations. It needs to be factored into every decision made around recruiting and employing people.
If your firm isn’t already getting to grips with the need to ensure a properly balanced and representative workforce, it’s high time it did. D&I is an issue everyone’s talking about right now. But the time for just talk will soon have come and gone. If you want to capture the benefits of diversity - and avoid the costs of not addressing it - the time for action has well and truly come.
If you’d like further guidance and support getting to grips with the D&I agenda, IHRS can help. Call us today, and a member of our expert team will be happy to help. Email HRhelp@ihrsolutions.co.uk, call 01604 709509 or visit our website.