QBE is creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that respects all employees, irrespective of their differences – visible and invisible. This is essential for attracting and developing the best people. We want a diverse workforce as we know this will generate better outcomes.
Delivering a clear message
We are pleased to have been signed up to the Women in Finance Charter,
an initiative by HM Treasury and financial services firms to build a more balanced, fairer industry since 2018.
Since then, women in leadership across our European Operations population has grown from 27% to 36.1% as at the end of September 2023. Our figures show that we are currently not on track to meet our year-end target of 36.6%, however several targeted actions are being taken to get us back on track and ensure we achieve our target of 40% women in leadership by the end of 2025.
As of 2023 we have also established dedicated experience targets which ask our colleagues, ‘Do you feel a sense of belonging at QBE’ and compare the responses of several diverse characteristics, including gender, to ensure colleagues are feeling a similar sense of belonging regardless of diverse background.
To support in progressing towards these targets we have also implemented inclusive safe discussions, hearing directly from colleagues on survey results and understanding how QBE can best support and work collaboratively with our colleagues to develop a more inclusive working culture.
The wellbeing and safety of our people continues to be a top priority. We have evolved our approach to wellbeing to become much more than just programmes, apps, tools and nice to have resources, to an approach that has been designed to enable a more resilient future for our people to thrive. At Our Best sets out our holistic view across five key areas of wellbeing: work life blend, finance, health, community, and career.
This year we enhanced our UK benefits offering to optimise the support we provide our colleagues, including an enhanced parental policy which includes equalised parental pay and shared parental leave options, access to Peppy for free, personalised, and confidential support around Early Parenthood, Fertility and Menopause, and progressing our Private Medical offering to include gender dysphoria support, neurodiversity assessments, and fertility and menopause support and guidance.
Our flexible working approach continues to evolve, as we respond to the voices of our employees. We are proud that Flex@QBE (work is a thing you do, not a place you go) now includes working remotely abroad and flexible public holidays. Our emphasis on both approaches is ‘if it means something to you, it means something to us.’
Our Women in Tech working groups globally continue to focus on collaboration and peer to peer networking as well as mentoring and development.
Our in-house talent acquisition team are dedicated to looking beyond traditional talent pools to attract diverse talent. The in-house expertise allows us to bring deeper technical knowledge into the function, embed brand awareness and market positioning, and have an increased focus on internal talent management.
In addition, we have continued to build on our comprehensive learning resources to empower our people to own their career development and increased focus on identifying and developing our talent.
Jason Harris, CEO of QBE European Operations, is our nominated executive responsible for this initiative.
Accreditations and partnerships
QBE awarded 5 stars
Thousands of employees from across the insurance sector were surveyed in 2021 and QBE was voted a 5* employer.
Part of this nomination comes from the support we have offered over the past year during the pandemic. We were proactive and acted quickly to what our employees were telling us. We placed a lot of focus on the wellbeing of our employees, offering support for mental health and being accommodating of all our employees unique circumstances during this time. It also reflected our overall strategy. Our people are at the heart of our initiatives and being able to listen, act quickly, and provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs well has really been valued.